The use of bait for hunting deer is controversial and involves a complex set of biological, social, and ethical issues. Biologically, population influences related to baiting can be important in the dissemination and maintenance of disease and can affect the natural movement, distribution, and behavior of deer. Baiting can also influence survival and reproduction of deer, particularly when it moves towards supplemental feeding. Finally, concentrations of deer at bait sites may lead to effects on other species, habitats, and ecosystems. 

     From a social standpoint, baiting can create conflicts between hunters due to real and perceived unnatural partitioning of the deer resource. Legal baiting for deer can create illegal baiting situations for other species (e.g. migratory birds) that may cause conflict between local user groups. Finally, baiting may simply pit groups against one another from a philosophical standpoint. 

     Ethically, support for baiting is often split among hunters; however non-hunters and anti-hunting groups typically do not support the practice. Controversy or lack of public support related to baiting most often involves perceptions of fair chase and this fair chase challenge weakens public support for hunting programs, as well as, wildlife conservation and management programs that have historically been accepted.

History of baiting in South Carolina 

     From a legal standpoint, baiting for deer in South Carolina in regionally defined with the practice being prohibited in the Piedmont and not prohibited in the Coastal Plain. This divergent legal situation is rooted in the history of the respective deer populations and in the tradition and politics of deer hunting in the two regions. As was the case in most of North America, South Carolina’s white-tailed deer population was nearly extirpated by 1900 primarily as a result of overexploitation and habitat loss due to agricultural development. 

     The Coastal Plain held residual deer populations that were associated with major river flood plain systems that were relatively inaccessible and of little agricultural value. Even when deer populations were low and protection of deer high in other states, deer remained available and hunting of deer continued in some parts of the Coastal Plain. Pursuing deer with dogs was the customary method of hunting deer and notable figures like Archibald Rutledge frequently described this activity as it was carried out specifically in the Coastal Plain of South Carolina. Many laws governing deer related activities in the Coastal Plain originated prior to the existence of wildlife management as a science and prior to the establishment of a wildlife agency in South Carolina. Even today, most restrictions on deer hunting in the Coastal Plain are legislative rather than being regulatory functions of SCDNR. 

     Historically, there was no need for the South Carolina General Assembly to address the issue of baiting deer in the Coastal Plain because hunting deer with dogs was the only method used. However, due to changing land use and ownership patterns and the fact that hunters determined that still hunting was an effective way to hunt deer, there was a relatively rapid shift from hunting with dogs to still hunting by the mid-1980s. Today less than 10 percent of the Coastal Plain is under a regime of hunting only with dogs. With this shift to still hunting and no restrictions on baiting deer, the practice began. Baiting is now widespread and used by the majority of hunters in the Coastal Plain. Baiting typically begins several weeks prior to the hunting season; therefore, this food source is available for about 6 months annually. In many cases, baiting has moved towards supplemental feeding since it is made available regardless of season and for the purpose of increasing deer condition and density.1 In virtually all instances, shelled corn is the feed and it is typically provided free-choice, i.e. no timed feeders. Feeding rates on some properties are as high as 1,000 pounds per week per square mile.

      In the Piedmont on the other hand, deer were nearly eliminated by the early 1900s and there are virtually no historical accounts of deer hunting in the Piedmont. By the 1950s, wildlife management as a science had emerged and a wildlife agency, now SCDNR, had developed in South Carolina. SCDNR was charged with restoring deer in the Piedmont and with this charge the agency was given regulatory authority over seasons, bag limits, and methods of hunting deer under Title 50 of the South Carolina Code of Laws. Deer restoration began in 1951 and the first open season for deer in the Piedmont was in 1958. Since deer numbers were low and there was no tradition of hunting deer with dogs, still-hunting was the only method prescribed. At that time, baiting was prohibited in the Piedmont by SCDNR regulation. This took place when virtually all deer hunting in the Coastal Plain was with dogs and baiting, though not prohibited by the legislature, was not an issue. 

     This historical account brings us to the present. South Carolina has a fully recovered statewide deer population, still-hunting is the dominant method of hunting deer, and the state is divided regionally on the legality of baiting. In the Piedmont baiting is prohibited by SCDNR regulation, whereas, in the Coastal Plain no such agency authority exists and baiting has not been addressed by the legislature. In essence, baiting in the Coastal Plain is a result of omission rather than provision in law. 

     There is a general lack of understanding among most hunters and legislators as to the history of baiting in South Carolina and how this conflicting legal situation arose. Hunters assume that SCDNR has ultimate control over wildlife and that the agency is being arbitrary and capricious in allowing baiting in the Coastal Plain and prohibiting it in the Piedmont. Legislators, most having little or no experience in wildlife or hunting, either know nothing about the issue or like hunters, feel the conflict is SCDNR’s responsibility. 

     Due to pressure from some hunters and real and perceived problems with deer, there have been several attempts since 2000 to remove SCDNR authority over baiting in the Piedmont by legislatively prescribing baiting as an acceptable practice for hunting deer in that region (recall that baiting is not legislatively prescribed in the Coastal Plain). With deer populations at high levels in many areas, it is common knowledge that aggressively harvesting deer is key to management. In South Carolina, advocates of baiting insist that harvest rates and hunter efficiency are improved when bait is employed. 

     SCDNR Wildlife Section biological staff opposes the practice of hunting deer over bait due to the aforementioned set of biological, social, and ethical concerns. The following discussion more fully describes those concerns and is based on data collected in South Carolina and other states.

Fair Chase Issues 

     Baiting is controversial among hunters, and research has shown that Piedmont and Coastal Plain hunters differ in their opinion about baiting, likely a result of differences in traditional regulations and customs.14 In fact, baiting was one of the topics discussed at 5 public meetings that where held in the Piedmont in 2003. Once the issues and effects of baiting were discussed, only 4 percent of meeting attendees indicated support for legalizing baiting in the upstate. Furthermore, non-hunting or anti-hunting constituent groups do not support baiting. This controversy and lack of public support for baiting involves perceptions of fair chase. Many believe that killing deer (or other wildlife) over bait demonstrates that hunting is all about killing and has nothing to do with fair chase, conservation, or wildlife management. This fair chase challenge weakens public support not only for public hunting programs, but also for wildlife conservation and management programs that have historically been accepted.15 Hunting wildlife over bait does not improve or heighten the skills of the hunter.16 Hunting is a tradition and an important tool with respect to deer management; however issues such as hunting deer over bait jeopardize the continued acceptance of hunting by an increasingly skeptical public at large.

Biological Issues 

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