Provisions remain for hunters to set up and hunt over sites, but without the same paperwork.
The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today eliminated the need for landowners in the Southeast Special Regulations Area to secure a baiting permit before setting up a bait site to hunt deer on private property.
While the use of bait while hunting is prohibited broadly in Pennsylvania, it is allowed conditionally on private property within the Southeast Special Regulations Area, where traditional hunting and deer-control methods have proven ineffective, and a large deer herd frequently leads to property damage.
However, bait used within the Southeast Special Regulations Area is limited to shelled corn or protein-pellet supplements; bait accumulation must not exceed five gallons at any time; bait only can be used from two weeks before the opening of the first deer season to the close of the last deer season; automatic mechanical feeders must be used; and the feeder must distribute bait during hunting hours, no more than three times a day.
Previously, private landowners in the Southeast Special Regulations Area needed to secure a permit before they or others could follow these guidelines to hunt deer through the use of bait. While there’s no longer a requirement to obtain a permit, landowners and the persons they permit to hunt still need to ensure bait sites comply with regulations.
The board first voted to create deer-attractant permits in the Southeast Special Regulations Area in 2014; it first approved the use of bait when deer hunting in southeastern Pennsylvania in 2006.
Courtesy PA Game Commission www.pgc.pa.gov