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Iowa Proposing Changes to Baiting Laws
There has been quite a bit of publicity regarding the Franz buck which was taken in Marion County Iowa in the fall of 2014. If you haven’t heard about the buck, you can read about it on the website www.franzbuck.com which even has video of the hunt. The buck is an absolute giant and the size of the antlers caused jealous neighbors to report the kill as illegal. The story took an interesting turn when the Iowa DNR charged Franz withfour counts of baiting because he had mineral sites on his newly purchased 80-acre farm. The story about his charges can be found here.
Thankfully, clearer heads prevailed and Franz was exonerated of all charges. The video of the hunt helped show the judge that the buck had been legally harvested and the follow up story can be found here.
I talked to many hunters at the Iowa Deer Classic this year who were very upset that the Iowa DNR is trying to make honest hunters look like violators. To most people, the DNR shouldn’t be allowed to traipse across private land and collect soil samples whenever they feel like it. The decision on the Franz buck resulted in the Iowa legislature making a change to better define the baiting laws in the state of Iowa. If you wanted to see the bill, it’s HF 2403 and you can read the text here.
The changes will help define the distance a hunter can be from a mineral station or a feeder. Currently, the law is ambiguous and is open to interpretation by the local conservation officer. The new law sets a distance of 200 yards as the buffer that a hunter must be outside of to be considered legal. I like this as it allows people to use feed and minerals all year without having to worry about removing minerals that have leeched into the soil, or cover up mineral stations like what Joe Franz did.
Instead, hunters just have to set up their mineral and feed stations 200 yards beyond their hunting stands. This new proposal is better than the state of Illinois which banned the use of supplemental feed and minerals completely. As always, check with your local conservation officer to get clarification on the current law in Iowa, but be aware that change is on the horizon. If you have comments on the proposed changes, contact your local representative and make sure your voice is heard.
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