"Sweetening" public land

What do you guys think about applying lime, fertilizer or even some rye grass seed to heavily wooded public land with some open spots that would produce a make shift tiny food plot?  I want to do it but I am questioning the morality/legality of it.  I know it would be effective but would it be cheating?  Any thoughts?

Not legal in Pennsylvania, but if it were, I would fertilize some distant white oaks that I never see any other hunters visiting!

I don't believe that would be legal, it would be considered baiting, as you would be hunting over a food source that you "placed". I really don't know what to tell you about fertilizing the existing vegetation. Have no idea on the legality of that.

In Maryland, an area is considered to be baited 10 days after the bait was set. It is illegal to "bait, use attractants of any kind including scent, or electronically amplified calls" to hunt deer on public land. That said; boosting a crop, clearing nuisance species, or opening a blockage in a water source that has become stagnated is encouraged, at least according to the Montgomery County, MD DNR contact. As long as it happens 10 or more days BEFORE the start of the hunting seasons.

The use of cover scents is not illegal as long as they are applied directly to your clothes.

traveller180 wrote:In Maryland, an area is considered to be baited 10 days after the bait was set. It is illegal to "bait, use attractants of any kind including scent, or electronically amplified calls" to hunt deer on public land. That said; boosting a crop, clearing nuisance species, or opening a blockage in a water source that has become stagnated is encouraged, at least according to the Montgomery County, MD DNR contact. As long as it happens 10 or more days BEFORE the start of the hunting seasons.

The use of cover scents is not illegal as long as they are applied directly to your clothes.

You've goten some bad information.This seems to often be the case with many of those employed at the Md. DNR. I hope you have the name of the person who gave you this info because it is completely inaccurate. It is not illegal to use a scent, as long as it is not a food based scent like deer jam or deer cocaine that contain salt or other type of illegal baits like salt, i.e. urine based estrous scents are legal. It is also illegal to simply be in possession of bait on public hunting areas.You do not have to place it to be in violation, Simply having a bag of corn, salt, other feed, or a food based attractant like a bottle of deer cocaine in your truck in the parking lot is a violation, and this applies year round, not just ten days before the season.  

It is also illegal to cut brush, damage, or remove vegetation of any kind, the law does not make exceptions for nuisance species, or the cutting of shooting lanes.

It is also illegal to dig into any beaver, muskrat, or otter den or house, since a dam is often part of the beavers lodge, destroying one to clear a waterway obstruction could be construed as a violation of these regulations. In addition, many wma's artificially manipulate water levels to dry them during the summer and flood timber during the season to attract wildfowl.

If you have further questions, I can provide direct links to these regulations as listed in the Maryland COMAR (the official legal text of the hunting laws) to clear up any confusion about this issue. Again, I can not give you an answer on fertilizing existing vegetation, as I am unaware of any restriction against this particular act.

Thank you for the clarification.

traveller180 wrote:Thank you for the clarification.

Sure thing. This has been an ongoing problem with the Md. DNR and their enforcement officers for years. When you call the number provided, many times you get a secretary that simply interprets the regulations she is reading from the hunters handbook the way she understands it. The problem has gotten worse since many Park Police were forced into the ranks of DNR Officers when the Park System was drawn down. I was actually forced to leave public hunting lands while dove hunting because the officer mistakenly believed the whole 2000 acres closed at 5 PM, not just the 25 acre managed dove field.

I am Quite familiar with Title 10 of the DNR hunting code, the Maryland Comar is available online. If you have any questions I would be more than happy to try and help answer them, and if I can not, I would suggest calling directly to the main DNR offices in Annapolis, but even then, I know of an instance where the then deer project manager Paul Peditto mistakenly told someone that you could place bait on public lands as long as it was not during the season, which was incorrect, as placing bait on public land for any purpose is in fact illegal year round, according to Maryland Code.

there is so much public hunting land in maryland in great agriculture areas , I doubt any little project you did would really be so helpful...plus if some other hunter found the spot being used by deer he (or she) would have every right to hunt that area too...

better off if you are really into a feed plot etc, find a private area you can rent to do the same...

I know Md pretty well...I went to high school there...and bowhunted Public there for lot of years...actually killed my first P&Y on public land there too...

good luck...t