Waterfowl hunters take note – hunting near grain bins in western and southwestern Iowa that collapsed from the spring flood is considered hunting over bait and is against the law.
Hunting over bait is considered a violation if the bird’s movement is being influenced by the bait – in this case the spilled grain.
“We have been taking a lot of calls about baiting and the collapsed grain bins and my advice would be to review the information on waterfowl and baiting and then don’t put yourself in a situation where you are hunting over bait,” said Brian Smith, law enforcement district supervisor for Southwest Iowa.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have oversight on waterfowl and waterfowl hunting due to the migratory nature of the birds. They created a document explaining what is and what isn’t allowed related to baiting, wildlife food plots, harvesting and post harvesting agricultural crops, and more.
It’s available for download here: https://www.fws.gov/le/pdf/waterfowl-hunting-and-baiting.pdf
Iowa’s September teal hunting season began Sept. 1.