As long as you follow your hunter saftey rules of which one is KNOW YOUR TARGET AND WHAT IS BEYOND, then using a rifle is not a problem.
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As for baiting, I am not a fan of it but each hunter has to decide for themselves what is right. Personally I think it is a bit like cheating and I can enjoy hunting without having to bait, but that is just my opinion.
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Good luck to all of the hunters this season - stay safe

optimism.....Rifles have been allowed in this area for years. Ever since CWD zones were established. Just not as wide spread until recently. Before this newest rifle change hunters were limited to only being allowed to used them on private lands in the CWD zones. Now its across the board on all lands. And as far as baiting goes I agree with not using baits. I hunt mainly in Northern Wisconsin anyway but still am bothered by how much bait is used up there even. I agree it is more challenging to sit on a stand and hope the "Big One" happens along naturally instead of feeding it. Most big bucks arent coming into feed during daytime anyway.

Baiting is cheating and takes all the sport out of it.

"Franks says tuberculosis has been identified in the Minnesota deer herd and chronic wasting disease was recently discovered in Michigan deer." Why then is it ok to feed or bait deer up north as long as you stay under a certain amout of feed? The CWD zones and everchanging regulations are a JOKE!

optimism thats a good idea plant corn and have plenty of deer meat . thanks for the idea.

GABBY...I wouldn't really consider putting scent on baiting. I would consider feeding and luring a deer back to the same spot over and over again baiting. With scent, you are just lucky if a deer actually is within your range that it can smell you. That is still by chance in my opinion.

CHELL....you are right I forgot about the dog thing. I guess I would be so scared to take my dog out there. As well as being on foot....that is where I would bait, but I could never kill a bear anyway, my husband has hunted them and killed two....but I think they are so pretty. But I do know they are VERY destructive, and need to be controlled. But it is a lottery, so at least it isn't like this deer thing.....kill as many as you want, however you want, when you want. It is so sad that the deer hunting opening weekend excitement is a thing of the past. :o(

Honestly I didn't know putting scent on you was called baiting. I always just thought that was part of hunting. My finacee hunts (ducks right now) and deer and turkey. They have a bunch of property up on the lake and that is where they have always gone. The deer are not fenced in or anything. The stands stay in the same spot. I don't know if they put scent on themselves because i have never gone. But I wouldn't think they would be able to smell it if they aren sitting in a deer stand. I thought the point of hunting was sitting there and waiting for your prey. Not luring it in. I don't know I guess it could go either way.

You don't have to bait bear. There are two seasons to black bear hunting. Bait season and dog season. I'd much rather hunt with dogs than a bait pile.

OPTIMISM....put on your kevlar and stay low...just kidding. People forget bullets fly along way. As a military vet, we were always taught to know where, and how far you bullet will go...Field of Fire. I grew up on a farm and some guy from Chicago shot one of our cows because he thought it was a deer. Ohhh he paid for that. Peace

Now, as I understand it, you basically have to bait bear, or your odds of seeing one are slim. OZZ....you do have to sit quietly and wait for the deer, but you should do research and look for scrapes, trails, bedding and other things. It is unlikely you will get a deer by "stalking" him on foot because their sense of smell is incredible and if the wind shifts slightly, they will smell you and be gone. So, you need to be aware of the direction of the wind before you go out and make your decision of where to sit based on that. The people who do drives and pretty much just murder the deer, are cheaters just as the baiters are.

ONELIFE...thank GOD your not going to be using a rifle in our county!!! GRRRRR...can you believe they passed rifles down here? I need to learn the difference in sounds of a rifle and a shotgun, cuz I tell you what, if I hear rifles around my place, I will camping out in the basement!! I think they have finally gone off their rocker....killing deer is more important to the DNR than people's lives. I wonder when the first fatality will be???

Is baiting and feeding deer really considered hunting? I thought the purpose of hunting was to hunt, not sit on your butt and wait for them to come to you.

Gabby....most bait to kill them. There are many people that enjoy watching them, but I believe there are more that want to lure in the big bucks to stalk and kill. My husband is a hunter, we participate in CRP, and he only hunts our land minimal, we like the deer to have a safe place to go. He hunts either up north or at leased hunting land. I got to experience a baby fawn bedded in my front field this summer, and I got one foot away from it to take a picture, and that was amazing! Yes, we love venison, but I believe baiting is cheating. Just like those stinking fenced in hunting places you can pay to hunt at. Sure there are thousands of acres, but it still is cheating as far as I am concerned. Just like fishing in a stocked pond!

Sounds like you're a master baiter.

I bait them with Doe Scent....seems ufair to me as a man....Kinda like a guy wearing womens perfume...Poor Buck, thinking dirty thoughts and then I shoot him..but I only bow hunt, so it is a lot tougher imo

So they bait them to kill them or to enjoy looking at them?

They're baiting up north......I know cuz my brother and his friends are setting bait piles.

Serously, if you want to feed the deer, and not bait them, you should get involved with CRP, you plant crops for the wildlife, and are surrounded by them all year long, it is a lot of work, but a huge payoff when you know you are contributing to the health of the animals.

We used to feed them corn years ago just to enjoy them in our backyard. But as usual, a good thing gone wrong. :o( The TB scares me, I am hoping if the editor is reading this, he/she could elaborate more on what that means as far as human contact with the animals. Is it as contagious as it is between people to people?

It's not good sportsmanship, either.