The only bait sanctioned aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico is fish bait and, for those within their weight limit, pogie bait. Setting out food for game animals is illegal in the state of Virginia during hunting season and prohibited aboard the base year-round.

Dan Hensley, one of the base’s federal conservation law enforcement investigators, said his office has already handled three or four cases of baiting since hunting season opened less than two months ago, which is more than usual.

Often, these are cases of ignorance of the law, he said, noting that active duty Marines come from all over the country, and many states allow baiting. “It’s simply people not reading the base hunting regulations and familiarizing themselves with the rules.”

Hensley said everyone registered to hunt aboard the base is given copies of the hunting regulations and needs to study them.

Euel Tritt, chief conservation law enforcement officer for the base, said ignorance of the law is no excuse. “You always hear that. ‘I didn’t know,’ or, ‘You can do it in Maryland,’ or, ‘You can do it here or there,’ but everybody should know because it’s published,” he said.

Many sporting goods stores in the area sell a variety of game bait, but in Virginia, it’s illegal to use these products to hunt, even on private property.

“Just because they sell it at Gander Mountain doesn’t mean you can use it,” Tritt said. “The state officers have had a really big increase in the number of baiting cases, too, just because it’s so readily available at these stores.”

Fines for baiting deer amount to $225, and if a deer is killed over bait, the fine more than doubles, he said, and the hunter can be charged with the replacement cost of the deer, which a judge decides. Violations also result in the loss of base hunting privileges for at least a year.

Bait is defined as anything consumable or anything employed as an attractant, Tritt said.

Off base, Hensley said, hunters sometimes set out mineral blocks and other food for deer during the off-season to promote health and antler growth or to take pictures of the animals. Aboard Quantico, however, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs workers take care of this, maintaining food plots and setting out mineral blocks.

John Rohm, head of the base Fish, Wildlife and Agronomy Program, said there are a number of reasons to prohibit baiting, including a sharp rise in the potential for the spread of disease when bait draws crowds of deer.

“Another reason is that it can raise the browse pressure around that site,” Rohm said, explaining that the deer will browse on the way to and from the bait site. And, enough bait can artificially raise the area’s carrying capacity, causing population increase. Feeding animals is also the first step in domestication, he said. “We’re trying to preserve our wildlife as wildlife.”

When base officials bait for research purposes, he said, they monitor the site by remote camera and remove the bait if need be.

Rohm noted that baiting also presents an image problem with non-hunters, many of whom take a dim view of killing an animal over bait.

Tritt said baiting for waterfowl is an even more serious offense that can result in much steeper fines. However, he added, “Normally, we don’t have anybody stupid enough to bait waterfowl on the base.”

— Writer: mdicicco@quanticosentryonline.com