Despite their promotion on several TV hunting shows and the fact that sporting goods stock them, the DNR reminds hunters that the use of bait, or anything a deer or other wildlife might ingest or lick, is illegal for hunting in Indiana.

With the opening of the deer firearms season a week and a half away, conservation officers will be on the lookout for violators.

“It has been a long-standing practice for our officers to enforce the hunting over bait rule,”said Lt. Mark Farmer, public information officer for DNR Law Enforcement. “Gaining an advantage over your quarry by the use of a food or mineral product is illegal.

“The definition of hunting over bait is, if a hunter could take an animal while visiting the bait site, (possessing) the firearm or archery equipment that the hunter is hunting with at the time, it would be considered hunting over bait.”

The DNR maintains that the use of scents and lures are legal, and placing food out for wildlife is legal. It is illegal to hunt an area where food has been deposited unless it has been removed for at least 10 days before hunting the area.

“Basically, if you place corn, apples, salt or mineral blocks or anything that isn't grown in the area and hunt there, it's illegal,” Farmer said. “Hunting from an apple tree is legal, but placing apples under your tree stand would place you in conflict with current Indiana law.”

Indiana Dunes State Park is planning its second annual field trip Nov. 14 to watch as tens of thousands of sandhill cranes visit the shallow marshes of the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area, southeast of Valparaiso, during their annual migration south.

The migration has been called Indiana's largest wildlife spectacle, and Jasper-Pulaski FWA hosts up to 30,000 cranes a day.

A $20 fee includes a program, bus ride and snacks. Participants will leave the Indiana Dunes State Park Nature Center at 2 p.m., and should return about 6 p.m. To register, call 1-219-926-1390.

Nov. 4-Nov. 10	Major	Minor	Sunrise	Sunset
Today	1:06 a.m. 1:31 p.m.	7:48 a.m. 8:13 p.m.	7:16 a.m.	5:33 p.m.
Thursday	2:09 a.m. 2:34 p.m.	8:51 a.m. 9:16 p.m.	7:17 a.m.	5:32 p.m.
Friday	3:13 a.m. 3:31 p.m.	9:55 a.m. 10:20 p.m.	7:18 a.m.	5:31 p.m.
Saturday	4:13 a.m. 4:38 p.m.	10:55 a.m. 11:20 p.m.	7:20 a.m.	5:30 p.m.
Sunday	5:10 a.m. 5:35 p.m.	11:52 a.m. -------------	7:21 a.m.	5:29 p.m.
Monday	5:27 a.m. 5:52 p.m.	11:44 p.m. 12:09 p.m.	7:22 a.m.

Tuesday

6:17 a.m.

6:42 p.m.

12:34 a.m.

12:59 p.m.

7:23 a.m.

5:27 p.m.

Friday - pheasant, quail, rabbit seasons open

Sunday - raccoon and opossum seasons open

14 - opening day of deer firearms season

21 - put-and-take pheasant hunts begin on select state fish and wildlife areas