Wildlife baiting rules in Alberta depend on where, and why.
Provincial parks do not allow it at all, and in other cases it depends on the animal.
Can you bait deer in Alberta?
No, it is illegal to bait deer for the purpose of deer hunting in Alberta.
However, it is perfectly legal to bait deer for non hunting purposes. If you want to bait deer to admire them from afar, but do no harm, you are welcome to do so.
This is from the Official Alberta Regulations for Hunting under the “General Regulations” section.
A debatable loophole is on private land where deer are attracted to the crops. If it’s your private land, or you have permission to hunt on that private land, this would be legal.
This is technically not considered baiting. As long as you are legitimately not using bait for the purpose of hunting.
Baiting for hunting is generally banned in the vast majority of cases and wildlife types.
There are exceptions where baiting is allowed, such as with black bears.
You can bait black bear in certain specific locations and situations. More about black bear baiting.
In Summary
- You can’t bait deer or most other wildlife for the purpose of luring them in to be hunted.
- If you fed some corn to some deer in your backyard to take a photo, or watch them from your back yard, you will be ok.
- This explains why you have seen a variety of baits at hunting and fishing shops, in spite of the fact that it is illegal to bait to kill.
- Some wildlife like black bears can be baited, but under strict circumstances.
