Baiting Deer Could Return for 2019 Firearm Season
A bill that went through the house Tuesday could bring back baiting privileges to Michigan hunters once again.
According to MLive, the Michigan House Government Operations Committee voted 3-2 to allow the baiting of deer and elk to return during the regular hunting season.
The Department of Natural Resources banned deer baiting for the entire Lower Peninsula and parts of the Upper Peninsula in an effort to curb chronic wasting disease in the deer population.
If the House Bill 4687 passes, this would override the DNR and allow the baiting of deer and elk to be unrestricted throughout the state.
Apparently the ban is already hurting Michigan businesses since many hunters who cannot bait are now not hunting.
Rocker Ted Nugent even spoke at the Capitol back in September in support of lifting the ban on baiting.
Nugent said, "The law is wrong, the law is bad, the law is illegal."
The DNR says it has plenty of research that baiting increases the likelihood of CWD to spread. They also believe they should be the deciding force in whether people should be allowed to bait or not and not the state to make the decision.
The House will review the bill but the bill will need to be passed by the Senate and then Governor Gretchen Whitmer will need to sign 4687 to become law.