Michigan Senate votes to end ban on baiting deer — but not in time for hunting season

Kathleen Gray | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Michigan hunting 101: What to hunt, where to do it Fall hunting season is approaching quickly and Michigan offers millions of acres of public land to explore.

LANSING — Two days before hunting season starts in Michigan, the Senate passed a bill that will repeal a ban on baiting deer.

The bill – HB 4687 – was amended by the Senate, however, to include a provision that limits the size of the feed that hunters can use to nothing bigger than a sugar beet. It narrowly passed without any debate on a 21-14 vote.

The change means the bill won’t be law this hunting season because it still has to get final concurrence in the House of Representatives, which is on a three-week hunting and Thanksgiving break. The firearm hunting season runs from Nov. 15-30.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, said the repeal was overdue.

"I'm an avid bow hunter and I don't see any problem with baiting whatsoever," he said. "How many of you would go fishing and not put worm on your hook?"

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The state has banned baiting deer with piles of apples, carrots or feed to lure them to a specific targeted spot during hunting season.

The Natural Resources Commission made that ruling in 2018 as a way to stop the spread of chronic wasting disease, an ailment that has hit Michigan’s deer herd and is always fatal.

The bill limits the amount of feed that can be distributed by hunters to be no more than five gallons spread over 400 square feet. And no more than one bait pile can be used in any hunting site.

The ban was decried by hunting enthusiasts who told lawmakers that they were interfering with hunting heritage.

But supporters, including the Michigan United Conservation Club, testified earlier this year that the science was clear on the ban helping curb the spread of chronic wasting disease.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal