Will Michigan’s Deer Baiting Ban Be Overturned? Probably Not.

The Michigan State House of Representatives has completed work on legislation to overturn a hotly contested Department of Natural Resources administrative rule banning the use of bait by deer hunters. The House is agreeing to support a couple of changes to its legislation by State Senators.

The legislation is now being delivered to Governor Gretchen Whitmer for action.  But there’s little chance the Governor will sign the legislation.  She’s already indicated she stands by the professional resource experts at the DNR and she will not interfere with their decisions.

The ban on deer baiting is intended to keep deer from congregating which is claimed to make it easier for deer to pass diseases like Chronic Wasting Disease from one to another. Many hunters scoff at the idea, claiming deer are in physical contact with each other regularly, and don’t need a bait pile to draw them together.  A recent poll of hunters on a popular Michigan based Facebook group, Michigan Whitetail Pursuit,  got thousands of responses with well over 80 percent of the hunters opposed to the baiting ban.