Baiting OK'd In Presque Isle, South Iosco Counties
ROGERS CITY (AP) - Hunters now have permission to bait deer in parts of the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
The Michigan Natural Resources Commission voted 4-1 Thursday to lift a baiting ban in Presque Isle County and southern Iosco County, although piling food to attract deer for recreational viewing remains prohibited.
Earlier this year, the commission removed the baiting ban for all the Lower Peninsula except a cluster of northeastern counties where bovine tuberculosis remains a problem.
The ban was imposed in 2008 after a deer at a captive farm was diagnosed with chronic wasting disease. No other cases have turned up.
Experts say baiting promotes the spread of diseases by causing deer to eat close together. Baiting remains off-limits in northern Iosco County and all of Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency and Oscoda counties.
(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)