LANSING (WWJ/AP) - Metro Detroit-native musician Ted Nugent, also an avid hunter, is speaking out in support of legislation that would reverse a ban on deer and elk baiting in Michigan.
The Michigan Natural Resources Commission in 2018 banned baits, such as corn or vegetables, in the Lower Peninsula and some areas of the Upper Peninsula to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease.
The House Operations Committee heard testimony Tuesday on a bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Michele Hoitenga of Wexford County that would erase the prohibition.
"The law banning feeding and baiting in Michigan is going to chase hunting families out of the sport for absolutely no reason," said Nugent. "If a disease can be transmitted by nose-to-nose contact, there is not a damn thing you can do about it."
Nugent contends that deer eat from the same trees and plants "from the day they're born," regardless of baiting.
"While I'm sitting here, deer are swapping spit, They eat off the same apple, they eat off the same branch," Nugent said. "They all go to a licking branch. If you don't know what a licking branch is, there's one every couple acres in Michigan, and every deer chews the branch."
The singer said Wisconsin, which adopted a similar baiting ban, "has lost 200,000 deer hunters" -- and revenue along with them.
Chronic wasting disease is a contagious, neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose, according to the DNR. It causes a degeneration of the brain resulting in emaciation (abnormally thin), abnormal behavior, loss of bodily functions and death. Chronic wasting disease is fatal; once an animal is infected there is no recovery or cure. Learn more about CWD in Michigan HERE.