November 04, 2010
A recent study released by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources revealed the opinions of gun and bowhunters from the Northeast section of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan about hunting with bait. Sixty-eight percent of all hunters from that area approved of baiting deer. When baiting was banned in that region, about 50 percent of gun hunters hunted less. In Deer Management Unit 452, 54 percent of all bowhunters used bait, and they had a 41 percent success rate. Only 13 percent of those bowhunters not using bait were successful. In that same management area, 37 percent of gun hunters used bait, and 51 percent were successful. Gun hunters who did not use bait had a 40 percent success rate.