Port: If you care about hunting, oppose legislation taking away the state’s ability to regulate deer baiting
MINOT, N.D. — I’ll preface this column by saying that, in the hunting tradition I grew up in, baiting animals is anathema. It’s not considered sporting. Something akin to shooting fish in a barrel.
Still, I understand that, for some, baiting is a part of their hunting tradition. For others, particularly guides and those who own lucrative hunting lands, it’s about profits.
For better or worse, deer baiting is legal in North Dakota. Whether or not it should be is a question for another day.
At the very least, we should all agree that baiting should be subject to prudent regulation by our state’s game and fish officials to protect wildlife populations and production agriculture. Deer baiting can exacerbate the spread of animal ailments such as chronic wasting disease, which are a threat to deer populations, or bovine tuberculosis, which can harm both deer and cattle.
