If you get caught illegally baiting a buck, your fine might be just that … a buck — if a group of state senators get their way. Lawmakers who are unhappy with their governor’s 2019 veto of a deer hunting regulation change have upped the ante by drafting a new bill that would essentially circumvent the governor’s pen.

On Thursday, Michigan senators introduced Senate Bill 800 that, in short, would set individual fines of illegal baiting during hunting season at not more than $1 per infraction. The law wouldn’t require fines, but rather allow the state to imposes the fine to violators.

The move is seen as a way for Michigan to keep fighting for the tens of thousands of small-property deer hunters there who lost their ability to hunt over bait last year. Baiting had been legal in Michigan for decades. It was banned in 2019. A bill late last year that called for the overturning of the ban during hunting season received support of both Democrats and Republicans, but it was vetoed by Governor Gretchen Wilson.

Introduced as part of House Bill 4687, the legislation would overturn the ban on deer baiting and feeding in Michigan. The bill originally passed the House (57-49), and then the Senate (21-14), and again in the House (61-44). 

Michigan banned baiting earlier this year. The state also sold 20,000 fewer gun-deer licenses during this year’s recently concluded hunt.

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