North Dakota State Senator Keith Boehm proposes lessening regulations on baiting large game, despite chronic wasting disease concerns

a herd of deer on a rut season

A bill aiming to prevent the North Dakota Game and Fish Department from regulating baiting for big game on private land has been reintroduced in the state legislature. SB 2137, sponsored by Sen. Keith Boehm, follows a similar bill that narrowly failed in 2023. Currently, Game and Fish prohibits baiting in chronic wasting disease-affected areas and on public lands. Proponents argue baiting aids hunters, while opponents cite neurological disease concerns, because when the deer are baited to an area, they congregate and spread disease through saliva, blood, urine, and feces. Game and Fish has a compromise policy allowing baiting in some areas with sufficient negative CWD tests.