Manitowoc County’s local representative in the Wisconsin Assembly has announced that a bill he and the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association collaborated to create has been adopted.
As the current law reads, bear hunters can place bait in hollow logs, stumps, and holes in the ground, however, the bait must be capped with logs, rocks, or other permitted substances, so animals such as whitetail deer cannot access the bait.
The Bear Bait bill, penned by Representative Paul Tittl, will allow Wisconsin hunters to place a wood bottom under the bait so other animals are unable to access it from below.
This change creates a safer bait site and is more environmentally friendly than other states’ approaches, which allow materials that do not decompose.
Tittl said in response to the bill being passed, “Don’t take the bait that this a bad piece of legislation, and say we could bear-ly get it through, it was unanimous.”