HUNTERS IN THE Upper Peninsula Chronic Wasting Disease Surveillance Zone can resume baiting and feeding practices beginning with this year’s hunting seasons, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. (Michigan Department of Natural Resources photo)

The Upper Peninsula Chronic Wasting Disease Surveillance Zone — which includes parts of Delta, Dickinson and Menominee counties — will be removed beginning with this year’s hunting seasons, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources said.

As a result, hunters in this area can resume baiting and feeding practices.

The change was approved at a recent meeting of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission in Roscommon, where the commission adopted deer regulations that will be in effect for the 2023, 2024 and 2025 hunting seasons.

In a news release Tuesday, DNR deer program experts said while many of the traditional regulations remain unchanged, there are several updates aimed at enhancing deer hunting opportunities for Michigan deer hunters this year and beyond.

“There are many challenges facing deer hunting in Michigan and across much of the Midwest in the coming years,” said Chad Stewart, the DNR’s deer, elk and moose management specialist. “While the approved regulations for the 2023-2025 deer seasons are geared toward increasing opportunities for a declining hunter base, we recognize that we’ll have to continue to evaluate all possible options to sustainably manage Michigan’s deer herd in the future.”

The Upper Peninsula’s first and only case of known chronic wasting disease was confirmed Oct. 18, 2018, in Dickinson County’s Waucedah Township. Later that year a roughly 10-mile-radius core surveillance area — encompassing 661 square miles — was created. It centered on Waucedah Township as the DNR worked to determine whether CWD existed in areas around where the doe that tested positive was found.

State officials have since tested nearly 2,100 deer and found no new infections.

In Wisconsin, deer baiting and feeding remains prohibited in four counties bordering the U.P. — Marinette, Florence, Forest and Vilas. Under state statute, the Wisconsin DNR is required to enact a ban on the baiting and feeding of deer for at least two years in any county within 10 miles of a captive or free-roaming deer that tests positive for either CWD or bovine tuberculosis.

CWD is a progressive, fatal disease that affects the brain, spinal cord and many other tissues of deer. It can spread through proteins contained in their feces, urine or saliva, which makes bait piles a hazard, wildlife officials say.

Under Michigan’s new regulations for the former U.P. CWD Surveillance Zone, hunter’s choice antler point regulations have been reinstated. These include an unrestricted tag for the deer license and point restrictions for the regular/restricted tag of the deer combo license. The restrictions on the deer combo license are three points on a side for the regular tag and four points on a side for the restricted tag.

A proposal to allow crossbows in the late archery season in the Upper Peninsula was rejected by the NRC. This includes hunters in the previous CWD Surveillance Zone where crossbow use in the late archery season had previously been allowed.

Other updated regulations in Michigan include —

— Liberty Hunt: Hunters participating in the Liberty Hunt, a firearm weekend deer hunt on private or public land for youth and hunters with disabilities, will now be allowed to harvest more than one deer. While the limit for bucks remains at one, hunters can pursue multiple antlerless deer. It is important to note that a separate license will be required for each deer harvested during this hunt.

— Restricted tag on the deer combo license: The four-point antler point restriction on the restricted tag of the deer combo license has been reinstated in 19 Lower Peninsula counties: Barry, Calhoun, Clinton, Eaton, Gratiot, Hillsdale, Ingham, Ionia, Isabella, Jackson, Kent, Lenawee, Mecosta, Midland, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Ottawa and Shiawassee. Under the updated regulation, all deer combo licenses in southern Lower Peninsula counties will now have an unrestricted regular tag and a four-point restricted tag.

A proposal to reinstate antlerless harvest opportunities in several northern deer management units — 007, 031, 042, 048, 066, 127 and 131 — using archery equipment was rejected. Antlerless harvest remains largely prohibited in those units, with exceptions only for qualified individuals during the Liberty Hunt and through Deer Management Assistance Permits where authorized.

Full summaries of approved deer regulations will be available closer to hunting season openers, the DNR said.