Since I was here in Mackinaw City on vacation, I was at the boarder of the baiting and non-baiting area.  I could look across the Stratis of Mackinaw and see the other side where baiting was allowed.

I thought of how this new CWD case would impact the hunting industry and began to wonder will stores still sell feeders and will farmers still sell bait?  I went to Mackinaw Outfitters this morning to get the answer to one of those questions.  Mackinaw Outfitters is a outdoors hunting and fishing store that has an affiliation with Bass Pro.  While discussing the CWD problem, I asked the sales asscociate in the archery department if they would continue to sell feeders.  He told me that they discussed this issue that very morning in the managers meeting and they decided to cut the order on the feeders for the season.  Although, they would continue to sell feeders since they could look across the Straits and see the Upper Peninsula where baiting was allowed.  So for at least this store they will continue to sell them for the hunters who can bait in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

I hope to get in touch with a farmer this week to see what the impact will be to them as well.  I will also try to get with a private game ranch to see just what they are expecting to happen in the near future, since they can no longer let any animal leave the premises.  We will continue to monitor this sensitive situation and keep you updated as information comes out on this hot topic.