MUNDY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — This will be a year of big change for Michigan deer-hunters, forced to give up the long-cherished practice of setting out bait to lure the animals.

How seriously this affects the state's estimated 725,000 deer hunters won't be known until after the season opens Saturday. The state Department of natural Resources banned deer baiting to control the spread of chronic wasting disease.

Donald M. Baxter is from Genesee County's Fenton Township but likes to hunt with a shotgun in a tree stand on a friend's land in nearby Mundy Township — about 50 miles northwest of Detroit.

"In years past during bow season I'd put a little corn or apples or carrots out to get that perfect 20-yard bow range, maybe bait several sites and then monitor them to see where you'd want to set up your stand. Not this time," Baxter told The Flint Journal.

"But heck, our forefathers didn't used to go out there and put all those foods out," Baxter said. "I guess we'll have to relearn the traditional ways of doing things."

State experts on wildlife and disease control say the ban was necessary, even if it disrupts some hunters' plans.

"We knew this was the wrong time of year to be taking Santa Claus away, but this is not a disease to drag your feet on," said Kevin Kirk of the Michigan Department of Agriculture's veterinary office. "With transmission of this disease there's a lot we still don't know. We can't take anything for granted."

Some bait dealers have been hit hard.

"This affects 300 of our retail accounts," Jim Van Den Bosch, co-owner of John A. Van Den Bosch Co., in Zeeland, told The Grand Rapids Press. "Our deer products are 4 to 5 percent of our business, but I had to send a lot of product back to my manufacturers because of canceled purchase orders."

Others acknowledge the ban's value, despite its side effects.

"A lot of guys are disappointed about the ban, but it's good thing for our sport. People will adjust," said Jim Naber, owner of Naber's Taxidermy in Grand Rapids.

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On the Net:

Michigan Department of Natural Resources: http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/