ATLANTA — State lawmakers want to put an end to stricter rules placed on north Georgia hunters who use corn, apples or other bait to lure deer. 

A provision that was quietly packed into a larger bill this year lets hunters statewide kill a deer at any distance when using bait, which was leeway once only granted to south Georgia hunters. In north Georgia, hunters have had to stay two football field lengths away from, or out of sight, of the bait. 

The disparate rules were part of a compromise measure passed in 2011, and proponents have pushed earnestly ever since for equal footing in the northern half of Georgia. 

“We can’t just draw an arbitrary line and say, ‘If you live on this side of the line, this is going to be the law for you but if you live on this side of the line, this is an entirely different law for you,’” said Sen. Chuck Payne, a Republican from Dalton, who led a failed effort last year. 

Critics argued that expanding the practice statewide could cause disease to spread faster and also feed nuisance animals, such as destructive feral hogs. They also said the technique is not in keeping with the spirit of “fair chase” hunting ethics. 

Proponents, though, won over an important ally: Nathan Deal. The former governor issued a post-session executive order last year that tasked the state Department of Natural Resources with settling the matter. That agency’s board opted last summer to remove the distance requirement for north Georgia. 

Those developments during the break paved the way for the once-controversial proposal this year. 

Most of the outcry over the wide-ranging hunting bill revolved around hunting with air guns and disappointment among some over a failed attempt to dub the shoal bass Georgia’s official native riverine sport fish. 

If Gov. Brian Kemp signs the bill, the rules created last year will continue on as is, according to DNR’s spokesman, Wes Robinson. 

As for concerns about disease, Robinson noted what is known as “supplemental feeding” has been legal across Georgia for many years. 

“The change made last year was simply how far one could hunt from the feed, not if placing the feed itself was legal,” Robinson said.

Robinson also said Tuesday that there have been no disease outbreaks in the last year. That includes no cases of the contagious and deadly chronic wasting disease that has surfaced in other states, including Mississippi and western Tennessee. 

But there has also only been one deer-hunting season since the changes were put into effect. 

“Because you haven’t doesn’t mean you won’t,” said Mike Worley, who is president of the Georgia Wildlife Federation. 

If the disease reaches Georgia, Worley said it will now likely spread faster since deer will be concentrated around man-made feeding stations. 

“I just pray we never get it, honestly,” he said. 

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.