Rauner vetoes plan to study supplemental deer feeding

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Gov. Bruce Rauner has vetoed legislation that would permit experts to study the impact of supplemental feeding of wild deer.

The Republican on Tuesday rejected the proposal by Mahomet (muh-HAH'-meht) Republican Sen. Chapin Rose for the University of Illinois Prairie Research Institute study.

Hunters advocate supplemental feeding to ensure deer herds have proper nutrition during summer antler-growing season and in winter when natural food sources are scarce.

The study would determine the health effects of supplemental feeding on deer herds and whether it would spread communicable diseases. It would determine the locations where it might provide the most benefit.

Rauner is a hunter but says that the study's scope should be better defined and make clearer the involvement of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources .

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The bill is SB2493 .