BIG GAME -- The Idaho Senate has passed legislation to relax domestic elk testing requirements for a deadly brain disease that has plagued herds in other states, the Associated Press just reported.

All domestic elk in Idaho must be tested annually for chronic wasting disease.

But elk ranchers who sell meat and charge hunters to shoot trophy bulls have convinced lawmakers to ease the requirements. The Senate passed legislation today to allow virtually all Idaho elk ranchers to test just 20 percent of their animals once every three years.

The bill goes to the House.

Some sportsmen are against the measure, raising longstanding fears of disease spreading from domestic elk to Idaho’s prized wild elk herds.

But supporters -- including an elk rancher on the Senate committee that gave this bill an OK -- contend testing has never detected disease in Idaho’s domestic herds and the standards can be safely relaxed.