MADISON (AP) — Landowners in an area where chronic wasting disease was first detected will be allowed to bait deer to aid in the eradication of the herd under an emergency rule approved Jan. 7 by Wisconsin’s Natural Resources Board.

A statewide ban on baiting and feeding was imposed last year in an effort to stem the spread of chronic wasting disease, which scientists believe is spread by animal-to-animal contact.

But the DNR board voted 6-1 to allow baiting in a 411-square-mile area around Mount Horeb. Members hope the bait piles will congregate deer and make it easier for landowners and sharpshooters to kill them in larger numbers.

They also said, however, that DNR sharpshooters will not be able to wipe out the herd in the area on their own and will need more help from landowners and private hunters.

“We’re going to need every tool we can in the tool box,” said chairman Trygve Solberg. “Baiting is a very good tool, but it won’t even get us close to eradication.” The ban on baiting and feeding will stay in effect for the rest of the state.

The DNR’s long-term goal is to kill all of the deer in the eradication zone in an effort to wipe out chronic wasting disease, which causes deer to grow thin and die. So far, about 8,000 of the estimated 25,000 deer in the area have been killed.

The short-term goal is to kill an additional 10,000 deer to 12,000 deer to get the herd to its population target of 20 deer to 25 deer per square mile, said Tom Hauge, DNR’s director of wildlife management.

Mr. Hauge said the DNR hopes hunters take advantage of a special hunt in the infected area to continue harvesting deer. Some 1,700 landowners in the area also will be notified this week they can receive an extension on permits allowing them to harvest deer on their property outside of the established hunting seasons.

The permission to bait deer will extend through March 31 under the emergency rule. Extending it longer will need legislative approval.

The emergency rule emerged from a series of town meetings DNR biologists held with residents and landowners in the eradication zone to generate ideas on how to wipe out the deer herd in part of south central Wisconsin that has been infected with CWD.

A total of 50 wild deer in the eradication zone have tested positive for the disease since it was found in the herd last February.

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Five Deer Test Positive in CWD Management Zone.

Five white-tailed deer from the western part of the CWD Management Zone have tested positive for the disease. This is the first time since the DNR began testing for CWD in wild deer, that positives have been found outside of the Eradication Zone.
Full story..

Baiting in Eradication Zone approved.

Landowners in the CWD Eradication Zone (EZ) will be allowed to hunt deer over bait under emergency rules that the Natural Resources Board approved in a special session 1/7/03. Also approved was an extension of shooting permits in the EZ until 3/31/03.
Full story..
Sec. Hassett's letter to landowners regarding permits.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources began monitoring the state’s wild white-tailed deer herd for CWD in 1999. The first positives in the state, and the first positive cases east of the Mississippi River, were found on February 28, 2002 in three deer near the south-central Wisconsin town of Mount Horeb. The DNR responded by immediately implementing an intensive surveillance effort in the area of CWD positives to determine the extent of CWD infection. Over 2000 additional deer from this area of infection were tested for CWD between March and September 2002. Results from these collection efforts indicated that CWD appears to be localized to areas surrounding Mount Horeb in western Dane-eastern Iowa Counties and a small portion of southern Sauk County.

In June, the Natural Resources Board approved an emergency rule establishing three special CWD zones, determined by distance from positive CWD cases, called the eradication zone, intensive harvest zone and CWD management zone. Because of the localized infection, it was determined that greatly reducing the deer population in the CWD zones was the best approach to eradicating the disease in Wisconsin. Hunting opportunities in the CWD zones with special regulations and extended seasons are tools the DNR plans to use to achieve adequate herd reduction.

With its partners from the Wisconsin Departments of Health and Agriculture, the DNR has begun an intensive statewide surveillance effort starting with the early Zone T deer hunt and continuing as needed through the traditional gun deer season. Following the hunting seasons, additional herd control measures will be implemented with extensive input from local governments, residents and other concerned citizens.

All surveillance efforts relating to CWD are being performed to further understand the disease and protect the future of the whitetail herd. Test results will help determine the presence and prevalence of CWD in the wild white-tailed herd. Results of surveillance efforts should not be interpreted in terms of meat safety. However, there is no scientific evidence to date suggesting that CWD poses a health risk to humans.

Understanding Chronic Wasting Disease in Wisconsin (PDF 2.6MB)

Chronic Wasting Disease - Human Health Implications (video)

For questions or comments about
Chronic Wasting Disease,
send e-mail to: Wildlife

Its just the Wisconsin DNR pissing away more tax money. In standard Wisconsin DNR mode they put in too little effort and way too late for it to have any meaningful effect.

Had they wanted to actually try to get this under control, and had they actually believed the propaganda they were spreading, they would have implemented an extermination in the suspect counties to begin with and special testing hunts in the surrounding counties. What did they do instead? Well they screwed off for a year or so, allowed it to spread all over the state, and now theyre taking "serious" action in the original hot zone. Yeah, thatll fix it.

These people have to be some of the most incompetent of all of the natural resource agencies. When they arent restricting access and usage of bodies of water by poisoning them with trout its only because theyre busy protecting invasive nonindigenous species, going out of theyre way to grossly mismanage a game species, destroying the habitat of one valuable species to the benefit of some questionable other, and issuing pollution permits to protect irresponsible businesses from the otherwise inevitable property lawsuits.

I say defund them and let private wildlife clubs handle the natural resources and stop protecting businesses from some of their more egregious practices by no longer authorizing pollution.

"I predict a good vehicle-deer season next year."

Probably, and requiring additional federal funding, Im sure, but they wont issue more bonus tags or extend the season as that would be "over reacting".

There has been talk by a few about trying to get a T zone in my area. A backlash of hysteria about herd destruction and other nonsense has people putting out "no T zone" signs. To be honest I cant figure out how even a T zone in my area is going to help. I have herds in excess of 20 deer roaming around and through my property. The deer are so thick that a family acrossed the swamp lost their whole self-sufficiency garden, not a little hobby garden but a big one for a big family, to hungry deer almost overnight.

Something has got to give, any more damage to property or any damage to family, and Ill have to start doing some unauthorized thinning.

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