OutdoorMN News - Wild deer identified as presumptive positive for CWD outside of disease management zone; first in Houston County

[Rick]

A wild deer harvested in Houston County on Nov. 17 has been identified as presumptive positive for chronic wasting disease, the Department of Natural Resources said. Official confirmation will come later this week. The hunter has been notified and the DNR is making arrangements to pick up the meat and carcass. 

It is the first detection of the neurological disease in Houston County since testing began in 2002.

If confirmed positive, the DNR will offer landowner shooting permits in the area around where the deer was harvested and continue to collect samples as opportunities arise through deer-vehicle collisions or archery harvest. The DNR also will consider special hunts in January or February, depending on results from additional samples.

“While disappointing, this discovery is not unexpected given the proximity of this deer permit area to areas where CWD has been found,” said Lou Cornicelli, wildlife research manager for the DNR. The buck was harvested 8.5 miles from a Winona County deer farm where a deer tested positive for CWD in 2017 and 9.5 miles from the Wisconsin border. CWD is established in wild deer in western Wisconsin and northern Iowa.

Eleven other deer were harvested off of the same property, in deer permit area (DPA) 346, none of which tested positive for CWD.

“We’ll work closely with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health on our detections, so they can define their endemic areas,” said Cornicelli.

The Board of Animal Health regulates captive deer and elk in the state. The board creates endemic areas based on the location of wild detections of CWD. The purpose is to control and monitor farmed cervid herds in the area.

The DNR responds to and manages CWD in wild deer, part of a cooperative effort to detect and contain the disease.

Complete CWD test results from southeastern Minnesota are available on the DNR website at mndnr.gov/cwdcheck. Any additional deer harvested during current and upcoming 2018 deer seasons in the disease management zone that test positive for CWD will be reported on this CWD results web page. The DNR will directly notify any hunter who harvests a deer that tests positive. Complete information for hunters about CWD for current and upcoming hunting seasons is online at mndnr.gov/cwd.

Find more background information about CWD in southeastern Minnesota in a
Nov. 30 news release at go.usa.gov/xPtVn.

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Discuss below - to view set the hook here.

[Bigfatbert]

Why in the good Lords name doesn’t the MN DNR , or some freakin state agency , or some elected official step up and make these deer farms liable for the spread of CWD .  Or just eliminate these disease passing farms permanently. All these hot areas are caused from such nonsense. We the outdoor, hunting folks have to deal with this BS more and more and more again these days in one way shape or form. There is absolutely no reason that we the people of this state should have to deal with this type of problem of neglecting to have proper safeguards in place that actually work . If these places don’t follow mandatory requirements then fine the heck out them once  with a large enough amount that will make them think twice about the situation , OR better yet just shut them all down, or create rules and regulations that will address this matter once and for all .. It’s another farce that just really does not need to be happening whatsoever. All we hear when this stuff happens is shoot all the deer in the county , that my friends is so wrong that it comes to that point ..  Recreational feeding is not the culprit either as they wish we all would believe .. 

[Paradice]

If the deer farms were shut down, how would you then handle the deer in the wild that are spreading it? 

 

Most will rubberstamp anything as long as it doesn't affect "their spot."  But things go off the rails quickly when the DNR wants to set up shop on your property line with a corn pile and some sharp shooters.  

 

It's coming to the north.  The groundwork is already in place to find it.  It's gonna be a slow painful process in the south due to the large tracts of private land.  But in the northern woods of MN, where the land is 3/4 public, those deer will get baited and shot out in no time.  They will come from the cities with trailers to haul their deer away. 

Edited December 6, 2018 by Paradice

[delcecchi]

This disease didn't just fall out of the sky.   It was brought in by deer farmers and private land owners trucking in breeding stock from contaminated areas.   Putting deer farm regulation under the Ag guys was a monumental mistake by the fools in state government.  

 

Shutting down the deer farms would at least reduce the further introduction of disease into uninfected areas.   

How would you feel if fish farmers were allowed to put pens full of fish in lakes like LOW, Red, Mille Lacs, Superior, Vermilion, Leech, etc with basically no supervision as to what species and the origin of the fish were?   Sort of like the asian carp fiasco.   

[Bigfatbert]

On 12/5/2018 at 9:48 PM, Paradice said:

If the deer farms were shut down, how would you then handle the deer in the wild that are spreading it? 

 

Most will rubberstamp anything as long as it doesn't affect "their spot."  But things go off the rails quickly when the DNR wants to set up shop on your property line with a corn pile and some sharp shooters.  

 

It's coming to the north.  The groundwork is already in place to find it.  It's gonna be a slow painful process in the south due to the large tracts of private land.  But in the northern woods of MN, where the land is 3/4 public, those deer will get baited and shot out in no time.  They will come from the cities with trailers to haul their deer away. 

 

Its called nipping it in the bud my friend , and then the wild deer won’t be introduced to this disease .As for the north , it probably won’t show up here anyhow because the herd up here for the most part is so young , not many deer live up here even to the age of 4. CWD shows up almost always in more mature animals , and there just are not much of them to be had up here ...  Is it just a coincidence with new findings that there always seems to be a deer farm within very close proximity to these new findings . It seems if you read about a new or past case you always see the two words ‘’deer farm’’ in the same phrase or paragraph , imagine that !!!

[candiru]

At a minimum there needs to be a moratorium on new deer farms and double fencing of the existing ones to prevent contact with wild deer through the fence.