Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting CWD found in PA wild deer.

See the press release from the PA Game Commission below:

PGC Link

that stinks

Not unexpected news but still don't want to hear it.

Dale

Well it did seem inevitable............

Sad, but it was only a matter of time.

Just more logs to throw in the fire. Not suprising at all. Soon every state in the continental U.S. will have it

Now the PA GAme Commission can over react like every other state game agancy has. Just start killing off the herd that will stop it !!

Guess Ny will keep the ban in place for transporting PA deer over state lines

Ughhh.......

People need to realize that the Dept. of Ag has jurisdiction here over captive deer farms and NOT the Game Commission, when reacting to CWD developments in PA.

The recent CWD positives found in hunter killed deer, are possibly connected to the proximity of deer farms in those areas, several of which had escapees on the loose. And some may have been on the loose for some time? No one knows for sure, because Ag has little clue about what has been going on.

So far it appears that there has been quite a bit of "interaction" on such deer farms, between deer that had contact with infected deer from other locations. The frequency with which captive deer have been shipped about from place to place, may well be a factor? Then consider how many had gotten loose into the wild and were never reported, as required.

Bottom line, Ag never kept much track of how such deer farming operations were being run, so now that CWD is here in PA, they are of little help. When Game had control, at least they made sure records were kept, reports were required and inspections took place.

Which is precisely why deer farmers here whined to the legislature about Game being too strict and how deer farming came to be switched to Ag jurisdiction in the first place.

All Game can do now, is deal with CWD in "wild" deer, as they have no jurisdiction over the captive ones.

Ag wouldn't even make former deer farmers put fences back up, once CWD was detected and they knew those former sites once held deer that had contact with other deer farms where CWD was detected.

In at least one case, Game had to foot the bill to re-fence such a place, because Ag claimed they had no jurisdiction, since the guy no longer had deer. Putting the fence back up was critical, since the CWD prions can exist in soils for years and could spread to wild deer.

This is bad news for all of us. Damn sad that some view it as inevitable.
Still haven't heard a good argument for whitetail farming.
But....I'm told I have become quite the curmudgeon.

Another possibility for the spread of the disease into PA is the long-time presence of it in MD just across the state line from the counties where it was found. We'll probably never know exactly how it got into the wild deer population but just like many other states we will have to learn to deal with it. I have a cabin just east of the affected counties so I am sure I will become a reluctant participant in the process, whatever it becomes.

Ron

Yes, it's been found in both WV and MD, either in captives or in free roaming, wild deer. CWD was also found in a captive herd in upstate NY a few years ago. I think somewhere near Syracuse?

To answer your issue that I quoted: When you figure out that there are thousands of deer (legally) held in captivity all over PA and that many of them have been moved about within PA and also sold out of state - figure the probabilities that CWD may have been spread about by all that activity. Many of them have escaped over the years, with little accountability for that.

Pa Dept. of AG has been less than forthcoming on their records and even less effective in monitoring legally held deer in PA.

Then also know that quite a few deer are also being held, or have been held illegally, with zero record of where they came from or where they went, it adds an even more critical element to the spread of CWD.

In short, captive deer operations in PA are one giant cluster, whether AG ever admits it, or not?

Welcome.

Family friends found a starving deer staggering around the barn on their property in southern Dauphin County earlier this week. PA Game Comm. has taken it for testing for CWD. If test is positive this would place the disease about 120 miles east of the previously confirmed cases in Bedford and Blair Counties.

Ron

This is a wrong-sided view. The Game Commission is not the problem. The problem in PA is all the whining & bitchin from select hunting groups and hunters that force the GC into bad spots based on political pressure.

As for the core isse of CWD and game farms, there simply should not be game farms. I understand their purpose, but given the risks they introduce, it is not worth it. The farms either need to be regulated in a responsible manner or simply removed.

...just my 2cents

Period

When the PGC was in charge of deer farms, there were annual inspections of the fences but I don't think AG has the staff to do all the inspections. There should be a second fence erected around all the deer farms to create a biosecure zone so wild deer and captive deer can't intermingle.
With CWD now in the state, all deer feeding should be stopped. The disease is passed in the saliva and the prions that cause CWD remain active for an unknown amount of time. Congregating deer around a food source can increase the spread of the disease.
When I first started with the PGC, we had a meeting to outline our response to CWD which basically involved setting up a baited area and then killing all deer. I think that has now been changed to a "let it run its course" plan. Other states did the kill off and did not have success eradicating the disease.

Yep, that's what I meant. Thanks for simplifying

I'd even expand it to deer feeding. It shoudnt be illegal per se, but no one should do it.



...
How many hogs have expanded their range via extensive deer feeding?
its unnatural, and must aid spreading CWD.

Plant & maintain good habitat instead.

Eh, I'm heading off on my tangent. Next thing I'll be explaining why antler restrictions should be REVERSED. (no shooting of bucks with more than 3 points per side.)