Pennsylvania Game News - August 2019 - 10

SUCCESS IN ILLINOIS
out carcasses in the dumpster. They also
shared their stories with Duren:
- "We had a group of five guys shoot
four bucks, and all tested positive."
- "Twenty-four of 43 deer we killed
tested positive. All antlered bucks were
positive, along with many does and some
fawns. Fawns!"
- "We've had seven out of 11 test positive so far."
- "We love to hunt big bucks, but
it's getting harder to justify why we do
it, since most of the time there's a good
chance no meat comes from it."
- "The only justification we use now
(for hunting) is that we're removing diseased animals from the landscape."

CONCLUSION
One hopes that skeptical hunters in
states new to CWD keep those facts and
accounts in mind when scoffing at the
always-fatal disease. Skepticism was
common in Wisconsin after the DNR
documented 205 CWD cases in five
counties in 2002, and it hardened after the
agency again found 205 cases in 2006, this
time across eight counties.
But only the "true believers" kept scoffing after the DNR found 1,063 cases in
2018 across 26 counties.

Illinois detected its first case of CWD
in Boone County in November 2002. The
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
(DNR) increased hunter opportunities in
the months that followed and additional
CWD positives were found. The following year, Illinois DNR supplemented
hunter harvest with targeted removals,
as needed, to better evaluate the status
of CWD in the local area. Through these
management strategies, Illinois DNR has
been able to keep CWD at bay, maintaining a prevalence of approximately 2
percent ever since. While no methods
have been proven to stop the geographic
spread of CWD, success seen in Illinois and
other states, provides hope that Pennsylvania might be able to keep the number
of infected deer low and slow the spread
of disease to new areas.

Meanwhile, across the border, Illinois
also discovered its first CWD case in
2002. Unlike Wisconsin, though, Illinois
stuck with its disease-management plan.
It has documented 736 cases in 18 years,
an average of 41 annually.
Illinois' success documents the fact
Wisconsin's CWD plan didn't fail. It
was simply abandoned after a promising start.
Formerly the editor of Deer & Deer
Hunting magazine, Patrick Durkin is an
award-winning writer from Wisconsin.

Cover Painting by Doug Pifer
"Who's the New Guy?" is an artistic rendering that might happen
wherever bowhunters have planted 3-D targets to ready themselves
for the coming fall seasons. Although the target lacks the emotion
of its inquisitors, which at this time of the year welcome bachelor
companionship, its form - and maybe its headgear - is enough to draw
attention, even curiosity. Whitetails have a snoopiness about them. It
often gets them in trouble, but it also teaches them the ways of the
woods. It's all harmless while they sport velvet, but eveything is different
when those antlers harden!

10
Pennsylvania Game News - August 2019

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