Wisconsin DNR and CWD
12-27-2002, 03:37 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Bagley WI USA
Posts: 15
Wisconsin DNR and CWD
This was in the Grant County Herald Independent, unfortunately they're not online. This isn't me but this guy farms a few miles from my house.
On Sunday Nov. 24 he shot an 11 point buck in Patch Grove Township. Upon walking up to it he noticed it was sick. It's backbone was showing and it was covered with it's own manure caked on dried on and fresh from the tip of the tail down its legs. The stomach area had a light blue color to it. He did not field dress the deer, but put his wifes tag on it and decided to take it to Fennimore to the DNR registration center where they were taking deer for CWD testing , knowing it was a prime suspect.
They asked where did he shoot the deer? He said "Patch Grove Township." They said "that's not in the zone and what do you want to do with the deer? If you don't want the deer you can throw it in the dumpster." He said he made a special trip here because the deer was sick and would be a prime sample for your test. He told them he would like a report back on what they found wrong with the deer. They said there was no way to keep of the deer and no way to let him know what was wrong with it. He asked how many sick and suspicious deer do you have in already? They said "none." He said one deer shouldn't be too hard to keep track of then, right? He finally decided to throw the deer on a piece of plastic next to the station and his wife filled out a paper form then they went to Boscobel to get a new tag for his wife.
On Dec. 2 the biologist from Boscobel called to give him the report on his deer. He was never notified about this deer. The deer had been picked up by the waste company on the monday of the regular season and hauled away. There was not one sample taken and the head was never removed. The DNR done nothing with the deer after they (the hunters) left. He is very disappointed that all we've read and heard about is CWD for the last 6 months. He feels that his time and trip were wasted trying to help the DNR check on CWD.
Don't you just love the DNRs logic on this one? I personally feel CWD has been in this state for years and the DNR is using scare tactics with CWD. Anyone with common sense would have jumped at the chance to test an obviously sick deer if they really wanted to fight CWD.
The DNR counts on deer numbers in this area have been over estimated for about 10 years or so. I saw more deer the first few years I hunted than I've seen in the last 12 years. I'm definately not alone in saying that. I'd love to see more deer and less turkeys. Shortly after the introduction of turkeys is when deer hunting went south in my opinion. I didn't hunt this year because I was out of state opening weekend and had an injury to my left shoulder, however in the 3 hunting seasons before that combined I saw 15 deer in 3 years. I used to see that many in one day in the mid 80s.
Edited by - rivers edge 2 on 12/27/2002 16:39:17
On Sunday Nov. 24 he shot an 11 point buck in Patch Grove Township. Upon walking up to it he noticed it was sick. It's backbone was showing and it was covered with it's own manure caked on dried on and fresh from the tip of the tail down its legs. The stomach area had a light blue color to it. He did not field dress the deer, but put his wifes tag on it and decided to take it to Fennimore to the DNR registration center where they were taking deer for CWD testing , knowing it was a prime suspect.
They asked where did he shoot the deer? He said "Patch Grove Township." They said "that's not in the zone and what do you want to do with the deer? If you don't want the deer you can throw it in the dumpster." He said he made a special trip here because the deer was sick and would be a prime sample for your test. He told them he would like a report back on what they found wrong with the deer. They said there was no way to keep of the deer and no way to let him know what was wrong with it. He asked how many sick and suspicious deer do you have in already? They said "none." He said one deer shouldn't be too hard to keep track of then, right? He finally decided to throw the deer on a piece of plastic next to the station and his wife filled out a paper form then they went to Boscobel to get a new tag for his wife.
On Dec. 2 the biologist from Boscobel called to give him the report on his deer. He was never notified about this deer. The deer had been picked up by the waste company on the monday of the regular season and hauled away. There was not one sample taken and the head was never removed. The DNR done nothing with the deer after they (the hunters) left. He is very disappointed that all we've read and heard about is CWD for the last 6 months. He feels that his time and trip were wasted trying to help the DNR check on CWD.
Don't you just love the DNRs logic on this one? I personally feel CWD has been in this state for years and the DNR is using scare tactics with CWD. Anyone with common sense would have jumped at the chance to test an obviously sick deer if they really wanted to fight CWD.
The DNR counts on deer numbers in this area have been over estimated for about 10 years or so. I saw more deer the first few years I hunted than I've seen in the last 12 years. I'm definately not alone in saying that. I'd love to see more deer and less turkeys. Shortly after the introduction of turkeys is when deer hunting went south in my opinion. I didn't hunt this year because I was out of state opening weekend and had an injury to my left shoulder, however in the 3 hunting seasons before that combined I saw 15 deer in 3 years. I used to see that many in one day in the mid 80s.
Edited by - rivers edge 2 on 12/27/2002 16:39:17
12-30-2002, 09:07 PM
#2
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: waukesha wi USA
Posts: 45
RE: Wisconsin DNR and CWD
This is not the only case in Grant county that deserves attention.
The deer shot in Cassville area tested positive twice in Wauwatosa, once out of state at another lab, but our DNR tested it negative, with their test. They told the lab in Wauwatosa, they should mind their own business. This is their business, and they test the same as Wyoming and other states. The same test our DNR used to find positives, when they weren't quite sure of their test.
Rivers edge 2, keep us posted.
The deer shot in Cassville area tested positive twice in Wauwatosa, once out of state at another lab, but our DNR tested it negative, with their test. They told the lab in Wauwatosa, they should mind their own business. This is their business, and they test the same as Wyoming and other states. The same test our DNR used to find positives, when they weren't quite sure of their test.
Rivers edge 2, keep us posted.
01-01-2003, 07:02 PM
#4
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
RE: Wisconsin DNR and CWD
I think CWD has been in the State a lot longer then the DNR wants to admit. I am not sure if CWD can be transfered to humans. I hope not. I do think the percentage of animals with it is very small. I also do not feel CWD is isolated to one part of the State. I do think the DNR is afraid to tell the public how wide spread the disease actually is. I think the DNR brought CWD to the attention of the public as a ploy to obtain large funding for what they claimed as necessary new buildings, funding research, and personel. Their problem now is, their announcment back fired in their face, and they must calm the public down again. It is no wonder they did not test your deer, or admit the tests preformed on the other ones.
01-02-2003, 06:22 AM
#5
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Bagley WI USA
Posts: 15
RE: Wisconsin DNR and CWD
It wasn't my deer but a farmer from my area. I also think the DNR has started something with the CWD scare that they now have absolutely no way of controlling. If they keep it up (which they will) they will cost the state millions of dollars in lost hunting interest. Some of these people that will quit hunting probably will not hunt again in the state. IMO the DNR does not deserve any praise for how they have handled the CWD scare. The eradication zone isn't going to work once it shows up all over the state in a very small percentage of the deer herd. By them not wanting to test an obviously sick deer because of where it was shot, proves that they now know they screwed up. They don't want people to know it is in other areas. It is a shame that the Wisconsin DNR is going to kill an ECONOMIC GOLDEN GOOSE in this state instead of admitting they were wrong.
01-02-2003, 07:11 AM
#6
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SE Wisconsin
Posts: 448
RE: Wisconsin DNR and CWD
.... Until just recently, there was no live-animal CWD test, and by 1999, at least 24 elk from infected herds had been shipped to a handful of Wisconsin game farms. Steven W. Miller, administrator for DNR's Division of Land, so feared CWD that in 1998, he had tried to stop importation of deer and elk from the infected area, but the legislation necessary kept dying in the state Senate. ....
http://www.milwaukeemagazine.com/122002/cwd.html
This is a excellent comprehensive article on CWD in Wisconsin.
http://www.milwaukeemagazine.com/122002/cwd.html
This is a excellent comprehensive article on CWD in Wisconsin.
01-02-2003, 03:36 PM
#7
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Sussex WI
Posts: 381
RE: Wisconsin DNR and CWD
Here's the best part of that article, in my opinion. It points the finger right at state officials as to why the deer hunt was down so much this year:
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>Despite the fact that 32 Wisconsin deer had already tested positive for CWD (with 10 more added in mid-October) and that the state was about to launch a Herculean effort to test up to 60,000 more, Kazmierczak was not alone in dismissing the danger. State veterinarian Clarence Siroky, Wisconsin's highest-ranking animal health official, was traveling the state telling hunters, "CWD is like scrapie in sheep [which has never been shown to infect humans]. It's not mad cow disease in deer. There is nothing to fear about CWD, other than its spread within the deer herd." When someone in an audience near Appleton asked Siroky whether he would feed venison to his granddaughter, he answered, "Yes."
Even the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison lent his voice to the "don't worry, keep hunting" chorus. But while all the reassurances were going on in public, in the back rooms of state government, a very different scenario was playing out. State health and safety experts were trying to force the DNR to make volunteers "wear decontamination outfits, moon suits" when they collected deer brain stem samples. "Can you imagine what kind of message that would send, the panic it would cause around the state?" asks Carl A. Batha, DNR wildlife management supervisor. "The paranoia that's gripped the populace seems to have infiltrated the DNR at the highest levels."<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>
All the time the DNR is telling us to kill everything brown that moves in the "eradication zone", state health officials are telling the DNR employees to wear "moon suits" when taking brain stem samples. THAT'S the problem! "Hey the venison is safe! But better put on your hasmat gear, just in case!"
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>Despite the fact that 32 Wisconsin deer had already tested positive for CWD (with 10 more added in mid-October) and that the state was about to launch a Herculean effort to test up to 60,000 more, Kazmierczak was not alone in dismissing the danger. State veterinarian Clarence Siroky, Wisconsin's highest-ranking animal health official, was traveling the state telling hunters, "CWD is like scrapie in sheep [which has never been shown to infect humans]. It's not mad cow disease in deer. There is nothing to fear about CWD, other than its spread within the deer herd." When someone in an audience near Appleton asked Siroky whether he would feed venison to his granddaughter, he answered, "Yes."
Even the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison lent his voice to the "don't worry, keep hunting" chorus. But while all the reassurances were going on in public, in the back rooms of state government, a very different scenario was playing out. State health and safety experts were trying to force the DNR to make volunteers "wear decontamination outfits, moon suits" when they collected deer brain stem samples. "Can you imagine what kind of message that would send, the panic it would cause around the state?" asks Carl A. Batha, DNR wildlife management supervisor. "The paranoia that's gripped the populace seems to have infiltrated the DNR at the highest levels."<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>
All the time the DNR is telling us to kill everything brown that moves in the "eradication zone", state health officials are telling the DNR employees to wear "moon suits" when taking brain stem samples. THAT'S the problem! "Hey the venison is safe! But better put on your hasmat gear, just in case!"
01-02-2003, 09:40 PM
#8
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SE Wisconsin
Posts: 448
RE: Wisconsin DNR and CWD
Perhaps CWD does perform exactly like Scrapie in sheep. But Scrapie is medically proven and has a 250 year known history to go on, CWD is ?. Personally .. I hope it is just a nusience like scrapie.
But until more is known, ... enjoy, hunt, eat .... doing the basic, recommended, handling tips is very easy.
If the DNR is overly cautious, or under reacting, ... there is always some nut in the crowd to stay it wasn't the right thing to do. We many know in a couple months who the nut is.
But until more is known, ... enjoy, hunt, eat .... doing the basic, recommended, handling tips is very easy.
If the DNR is overly cautious, or under reacting, ... there is always some nut in the crowd to stay it wasn't the right thing to do. We many know in a couple months who the nut is.
01-03-2003, 05:21 AM
#9
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Arena WI USA
Posts: 104
RE: Wisconsin DNR and CWD
Now the WSJ is reporting that the DNR would like to see baiting in the eradication zone to help the harvest. What?! Aren't these the same people that told us this is the most probable way CWD is passed? So the eradication zone was set to contain the spread(joke) and now we should start baiting within the EZ? Won't this accelerate the spread? Something stinks and I'm pointing my finger at the DNR! This is getting out of hand and is complete BS! Someone needs to put a stop to this crap immediately! RIDICULOUS!
01-03-2003, 06:23 AM
#10
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Muskego Wi USA
Posts: 31
RE: Wisconsin DNR and CWD
Read it again Jolly
(from WSJ)
"Tom Hauge, head of the agency's Bureau of Wildlife Management, said Thursday that as many as 12,000 more deer still need to be killed in the eradication zone, the 411-square-mile area where the DNR hopes to contain CWD. If landowners are allowed to use bait to attract deer, they will be able to kill more animals, Hauge said. He added that controlling the spread of the disease in the zone isn't an issue because the disease is already there and the plan is to kill all the deer in that area."
This is that hard to understand - They dont care if more deer in the Eradication zone get cwd because they want them all dead anyways. I dont think the WDNR is perfect at any stretch, but I dont understand you people that insist their every action or word is crooked...
(from WSJ)
"Tom Hauge, head of the agency's Bureau of Wildlife Management, said Thursday that as many as 12,000 more deer still need to be killed in the eradication zone, the 411-square-mile area where the DNR hopes to contain CWD. If landowners are allowed to use bait to attract deer, they will be able to kill more animals, Hauge said. He added that controlling the spread of the disease in the zone isn't an issue because the disease is already there and the plan is to kill all the deer in that area."
This is that hard to understand - They dont care if more deer in the Eradication zone get cwd because they want them all dead anyways. I dont think the WDNR is perfect at any stretch, but I dont understand you people that insist their every action or word is crooked...