CWD is too big a problem to be ignored by hunters and non-hunters | Sports

BARNESVILLE – This is the 800-pound gorilla in the room

Unfortunately, "he" is not confined to a room, but in the woods and fields of Pennsylvania in a population very much Too big deer of the state here. "It" is a chronic debilitating disease, and while no cases have yet been found in the immediate area, infected deer have been found as close as southwestern Berks County.

Free Deer collected in 2017 by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, 78 were tested positive for CWD. Outside the record, a source at PGC said the agency was hoping for no more than 40 cases, showing that the number of CWD cases continues to multiply in Pennsylvania.

In 2016, 25 loose deer were documented in the state by the PGC. As a result of this continued increase, more and more state residents are affected by rules that are aimed at slowing the spread of the disease, which is still fatal to deer and elk that it infects. .

Skip Klinger of the Governor's Council on Hunting, Fishing and Conservation presented an update on the CWD and its impact on the bi-monthly meeting of the Association Athletes from Schuylkill County to Locust Valley Fish and Game Club. He stated that 75 of the 78 infected deer were in or near disease management zone 2 in south-central Pennsylvania and that 3 MDC-positive deer were in or near DMA. 3 in northwestern Pennsylvania. MDC positive deer being detected close to their limits, these two DMAs have been expanded, "added Klinger." With the early-year creation of DMA 4, established after CWD's discovery in a Captive Deer Farm in Lancaster County, more than 5,895 square miles in Pennsylvania are found in DMAs, in which special rules apply to hunters and residents. "It is illegal to feed deer in DMAs, and hunters are prohibited from carrying high risk parts such as the head and spine of the deer that they harvest in a DMA to points in Outside of a DMA In 1965, the Pennsylvania Game Commission tested 7,910 free deer and 128 elk for CWD, and more than half of these deer 4,753 – were badociated with DMA 2 and 3. Samples from 3,304 deer of DMA 2 and 1,449 deer of DMA 3 were tested, and only in or near these DMAs were free deer test positive-positive, a total of 125 positive deer CWD -Devices have been detected in Pennsylvania since 2012 – all in DMA 2 and 3. The CWD sampling has increased in 2017, compared to the 5,707 deer and 110 elk collected in 2016 and tested, which is largely due to the decision of the PGC to provide free DLG tests for cervids that the s hunters take in the DMAs.

More than 1,533 deer captured by hunters in DMAs were tested free of charge after depositing the heads of their deer. in collection boxes set up in pu zones. Through the use of these collection boxes, 28 MDC-positive deer have been identified and since 2002, the PGC has tested more than 69,000 cervids for MDC

Bryan Burhans, Executive Director of PGC, said that the increase of CWD cases is important for hunters. and residents to stay up to date on how the boundaries of the DMA might have changed due to the detection of new CWD positives. "19659003]" Due to the increasing number of CWD detections and the sudden emergence of this disease in new parts of the all Pennsylvanians should be on their guard against the threat posed by the MDC and on the potential of the disease to have detrimental effects on the tradition of venison and deer hunting in Pennsylvania, "Burhans said. "It is important for all of us to take this threat seriously and to do everything possible to slow the spread of the disease where it exists"

"By interrupting the deer's diet and by curbing other behaviors By responsibly eliminating parts of the high-risk deer and not transporting them outside the DMA, people living in DMAs can contribute to the fight against CWD. 2 and 3 were expanded due to sampling of the 2017 DLGs, and the newly established DMA 4 was put in place in February.

DMA 2 now totals more than 4,614 square miles and includes parts the counties of Juniata, Mifflin and Perry, added to all or part of the counties of Adams, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Clearfield, Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon and Somerset; DMA 3 has been expanded to over 916 square miles.