Pinefarm
04-27-2002, 05:54 AM
Unlimited deer hunt is decreed in 2 counties
10:55 PM 4/26/02
Lesley Rogers Barrett County reporter
In a drastic move to crack down on the spread of chronic wasting disease, the state is opening an unlimited deer hunting season next month.
The Department of Natural Resources will begin issuing permits to landowners the week of May 6 to allow killing of unlimited numbers of deer in a 415-square-mile area of Dane and Iowa counties, DNR Secretary Darrell Bazzell said Friday.
"If we want to have healthy deer and deer hunting in the future, we're going to have to do some hard things now - open our lands and start the very sad task of drastically reducing deer numbers in the chronic wasting disease zone," Bazzell said.
Bazzell asked people to voluntarily stop feeding deer. The Dane County Board, however, is expected to go further and enact a feeding ban. The county resolution will be introduced Thursday and should be approved by the end of the month - much faster than if the feeding ban went through the state Legislature.
The practice of putting food out for deer, a hobby for some people, causes deer to congregate. Many experts believe that animal-to-animal contact spreads chronic wasting disease, a deadly brain disease.
"I question the right of telling people on their own property what they can and cannot do," said Sup. Bill Hitzemann, Mount Horeb. "But I support this, a ban on intentional feeding of deer in western Dane County."
Chronic wasting disease came into the spotlight in February, after the DNR announced that three bucks shot by hunters in November near Mount Horeb tested positive for the disease. Since then, the landowners and DNR sharpshooters killed 516 deer in Dane and Iowa counties. Fifteen have tested positive for the disease.
The permits will allow landowners to kill as many deer as possible and designate other hunters to help thin the heard.
"They (landowners) have a choice to keep the deer or give it to us for a sample," said DNR spokesman Bob Manwell.
There is no evidence that humans can catch the disease by eating meat from an infected animal, but no one can say for sure that chronic wasting disease will not cause human disease, state epidemiologist Jim Kazmierczak has said.
An informational meeting on chronic wasting disease will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Mount Horeb High School. More information on the disease is available at the DNR Web site, www.dnr.state.wi.us.
10:55 PM 4/26/02
Lesley Rogers Barrett County reporter
In a drastic move to crack down on the spread of chronic wasting disease, the state is opening an unlimited deer hunting season next month.
The Department of Natural Resources will begin issuing permits to landowners the week of May 6 to allow killing of unlimited numbers of deer in a 415-square-mile area of Dane and Iowa counties, DNR Secretary Darrell Bazzell said Friday.
"If we want to have healthy deer and deer hunting in the future, we're going to have to do some hard things now - open our lands and start the very sad task of drastically reducing deer numbers in the chronic wasting disease zone," Bazzell said.
Bazzell asked people to voluntarily stop feeding deer. The Dane County Board, however, is expected to go further and enact a feeding ban. The county resolution will be introduced Thursday and should be approved by the end of the month - much faster than if the feeding ban went through the state Legislature.
The practice of putting food out for deer, a hobby for some people, causes deer to congregate. Many experts believe that animal-to-animal contact spreads chronic wasting disease, a deadly brain disease.
"I question the right of telling people on their own property what they can and cannot do," said Sup. Bill Hitzemann, Mount Horeb. "But I support this, a ban on intentional feeding of deer in western Dane County."
Chronic wasting disease came into the spotlight in February, after the DNR announced that three bucks shot by hunters in November near Mount Horeb tested positive for the disease. Since then, the landowners and DNR sharpshooters killed 516 deer in Dane and Iowa counties. Fifteen have tested positive for the disease.
The permits will allow landowners to kill as many deer as possible and designate other hunters to help thin the heard.
"They (landowners) have a choice to keep the deer or give it to us for a sample," said DNR spokesman Bob Manwell.
There is no evidence that humans can catch the disease by eating meat from an infected animal, but no one can say for sure that chronic wasting disease will not cause human disease, state epidemiologist Jim Kazmierczak has said.
An informational meeting on chronic wasting disease will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Mount Horeb High School. More information on the disease is available at the DNR Web site, www.dnr.state.wi.us.