09/16/2019- The arrival of fall brings the anticipation of hunting season for many residents in our area, but what impact will chronic wasting disease have on deer hunting activities in our region? Dave Halfmann with the Wisconsin DNR says the discovery of CWD in Marinette County, as well as just across the border in Dickinson County is further proof that the prevalence and spread of the disease is rapidly increasing. The DNR is upping their sampling efforts in the surveillance areas surrounding both the locations of the Marinette County deer farm whitetail and the Waucedah Township wild deer that tested positive for CWD and are seeking to test about 250 deer this fall. When it comes to the long-range CWD forecast, Halfmann says the focus is on slowing, not stopping the spread.
“Our slow-the-spread ideas at this time are proper handling of waste. Don’t go dump your deer waste out on the county forest- get it in the landfill. Proper handling will help slow the spread of the disease…The main thing that’s going to slow this disease down is reducing deer populations and that’s not a popular subject.”
Still, Halfmann says Marinette County is in much better shape than the southern region of the state where places like Iowa County have a CWD rate of 50% in adult bucks. Only 16 Wisconsin counties have not been affected by chronic wasting disease.