Post by greghopper on Mar 1, 2019 8:42:13 GMT -5
(from LindsayThomasJr)
If your state has CWD, agency sharpshooting sounds bad, but the alternative may be worse. Wisconsin and Illinois make a good case study
Wisconsin and Illinois discovered CWD around the same time, and both began targeted sharpshooting at outbreak sites. Wisconsin stopped in 2007. Illinois has continued and is keeping prevalence rates around 1% -- prevalence is the % of positives among tested deer.
In fact, prevalence rates appear to be declining in the last couple of years in some of the older CWD hotspot counties in Illinois.
Meanwhile in some Wisconsin counties, prevalence rates now appear to be increasing exponentially. The latest information available is from 2017 and shows prevalence rates then hitting and even exceeding 50% among bucks in some areas.
Illinois is not winning the fight, but they’re holding the front lines. The front has expanded as CWD has spread to new areas, eating up more time/resources for the fight. But by holding prevalence rates low, they’re maintaining deer herds that can *sustain hunter harvest*.
A 2014 scientific study looking at the IL vs WI models concluded: “Despite its unpopularity among hunters, localized culling is a disease management strategy that can maintain low disease prevalence while minimizing impacts on recreational deer harvest.”
Doing nothing about CWD means the floor will rot faster. In a few more years, deer herds in some areas of Wisconsin may no longer support hunter harvest on top of CWD losses without declining. It will be longer in Illinois before that happens, thanks in part to sharpshooting.
Some hunters fear “eradication” of deer by sharpshooting. Look at this Illinois data. Last winter, DNR sharpshooters took less than 1 deer per square mile of affected deer habitat. This rate of harvest is not going to eradicate deer herds anywhere. It is a surgical strike.
This surgical strike usually takes place after regular hunting seasons have closed, so hunters have first opportunity to meet harvest goals. It is intended to mop up a few more positive deer so they don't walk around spreading prions for months before hunting season returns.
It seems to be working in Illinois to hold prevalence rates low. And last week at #SEDSG, Missouri presented data showing that sharpshooting is holding prevalence rates between 1 and 4% in Macon, Linn and Adair counties.
If your state has CWD, agency sharpshooting sounds bad, but the alternative may be worse. Wisconsin and Illinois make a good case study
Wisconsin and Illinois discovered CWD around the same time, and both began targeted sharpshooting at outbreak sites. Wisconsin stopped in 2007. Illinois has continued and is keeping prevalence rates around 1% -- prevalence is the % of positives among tested deer.
In fact, prevalence rates appear to be declining in the last couple of years in some of the older CWD hotspot counties in Illinois.
Meanwhile in some Wisconsin counties, prevalence rates now appear to be increasing exponentially. The latest information available is from 2017 and shows prevalence rates then hitting and even exceeding 50% among bucks in some areas.
Illinois is not winning the fight, but they’re holding the front lines. The front has expanded as CWD has spread to new areas, eating up more time/resources for the fight. But by holding prevalence rates low, they’re maintaining deer herds that can *sustain hunter harvest*.
A 2014 scientific study looking at the IL vs WI models concluded: “Despite its unpopularity among hunters, localized culling is a disease management strategy that can maintain low disease prevalence while minimizing impacts on recreational deer harvest.”
Doing nothing about CWD means the floor will rot faster. In a few more years, deer herds in some areas of Wisconsin may no longer support hunter harvest on top of CWD losses without declining. It will be longer in Illinois before that happens, thanks in part to sharpshooting.
Some hunters fear “eradication” of deer by sharpshooting. Look at this Illinois data. Last winter, DNR sharpshooters took less than 1 deer per square mile of affected deer habitat. This rate of harvest is not going to eradicate deer herds anywhere. It is a surgical strike.
This surgical strike usually takes place after regular hunting seasons have closed, so hunters have first opportunity to meet harvest goals. It is intended to mop up a few more positive deer so they don't walk around spreading prions for months before hunting season returns.
It seems to be working in Illinois to hold prevalence rates low. And last week at #SEDSG, Missouri presented data showing that sharpshooting is holding prevalence rates between 1 and 4% in Macon, Linn and Adair counties.
