- Joined
- Mar 11, 2001
- Messages
- 70,011
- Reaction score
- 1,007
Missouri, Illinois deer tag sales aren't showing fear of CWD
By Tim Renken, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
10/25/2002
If deer hunters in Missouri and Illinois are worried about chronic wasting disease, deer tag sales thus far don't show it.
CWD is a contagious nerve and brain disease that has been found in wild deer in Wisconsin, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, South Dakota, Nebraska and one Canadian province. It has not been found in Missouri or Illinois.
In Wisconsin, where CWD was found in deer only last year, deer tag sales thus far are down 22 percent. But the major hunting season isn't until next month. In Colorado, which has had CWD in some areas for more than 20 years, demand for deer and elk licenses is stronger than ever.
CWD is similar to mad cow disease in cattle, scrappie in sheep and the rare Creuzfeldt-Jakob in humans, but there is no evidence that CWD is a threat to humans.
At last count 78,892 archery deer tags were sold by the Missouri Department of Conservation, vs. 81,661 by the same time last year before the CWD scare began. The difference is so small that it probably reflects economic conditions rather than concern over CWD, said Bill Heatherly, a biologist with the department.
This year requests for nonresident firearms permits are significantly lower than last year, but this probably stems from a new $25 surcharge on residents of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma, Heatherly said. The surcharge was put in place by the Conservation Commission earlier this year in retribution for increases in prices of their nonresident deer tags in those states.
Heatherly noted that demand for youth deer and turkey hunting permits is up by 15 percent this year from last year.
"That indicates that parents don't see CWD as a threat," Heatherly said.
In Illinois all of the 12,843 nonresident archery deer tags authorized were sold out by August, said Department of Resources spokesman Tim Schweitzer. Resident licenses are sold by vendors throughout the state. No totals are available yet, Schweitzer said, but there has been no indication from vendors that hunters are holding back. All muzzleloader permits were sold out by early this month.
Both Missouri and Illinois conservation agencies have taken steps to keep CWD out. Missouri has tightened regulations on captive deer and elk and has designed a program in which it will test hunter-killed deer. It plans to test 600 deer from 30 counties this fall and within three years plans to test deer from all 114 counties.
Illinois will do extensive testing too. Artificial feeding and baiting of deer had been banned and the DNR took the fairly drastic step of banning the importation of hunter-killed deer carcasses. Hunters must debone a deer bagged outside the state before bringing it into Illinois.
By Tim Renken, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
10/25/2002
If deer hunters in Missouri and Illinois are worried about chronic wasting disease, deer tag sales thus far don't show it.
CWD is a contagious nerve and brain disease that has been found in wild deer in Wisconsin, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, South Dakota, Nebraska and one Canadian province. It has not been found in Missouri or Illinois.
In Wisconsin, where CWD was found in deer only last year, deer tag sales thus far are down 22 percent. But the major hunting season isn't until next month. In Colorado, which has had CWD in some areas for more than 20 years, demand for deer and elk licenses is stronger than ever.
CWD is similar to mad cow disease in cattle, scrappie in sheep and the rare Creuzfeldt-Jakob in humans, but there is no evidence that CWD is a threat to humans.
At last count 78,892 archery deer tags were sold by the Missouri Department of Conservation, vs. 81,661 by the same time last year before the CWD scare began. The difference is so small that it probably reflects economic conditions rather than concern over CWD, said Bill Heatherly, a biologist with the department.
This year requests for nonresident firearms permits are significantly lower than last year, but this probably stems from a new $25 surcharge on residents of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma, Heatherly said. The surcharge was put in place by the Conservation Commission earlier this year in retribution for increases in prices of their nonresident deer tags in those states.
Heatherly noted that demand for youth deer and turkey hunting permits is up by 15 percent this year from last year.
"That indicates that parents don't see CWD as a threat," Heatherly said.
In Illinois all of the 12,843 nonresident archery deer tags authorized were sold out by August, said Department of Resources spokesman Tim Schweitzer. Resident licenses are sold by vendors throughout the state. No totals are available yet, Schweitzer said, but there has been no indication from vendors that hunters are holding back. All muzzleloader permits were sold out by early this month.
Both Missouri and Illinois conservation agencies have taken steps to keep CWD out. Missouri has tightened regulations on captive deer and elk and has designed a program in which it will test hunter-killed deer. It plans to test 600 deer from 30 counties this fall and within three years plans to test deer from all 114 counties.
Illinois will do extensive testing too. Artificial feeding and baiting of deer had been banned and the DNR took the fairly drastic step of banning the importation of hunter-killed deer carcasses. Hunters must debone a deer bagged outside the state before bringing it into Illinois.
