The Deer de-bait

[wack]

I just received my Wisconsin Natural resources Magazine FEB. 09 issue where there is a story with the title above. I now have a little better understanding on the anti bait direction the state seems to be going but I do not agree with it. I'm trying to keep an open mind.
 The first impression I get from the article is that CWD is caused by baiting. I disagree. CWD comes from captive animals that are not meant to be domestic animals. I'm not going to debate that disease can not be spread through bait piles but bait piles have spread much less disease in the wild than on these "game farms." They ban bait yet they keep discovering CWD on game farms. The latest is a game farm in Minn. where another domestic Elk has been found to have CWD. Minn has a ban on bait. Didn't help. The reason bait was banned in Waushara and Portage county was again a domestic deer with CWD.
 The article goes on to say that CWD posses a risk to the dairy industry and our overpopulation of deer are posing a risk to the forestry industry from over browsing.  HELLO? Does anyone know how many deer are left in Wisconsin? In 2002 we had too many deer, 2009 is a much different story."GROWING DEER POPULATIONS RISE FASTER DUE TO BAITING AND FEEDING". The DNR is saying our deer population is still over populated? I'm not buying that BS. If bait helps a deer herd grow faster, then maybe we should start feeding the deer again because they certainly are not over populated right now.

 The article does make sense on some points of the debate. Neighbors competing, nocturnal deer, some hunters report seeing more deer with out bait, ect. but I can not get past the idea that bait is worse than captive animals and if bait is banned, so should keeping deer and elk in captivity. The farmers want CWD stopped, yet they keep raising domestic deer and elk while pointing the finger at hunters, bait and deer feeders. We've reduced the wild deer herd, but haven't done anything about the real problem of CWD being spread to the wild deer from domestic animals.

 I haven't used bait in several years and could go either way on this debate but when nothing is done about the domestic deer and elk being kept in pens and spreading disease across the country, no deer feeding ban is going to work. I think a ban on domestic deer and elk should also be a part of the equation and will go further fighting CWD than any bait ban.

 A sad fact is that we have many more domestic elk at risk from CWD than we have elk in the wild. The elk population in the mid west would be much healthier if there domestic counter parts were outlawed. The Elk Ranch in Minn. where CWD has been recently found has 1000 elk. The entire state of Wisconsin has less than 150 elk in the wild. Those 1000 elk would have been much healthier in the wild than on a ranch behind fences. What a waist.

[Goose]

I haven't read the article yet (will tonight) but cwd can be passed through saliva and close contact, baiting does both of these and banning it is kind of a no brainer in my opinion for a prevention method. They have to try to prevent the spread of it and by banning baiting its an easy and fast way to do it.
Just my 2 cents

[buckhunter21]

I think you can put baiting and holding large amounts of captive deer and elk in the same category.  I don't have anything against deer or elk farms if THEY ARE MANAGED appropriately.  Having hundreds and thousands of fenced in animals though is a cause for concern IMO!

[dmcianfa]

These deer and elk farms need to be closely monitored and routinely inspected in my opinion.  They absolutely must be heavily regulated by the appropriate government agencies and conduct testing at not only the proper frequencies, but anytime they recieve or deploy an animal into or out of their herd.  I still believe that these game farms AND baiting are the two key input variables to the whole CWD equation.  Controlling the X + Y = Z will result in a positive management plan that will most definetely curb the spreading of CWD in not only this state, but the many others that battle the same issue.  I'm not sure that the government agencies are effectively controlling the variables that go into proper management here.  I don't bait, so I'm obviously bias, but it is time to look a bit harder at these farms I agree. 

[Centralwisconsinland]

Question: Who does monitor the game farms in Wisconsin?  I am afraid of the answer if it is th Ag Dept.

[mtnman]

ORIGINAL: Centralwisconsinland

Question: Who does monitor the game farms in Wisconsin?  I am afraid of the answer if it is th Ag Dept.

Ag does regulate private game farms.......deer, elk, fish, gamebird, and the like....
Some good news from time to time would help.....not  anything recently I fear..

[Centralwisconsinland]

I suppose because its called a game FARM, that is why it is under the jurisdiction of the Ag Dept.

[wack]

Yes, it's the Dept of Ag. There policies for domestic elk are also stopping Wisconsin DNR from getting wild elk to boost the wild herd.

 When I read the article, it just got my goat. It just seems like the whole answer to stopping CWD has been placed on banning bait and getting rid of the deer. They can't figure out how to keep them domestic so they want them all gone. No doubt banning bait will help stop CWD but as mentioned above by others, deer and elk in pens is just asking for more disease. What good is banning bait when the real problem is the animals behind fences? If we are going to give up bait, shouldn't we also give up bottle doe pee and start working on a way to get wild animals back in the wild where they take care of themselves much better than we can care for them on ranches and farms? If banning bait is a no brainer, the same logic should apply to domestic deer and elk. If a hunter can only use 2 gallons of corn on 40 acres as bait, that should also be the ratio and requirements to feed domestic deer. Until there's a cure for CWD and TB there's no safe way to keep deer and elk domestic. When they get diseased, our Dept of Ag and DNR blames it on and punishes the wild herd. It's like they're keeping them around for an excuse to lower the wild populations even further.

  It's just like them saying there will be fewer hunters in the future and then going out and doing everything to discourage new hunters. Self fulfilled prophesy. If they kill off the deer, elk, bears, there wont be any hunters. If we save and reintroduce our big game animals, we'll have hunters. To kill off the herd because of fear there wont be enough hunters in the future is crazy and wrong. How did Wisconsin get so screwed up?

[Whitetailaddict]

WI needs to get rid of baiting. It creates very lazy hunters that aren't in tune with the woods they hunt, and ruins the tradition of hunting. Not to mention wrecks patterns in the big woods, takes deer out of their natural areas, and ruins the hunting for the hard working people. It's hard enough finding deer in the big woods with out baiting. throw baiting in, and your lucky to catch deer on their feet away from the bait piles. Hunters don't realize that most deer only eat at the piles at night as well.

[buckhunter21]

I agree 110%...It's more or less been squashed to a point already, but I think there still can be some fine-tuning involved with it.  Plus, I know of quite a few people that still do it, law or no law.  How do you stop this?  I'm not sure...