What the MIchigan DNR doesn’t want you to know about the first confirmed case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in the UP is that their inadequate response is going to guarantee spread of the disease among whitetails in the region. Based on what they know about the disease from the 65 Lower Peninsula deer diagnosed with CWD so far and hosting a CWD Symposium in Lansing last October with experts from across the country, they should know better. I attended the symposium and have been following closely the spread of the disease across North America since it was first diagnosed in Wisconsin during 2002.
The problem is that most people in state agencies that are responsible for managing deer, and especially members of the public such as hunters, don’t take the disease seriously enough. That scenario has been repeated over and over again and is now happening in Michigan. And it’s not just the UP. Regulations adopted by the Natural Resources Commission for the LP earlier this year after more than a year of study of the “best science” about the disease missed the mark, too.
You don’t have to look any farther than Wisconsin to see what happens when CWD isn’t taken seriously enough. Prevalence of the disease in some southern counties of that state is as high 50% among bucks and not much lower among does. To the DNR’s credit in that state, personnel with that agency tried to eradicate CWD when it surfaced there, but the public thought they were trying to eliminate deer from that part of the state and put a halt to those efforts.
Why Michigan Deer Hunters are Being Fed CWD Lies
Since then, the Wisconsin DNR has simply been monitoring spread of the disease across the state and now it has reached the UP, and the Michigan DNR plans on “monitoring” its spread, too. Either a Wisconsin whitetail that was infected crossed the border into the UP or a UP deer traveled into Wisconsin, became infected and brought the disease across the border with it. The DNR fitted some UP deer in counties bordering Wisconsin with radio collars last year to try to find out where those deer go and, sure enough, some of them went to Wisconsin. The DNR knew that happens before the study started.
Based on Wisconsin’s experience, it’s obvious that attempts at eradication don’t work, but neither does simply monitoring spread of the disease. Wyoming is another example of a state that found out that simply monitoring the disease doesn’t work. There are options between eradication and monitoring that have merit such as liberalizing hunting regulations to allow hunters to remove as many diseased deer as possible from the population to limit spread of the disease.
The DNR claims that they want to enlist the help of hunters in fighting the disease, and they have done some things in the CWD Management Zone in the southern part of the state to make that possible, but they’ve failed to do enough there and are most definitely missing the boat in the UP. In fact, the DNR should have made some changes in UP deer harvest regulations years ago that could have delayed the arrival of CWD, but they refused to do so. Now that the disease is here, they are still ignoring the necessity of allowing hunters to harvest more deer to reduce spread of the disease.
What the DNR knows about CWD in Michigan through genetic testing is that infected does spread the disease to their fawns and that a high percentage of the 65 deer from southern Michigan diagnosed with CWD have been yearling bucks that are 1½ years old. They also know that yearling bucks play an important role in spreading the disease because they typically disperse from their mother’s home range and those that have CWD bring the disease with them to infect deer along the way.
CWD Spikes at Wisconsin Deer Farms
One of the things the DNR did, to their credit, when they established the first CWD Management Zone is they eliminated all antler point restrictions from buck tags. That change affected hunters who had combination deer licenses. One of two tags that come with that license had been restricted to bucks with at least four points on one antler. By eliminating that antler point restriction, hunters who had the opportunity, and wanted to, could shoot two bucks that had antlers of any size.
That enabled hunters to better target yearling bucks to eliminate those that might be diseased. Elimination of antler point restrictions also made it possible for hunters to shoot some older bucks they otherwise might not have been able to because they didn’t have to wait to be able to count antler points before shooting a buck. Simply seeing a deer had antlers was all that was necessary to know it was a legal target. This is extremely important because older bucks have a higher prevalence of CWD.
NECESSARY CHANGES
So antler point restrictions of any kind are not compatible with limiting the spread of (managing) CWD because they are designed to protect the majority of yearling bucks and they protect older bucks on which hunters are unable to count antler points. With that in mind, it is noteworthy that the 4-year-old CWD positive doe from Dickinson County is the first deer with the disease in the state that has been killed in a deer management unit (DMU) where mandatory antler point restrictions are in effect. All bucks in DMU 122 must have 3 points on one antler to be legal whether hunters have a single or combo deer license.
If the DNR were serious about engaging the help of hunters in controlling the spread of CWD in the UP, one of the first things they should have done is to eliminate all antler point restrictions like was done in the state’s first CWD Management Zone. Since that has not yet been done, it should be done as soon as possible. Other changes in UP deer harvest regulations are also essential to slow spread of the disease.
Both buck tags of combination deer licenses across the UP have been restricted since 2008. One tag is valid for bucks with 3 points on an antler and one tag is good for bucks with a minimum of 4 points on an antler. One tag should be unrestricted, meaning it is valid for spikes or better, like it was prior to 2008. Since more than 50% of UP hunters buy combination deer licenses, most yearling bucks have been protected from the majority of hunters since 2008. That regulation increases the chances of a yearling buck from Wisconsin that has CWD will survive at least one more year and spread the disease during that time.
CWD Update: No Uniform Approach to Fight Deadly Deer Disease
Another important change that needs to be made is to allow bowhunters to once again take antlerless deer. Does have been protected from bowhunters only in the UP since 2015. There was no biological justification for this regulation in the first place. Since more bowhunting occurs in southern UP counties bordering Wisconsin than anywhere else in the region, this change can also help control the spread of CWD. If this change had been made sooner, as it should have been, that doe infected with CWD could have been and might have been removed from the herd sooner. This change will increase the odds of eliminating other infected does sooner rather than later.
Still one more change in UP deer hunting regulations that is overdue is to legalize crossbows for use during the late bow season in December to primarily increase the harvest of antlerless deer in counties bordering Wisconsin. The UP is the only region in the state where crossbows are not legal during the late bow season, although they are legal for use during the early bow season. Here again, there is no biological justification for this regulation. For deer management purposes alone, much less disease management, it makes no difference whether hunters using crossbows employ them to shoot deer during October, November or December.
There is a 10-day muzzleloader deer season in the UP during December. Any claims that crossbows are more effective at allowing hunters to harvest deer than muzzleloaders are out of touch with reality.
Lowering deer densities besides removing diseased deer from the population are the most effective ways to limit the spread of CWD and increasing the ability for hunters to harvest more deer is the best way to accomplish both. For far too long, UP hunters have had the most restrictive harvest regulations in the state. That is one of the reasons CWD infected whitetails are now in the region.
Since the deer with CWD from the UP was a 4-year-old doe, there’s no question about whether other whitetails have the disease. Her fawns from 2017 and 2018 most likely have CWD, too, along with any bucks she came in contact with during the last two or three breeding seasons. Those are the minimums. If the infected doe came from Wisconsin, there are most likely other bucks and does that made the trip. If the doe was born in the UP and traveled back and forth to Wisconsin, the DNR knows plenty of other deer do the same thing.
BAITING
One change the DNR does not plan on making for now in the UP to manage the spread of CWD that I agree with is to ban the use of bait for deer hunting. As DNR wildlife division chief Russ Mason accurately stated in a radio interview on Adam Carpenter’s Outdoor Show, baiting deer for hunting purposes is not only popular in the UP, it increases hunter success, and that is desirable to reduce deer densities as well as removal of diseased deer. A ban on baiting can and probably would reduce hunter participation and effort. So baiting can be and is more beneficial in managing the disease than it is detrimental.
There are theories that deer baiting helps spread CWD, but that is only speculation. There is no scientific proof of it. We do know that whitetails are more likely to become infected with CWD in other ways such as does passing the disease on to their offspring and infected does infecting bucks during the breeding season. Bucks can also spread the disease to other bucks through mutual grooming among members of bachelor groups that form during the summer. Doe to buck transmission during the breeding season and buck-to-buck transmission among bachelor groups are why adult bucks have such a high prevalence of the disease.
Study Confirms Does Pass CWD to Their Fawns
The social nature of whitetails spreads the disease, not baiting. The only deer that have nose-to-nose contact at baits are does and their fawns. Adult does will not tolerate the presence of unrelated deer feeding nearby at bait sites and most deer avoid bucks at baits, too. Those behaviors are something I’ve observed repeatedly while hunting over bait.
Family groups that have nose-to-nose contact at baits constantly engage in mutual grooming many times during the day, so any close contact they have at baits is irrelevant. Another important aspect regarding baiting that is often ignored is the practice can’t possibly spread CWD or any other disease where the disease is not present. Since most of the UP does not yet have CWD, allowing baiting to continue should not be an issue.
LOWER PENINSULA REGULATIONS
That’s also why I think a total ban on baiting across the entire LP starting in 2019, which the DNR recommended and the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) approved, is way out of line. The same thing was done in 2008 when the state’s first deer with CWD was confirmed in captivity in Kent County. Most hunters felt that was an over reaction and made that clear. Although the disease has cropped up among free ranging whitetails in a number of counties since then, there are many counties where it has not yet been found.
Baiting increases hunter success and participation in the LP just like it does in the UP in spite of DNR claims to the contrary. That is why, among the other reasons mentioned above, that baiting should be retained in as large an area as possible. To verify the value of deer baiting in hunting success, the NRC adopted an amendment to the total ban on baiting to allow hunters with disabilities to hunt over bait anywhere in the state, including CWD and TB Management Zones, during the Liberty and Independence Deer Hunts.
Does CWD Drive Whitetail Population Declines?
The 2019 ban on baiting for the LP was justified with the claim that it is currently unknown how many counties in the state harbor deer with CWD. While this is true, if they are going to use that rational to ban baiting, they should be consistent and use the same reasoning to eliminate mandatory antler point restrictions (MAPR) from the LP. I’ve already explained why MAPR are not consistent with any disease management much less CWD and the science is very clear on this. MAPR protects the majority of yearling bucks and some older bucks, some of which can have CWD.
There is a block of 13 counties in the northwest LP along with at least one more in the east that have MAPR. CWD could be present in those counties. Instead of being consistent about the possibility of CWD being present in any county, the DNR and NRC took steps to encourage MAPR. The NRC made a commitment to survey hunters in a 5-county area of the Thumb about adopting MAPR despite the fact those regulations have already been rejected during two previous surveys in those counties. On top of that, 50% or more of yearling bucks are already being protected under voluntary APR in those counties. The purpose of MAPR is to protect at least 50% of yearling bucks, which is already being accomplished.
The NRC also made a commitment to “research” the role MAPR can play in managing the spread of CWD by doing a survey to determine support for establishing MAPR in five counties of the LP CWD Management Zone. There is no doubt that if MAPR are put in place in the CWD Management Zone that it will result in spread of the disease because diseased yearlings and some older bucks with CWD will be protected by those regulations!
Studies about what impact MAPRs have in areas with CWD that are underway in two other states already showing what will happen in Michigan. Those two states where CWD surfaced in 2012 are Missouri and Pennsylvania. Missouri eliminated MAPR from their CWD management areas and they have had 76 confirmed cases as of October. Pennsylvania retained MAPR in their CWD areas and that state had 125 confirmed cases of the disease by June of this year. Their tally as of October is certain to be higher still.
Missouri Department of Conservation wildlife division chief Jason Sumners was one of the presenters at the CWD Symposium hosted by the DNR last October. Apparently, the DNR and NRC didn’t listen to what he had to say.
“Dispersal of young males is why we eliminated MAPR,” Sumner said. “We felt it was irresponsible on our part to protect a segment of the population that would continue to spread disease. Removing MAPR hasn’t reduced hunter satisfaction in our state. That change has reduced dispersal of yearling bucks. A diseased yearling buck was killed that would have been protected by MAPR.”
In a followup conversation with Sumner about that diseased yearling buck, he said it was harvested from southern Linn County.
“We have sampled that area very intensively,” he explained, “and not identified any additional positives around that location. This is an example of why we repealed APR. Had the regulation been in place, that deer, which was likely a recent disperser, would have been protected from harvest until next hunting season with the opportunity to continue spreading the disease to other deer in that new area.”
Other comments Sumners made about MAPR at the symposium were: “MAPR wasn’t doing that much for us. We found out that hunters just wanted to kill a deer. They didn’t care how big it was.”
The NRC actually passed conflicting amendments to DNR recommendations at the meeting where they adopted CWD regulations. In an attempt to reverse itself on eliminating APR on combination deer licenses in the CWD Management Zone, the DNR recommended that one buck tag of combination deer licenses be restricted to bucks with at least 4 points on one antler in that zone. Commissioner Tracy wisely made an amendment to eliminate that proposal, which was approved.
So on one vote the NRC confirmed the value of removing all MAPR from the CWD Management Zone. Then they approved another amendment to survey hunters about testing MAPR in that zone. With current plans in place, there’s no question that CWD will continue to spread across Michigan!
