Daily Chronicle | Some say disease’s threat not worth killing deer

By JEFF ENGELHARDT – jengelhardt@shawmedia.com

A state program aimed at preventing the spread of a disease fatal to deer has sparked debate among hunters and public officials that argue it is either a scientific necessity or a money-driven extermination.

For the past decade, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has conducted a program that requires state biologists and conservation police to annually kill hundreds of deer to prevent the spread of and to test for Chronic Wasting Disease, commonly referred to as CWD. The highly contagious disease – found in only deer, elk and moose – destroys the nervous systems and is always fatal.

Dave Wiehle, owner of the Cortland-based Melrose Te-Tops International and an avid hunter, said what started as a “wholesome endeavor” has turned into “mass murder.”

He said sharpshooters from the DNR use aggressive tactics such as baiting and helicopter flyovers to attract the deer and kill them in bunches. Tom Beissel, regional wildlife biologist and director of the program, said while the DNR does bait the deer, it mostly targets bucks because males carry and pass the disease more than females.

State shooters kill the deer from mid-January through late March; the last deer-hunting season ends in mid-January.

Hunters can voluntarily have their kills tested for the disease, and those deer make up the largest portion of test samples. In the 2010-11 hunting season, 6,062 deer were tested from hunters’ kills with 29 carrying the disease. DNR sharpshooters killed 860 with 10 carrying the disease. Numbers for the 2011-12 hunting season are not available yet. Click Link Below for Full Story!

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