Daily Chronicle | Some say disease’s threat not worth killing deer
February 20, 2012
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!
via Daily Chronicle | Some say disease’s threat not worth killing deer.
Farmers, hunters protest deer-baiting ban – The Saginaw News Online – Michigan Newspaper – MLive.com
October 28, 2008
by Roberto Acosta | The Saginaw News
Tuesday October 28, 2008, 6:51 AM
Farmers say the state is stealing their livelihoods with a deer-baiting ban to battle a killer disease.
Hunters are up in arms complaining that the state is adding unfair rules for pursuing their game.
More than 70 hunters and farmers gathered in Frankenmuth during a heated presentation Monday from state officials on chronic wasting disease.
Economists estimate that deer bait sales bring in $50 million annually in the state.
Department of Natural Resources officials presented information on the disease and how to prevent its spread during the two-hour meeting at the Wallace and Irene Bronner and Family Performing Arts Center.
An hour-long question-and-answer session aimed heated dialogue from audience members toward the four-person panel.
“You’re taking away people’s livelihoods,” said Roy E. Stolz, a 51-year-old Blumfield Township resident. “You’re killing a mosquito with a sledgehammer. Click link below for full story!”
Farmers, hunters protest deer-baiting ban – The Saginaw News Online – Michigan Newspaper – MLive.com.
Deer baiting, feeding ban approved – Petoskey News-Review
October 15, 2008
By Marci Singer News-Review Staff WriterTuesday, October 14, 2008 8:55 AM EDT
The Natural Resources Commission voted unanimously last week to approve a permanent ban on deer and elk baiting and feeding in the Lower Peninsula.
Department of Natural Resources Director Rebecca Humphries issued an interim order placing an immediate ban on baiting and feeding on Aug. 26, after a captive deer from a privately owned facility tested positive for chronic wasting disease. Humphries’ order, as prescribed by the state’s CWD emergency response plan adopted in 2002, would have expired Feb. 26, 2009, but the NRC action removes the expiration date and makes the ban permanent.
While the ban will generally not impact Petoskey resident John Jorgensen’s hunting practices, because the area where he hunts has a good population of deer and he and his hunting partners started putting in food plots years ago, the Petoskey sportsman thinks the baiting issue has gone “over the top.”
“The ban should be restricted to the area where the infected deer was found, not the whole state,” Jorgensen said. “And I think it’s interesting that traditional bait is still being sold in the Lower Peninsula, even with the ban in effect. It doesn’t make sense. The state is encouraging someone to get into Full Story
Petoskey News-Review – News – Deer baiting, feeding ban approved.
Judge upholds Michigan’s ban on deer baiting, feeding to battle chronic wasting disease – Michigan News, Updates, Photos & Video | Detroit, Lansing – MLive.com
October 10, 2008
Judge upholds Michigan’s ban on deer baiting, feeding to battle chronic wasting disease
by The Associated Press
Thursday October 09, 2008, 6:59 PM
LANSING — A judge Thursday let stand a ban on feeding and baiting deer in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, ruling the state had authority to issue the emergency rule after its first case of chronic wasting disease was detected.
The decision was a blow for farmers and store owners who sued because they’re being hurt financially by the ban. Hunters place piles of bait — beets, carrots, corn, apples and other produce — in areas to attract deer.
After hearing arguments, Ingham County Circuit Judge Joyce Draganchuk acknowledged that a number of people earn a living by growing and selling the bait. But she said the Michigan Department of Natural Resources based its decision on “sound scientific management principles.”
“It did it for the purpose of preserving deer and elk herd so that those who make their living from it may continue to do so in the future,” Draganchuk said of the ban imposed Aug. 26. It’s effective for six months and could be extended.
State attorneys defended the policy as a necessary precaution to prevent the spread of the disease. Full Story
Deer bait ban piles up money problems | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
October 9, 2008
NICK TREMMEL/Special to the Free Press
Bid to curb disease hits farmers, vendors
BY MARGARITA BAUZA • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Farmers and vendors who provide deer bait are facing a major financial hit this hunting season because of a ban on using bait to hunt.
Hunters caught using carrots, sugar beets and other vegetables for bait face up to $500 in fines and 90 days in jail if convicted. The state enacted the ban after a deer infected with chronic wasting disease was found in a contained pen in Kent County.
The disease is contagious and has been found in other states, which have enacted bans similar to Michigan’s.
In Michigan, the deer feed industry is believed to be as high as $100 million a year and a ban will hurt farmers, gas stations and roadside operations that sell bait as well as manufacturers of deer feed, said attorney Ed McNeely, who filed a lawsuit against the state to lift the ban.
Mike Van Den Bosch, a manager at John A. Van Den Bosch, a wholesaler for deer feed and scientifically engineered deer attractants in Holland, says the company’s inventory is backing up by the truckloads.
“Lots of orders have been canceled,” Van Den Bosch said. “We have accounts all over the Lower and Upper Peninsula. Customers are afraid. Even though it’s still legal to sell it, everything’s stopped. It’s going to cost millions of dollars of losses in Michigan.”
His company will lose $750,000, he said.
“It happened at the worst possible time,” he added. “And we’re just one business. There are many small independent guys that need this money to help them through winter months.”
Chad Stearns, manager at Jay’s Sporting Goods in Clare, said its two stores will continue selling bait despite the ban. Retailers are allowed to sell bait but hunters are banned from using it.
“We have de-emphasized marketing it,” said Stearns, speaking of products it sells such as corn, apples, sugar beets and supplements like Acorn Rage and C’Mere Deer. “We’ve moved it to the back but we still have it available.”
Tony Wright, owner of the Wright Stuff in Emmet, near Port Huron, which sells carrots, apples, sugar beets, corn and sweet corn for deer, said bait represents about 70% of his business. Full Story
Deer bait ban piles up money problems | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press.
Vassar food plot company growing under deer hunting rule changes – Bay City Times – MLive.com
September 30, 2008
Posted by Mike Spencer | The Bay City Times
VASSAR – Matt Shelson’s new business on M-15 just south of town got an unexpected boost this fall – a ban on deer bait.
That’s because the 29-year-old Tuscola County businessman has been selling food plots, a quick remedy that will help hunters attract their game.
Of the four products Monster Plots has created, Magic Carpet may become the best seller in light of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources decision to ban baiting in the Lower Peninsula because a captive Kent County deer was found to have chronic wasting disease.
Magic Carpet is a food plot in a box. It’s easy to install, no intense preparations or maintenance and it’s designed to attract deer within three days, Shelson says.
“The economy didn’t need this hit, especially the vendors at gas stations,” Shelson said. “But there’s alternatives to baiting.
“Magic Carpet is an answer. In eight minutes, you’re done. You have a food plot. And in three days, it’s an inch and a half to two inches tall.”
Shelson, with help from plant manager and friend Derek Flikkie, 25, of Kingston, started selling food plots a year and a half ago. First it was out of a garage and then a sun porch. They moved their business to the industrial park in town before relocating three months ago on M-15.
Monster Plots currently offer three other products, Monster Maker, Buck Slam and Magic Beans.
But it’s the Magic Carpet and Monster Maker that can help a hunter go without bait for the archery (Oct. 1) or firearms season (Nov. 15).
“The nice thing about our product is when I formulated the seeds – a trick to the trade I learned – it creates an aroma which is an attractant,” said Shelson, a Caro native and former agronomist consultant. “And if there are deer down wind, they are there.”
Gander Mountain store manager Ken Morrison and operations manager Derek Holmes have used both the Monster Maker and Magic Carpet in hunting areas near the Lansing store.
“They had never had bucks before and Ken and Derek were excited as all get-out,” Shelson said. “In two weeks, they’ve got buck pictures on their trail cam.”
“It’s pretty phenomenal,” Holmes said. “After eight or nine days we had two inches of growth. Now it’s running waist-high.”
Holmes said Monster Plots products have a future in this state.
“I think it’s a great idea, especially considering the current state of affairs and the baiting ban,” Holmes said. “Personally, I think it’s better than bait, especially from a nutrition standpoint.”
The Monster Plots products are available at monsterplots.com, in the Saginaw Gander Mountain store, Frank’s Great Outdoors in Linwood and Big Acre in Caro. They can also be ordered through any Gander Mountain store or by calling (989) 823-3363 or 823-3382
Vassar food plot company growing under deer hunting rule changes – Bay City Times – MLive.com.
Deer bait to have its day in court – Ludington Daily News
September 30, 2008
Brian Mulherin – Daily News Staff Writer
A petition was filed in Lansing Circuit Court seeking to have the DNR’s ban on baiting and feeding deer overturned Tuesday. The ban was issued by Department of Natural Resources Director Rebecca Humphries August 28 after one deer was found to have chronic wasting disease at a captive deer operation in Kent County. The DNR has stated that baiting and feeding can concentrate deer and cause diseases like CWD to spread more rapidly. The petition and a motion for an expedited hearing were filed by attorneys Edward J. McNeely III and Matthew Malleis of Grand Rapids. The case is expected to be heard by Judge Joyce Draganchuck.
Among the petitioners is farmer Gerald Malburg of Oceana County, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, a store owner and hunters.
Malburg grows fodder beets and carrots on his Oceana farm and has said that the beets he planted this spring are specifically grown for deer feed and are not a type that could easily be sold to livestock farms. He also estimated about 46 percent of his carrots are “cull” carrots unsuitable for his primary market of restaurants. Malburg told the Daily News his carrots have no other market than deer feed or bait. The petition states he stands to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars due to the order.
The DNR’s interim order prohibiting the baiting and feeding Full Story
CWD debate rages | battlecreekenquirer.com | The Enquirer
September 22, 2008
Darren Warner
From farmers to hunters to even politicians, people all over the state are upset over the recent ban on deer baiting.
In response to the discovery of the state’s first case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in a white-tailed deer from a privately owned cervid (POC) facility in Kent County in August, the Michigan Departments of Natural Resources and Agriculture implemented an immediate ban on all baiting and feeding of deer and elk in the Lower Peninsula.
People who depend on baiting for various reasons connected to hunting and apart from hunting, oppose the ban.
“I was surprised at the position of the DNR, based on the fact that a ban on baiting has had no effect on CWD in other states such as Wisconsin and Colorado,” said State Representative Joel Sheltrown (D-West Branch).
Sheltrown, chairman of the Tourism, Outdoor Recreation and Natural Resources Committee, recommends another strategy.
“I have called for a more balanced approach that would lift the ban until Jan. 1, 2009. By then, we will have collected more testing data on other deer and it would allow farmers to recoup their economic losses,” Sheltrown said.
Hunter and rock star Ted Nugent agrees. “I am opposed to the ban because there’s no scientific evidence to support it. There is no link between feeding deer and CWD – unless the feed contains animal parts from an infected animal. Bureaucrats are spitting in the face of the very ideals they swore to uphold: that they would make decisions based on sound scientific evidence. Full Story
CWD debate rages | battlecreekenquirer.com | The Enquirer.
Michigan Legislators Issue Recommendation on CWD Baiting Ban- Ludington Daily News
September 19, 2008
Committee chairs call for lifting the peninsula wide ban
Brian Mulherin – Daily News Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
LANSING ? Three Michigan legislators who chair key committees have sponsored similar resolutions in the Michigan House and Senate urging the director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to lift the ban on baiting ordered in response to Chronic Wasting Disease. The resolutions also recommend the Natural Resources Commission hold public hearing on the general issue of baiting for future hunting seasons.
Chair of the Senate Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Recreation Committee, State Senator James Barcia (D-Bay City) indicated that all legislators he has spoken with about the baiting ban believe the ban goes too far, too soon. “It does not make sense to ban baiting in the entire Lower Peninsula this year due to the finding of CWD in one deer at one enclosed facility,” Barcia said. “We must remain vigilant without over-reacting in a manner that will do more harm than good.”
Following the discovery of a three-year old white tail deer found at a ranch in Kent County, all the other deer at the same ranch have tested negative for CWD. In addition, an epidemiological study performed by state veterinarians has not turned up CWD in any other captive or free-ranging Michigan deer. State officials do not know how the deer at the Kent County facility became infected with CWD Full Story
The Journal Times Online: Give DNR’s new rifle rule a chance
September 16, 2008
By Journal Times Editorial Board
Sunday, September 14, 2008 4:52 PM CDT
Just in time for the fall hunting season, word got around that the state Department of Natural Resources was authorizing the use of rifles, not just shotguns, for deer hunting in some high-density population areas in the state, including Racine County west of the Interstate.
Predictably, that raised some eyebrows, hackles and fears, all in one swift motion.
And some, of course, went right to blaming the DNR for slipping the rule change in quietly without letting people know.
Let’s take a deep breath now.
Yes, the rule change will allow use of rifles which have a range of two or three miles, and that is much greater than a shotgun slug which has an effective range measured at 150 yards or so, according to news reports. Some argue that could pose a danger in a high-population area.
But the fact is, too, that much deer hunting is done from elevated stands, so the rifle bullet is usually aimed downward, and misses bore into the ground and are not headed over the hill toward the local coffee shop or convenience store along the highway. And, at least according to DNR officials, the chronic wasting disease zone south of Dane County where the state has allowed rifles in recent yea
The Journal Times Online > Opinion > Give DNR’s new rifle rule a chance.
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