Thursday, February 04, 2010
Now that Virginia has CWD, what does that mean for deer hunters?
Bill Cochran
Recent columns
In late January, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries announced that a deer killed during Virginia’s 2009-10 hunting season tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease, a slow, progressive neurological disorder fatal to deer, elk and moose.
The 2-year-old Frederick County doe was the first CWD deer detected in Virginia following test samples of nearly 5,000 deer since 2001. DGIF is awaiting results from 37 other deer currently being tested.
Most sportsmen have been reading about CWD in other states and know that it is bad news, but now that it is in our backyard what does it mean for Virginia’s deer herd and deer hunters?
I asked Nelson Lafon, DGIF deer project leader, to answer some questions in order to sort things out:
Q. Just what do you think CWD means for Virginia’s deer herd?
A. It is much too early to know what impacts CWD will have on Virginia’s deer herd, but we are certainly concerned about long-term consequences. Models indicate that deer populations could seriously decline if CWD reaches high prevalence rates.
Q. Has that occurred in other states where CWD has been around longer?
A. Western states that have had CWD the longest, like Colorado, which has had it since the 1960s, are only now seeing prevalence rates high enough to impact deer productivity, but data are still inconclusive on any impact to date. Among the many unknowns about CWD is the ultimate impact to deer populations.
Q. Deer populations tend to be more concentrated in the East. Will that make a difference?
A. Eastern states with much higher deer population densities could theoretically reach critical prevalence thresholds much more quickly.
Q. Wouldn’t CWD actually be doing us a favor by cutting down on the number of deer where the population has reached the point of causing problems such as crop damage and highway accidents?
A. Some may say it would be a good thing if CWD reduced Virginia’s deer population, but it is doubtful many people would want to see deer die a slow death typical of CWD.
Q. What kind of reaction do you anticipate from hunters over the announcement that CWD has been detected in Virginia?
A. Hunter responses will likely vary, as has been the case in other states with CWD. For instance, hunter participation may decline in the affected area, initially, and some hunters may simply shift where they hunt. These reactions are certainly understandable. Fortunately, there do not appear to be long-term declines in hunting associated with CWD in most places.
Q. Are you saying CWD is no reason for deer hunters to give up their sport?
A. The presence of CWD is not a reason for hunters to stop deer hunting, as long as common sense and precautions are followed. Look for information on that on our Web pages.
Q. Wouldn’t it be a disadvantage for sportsmen to pull back on hunting since one of the ways to control the spread of CWD is to keep the deer herd in balance with its habitat?
A. Because hunting will remain an important population management tool, especially in CWD surveillance areas, we will be encouraging and depending upon hunters to help us contain CWD in Virginia.
Q. Now that CWD has been discovered in the state, are you planning new strategies to keep if from spreading?
A. We will certainly be doing more surveillance and some other measures to try to keep if from spreading. We are meeting with the CWD management team to explore the options. So we are not prepared right now to say what our strategy will be.
