West Virginia reports that Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has shown up in 16 deer shot by hunters in Hampshire County this past hunting season. The county is located along the Maryland border and just south of Pennsylvania.
The disease was found in several older deer which were at least 1 1/2 years old. Most of the deerv were found in an area that was all ready declared a CWD containment zone though three animals came from outside of this designated zone.
In all, 62 deer recovered from Hampshire County have tested positive for CWD, but this year the numbers increased 2 1/2 times that of previous years, West Virginia official say.
Among the containment rules are efforts to increase the harvest of does and also installing efforts to reduce deer-to-deer contact. That would include prohibiting baiting within the containment area.
That last item is different from what the Ohio Division of Wildlife expects to do if (when?) CWD shows up in Ohio. Biologists here have opined that should CWD crop up anywhere in the state that the Wildlife Division will ban the baiting and artificial feeding of all deer, anywhere.
Baiting is not only popular with Ohio archery hunters it is also popular with backyard bird-feeding animal watchers and those people who frequent public parks where deer abound.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
Never was allowed to "bait" when I was hunting with a long bow and we made our own tree stands. Too much influence from llobbyists , go back to the methods that it should be, PRIMITIVE STYLE HUNTING LIKE OUR FOREFATHERS DID! GP
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