Diseased deer found in Clearfield County

The Pennsylvania Game Commission has announced a sick whitetail deer was reported to the Game Commission by a member of the public. It was dispatched by a Game Commission officer on June 7.

The adult buck was spotted on State Game Lands 87, in Bell Township, at the extreme western edge of Clearfield County. The carcass was tested and found to be positive for chronic wasting disease — an always-fatal prion-caused disease that affects elk and deer.

This is the first time a free-ranging deer was found to have CWD in the 350-acre Disease Management Area 3. DMA 3 was created in 2014 after testing by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture revealed CWD at two captive deer farms in Jefferson County.

Wayne Laroche, director of the Commission’s Bureau of Wildlife Management, noted that the CWD-positive buck was found approximately eight miles from the Jefferson County deer facility where CWD was first detected in that area. That location was also just four miles from a quarantined deer facility.

Of more concern is the CWD-positive buck was discovered only 10 miles south of Pennsylvania’s elk range. This infected animal was 35 miles from the closest free-ranging infected deer in DMA 2, so it is unlikely that the CWD was spread by deer from DMA 2.

According to PGC Executive Director Bryan Burhans, 1,012 wild deer from DMA 3 have been tested for CWD since 2014, with only one positive finding. In an effort to test more deer from the area, the Game Commission is issuing 2,800 additional DMAP permits that can be used to harvest an antlerless deer anywhere in DMA 3 — on both public or private land (with landowner permission). Hunters may purchase up to two of these extra permits.

Burhans stressed the urgency of the situation and also addressed the likelihood that the commission would use sharpshooters to conduct a targeted removal of deer from the immediate area where the sick buck was found. Laroche explained this surgical removal would probably involve hundreds of deer rather than thousands. According to Burhans and Laroche, this method has been very effective at controlling CWD in Illinois.

Although they stressed the importance and urgency of using sharpshooters, when pressed on the timing of such an action, they said that it would be more likely to happen after fall and winter hunting seasons — six months from now.

Last fall, Laroche recommended surgical removal of deer from known areas of contamination in DMA 2, but that never occurred. I suspect that the agency is afraid of fallout from hunters and politicians if they follow through. I just hope for the sake of deer, deer hunting and elk viewing, the agency follows through as soon as possible. In my opinion, the commission should attempt to educate the public, then do the right thing and worry about the potential negative consequences later.

This story was originally published July 22, 2017 at 11:34 PM with the headline " Diseased deer found in Clearfield County."