Puddy

I am from NY State and I hunt on my relations farm in Shingle House PA. Last year they had a 4 point die down there and they thought a bigger buck had gored it, it put its head right in one of their sisters car window and she petted it, it died right there next to the road, sounds more like something was wrong with its head to me, like CWD. Deer hurting from a gore won't be hanging around like that, he might have been hurting but he would have had his wits about him.

Charlie P

From what I heard the guy also is a wildlife rehabilitator and was keeping some fawns in his house. He allowed them in his shop and might have exposed the deer to deer heads and capes that were infected in this true?

Bill Yox

Puddy, the only way to know would be to have reported that deer, so as to collect a sample. See, thats the same thing as NY used to be, we just didnt even think of doing that stuff! Times are changing, of course. One thing, it couldve been many types of conditions to make that buck appear tame or sick. It may not have been sick at all. Deer are susceptible to many other fatal diseases in Pa, like Johnnes, or EHD. Bucks that have certain antler damage often get infections on the brain through the pedicles and show signs similar to rabies even!

Charlie, yes its possible that fawns could have come into contact with whatever it is that actually transmits the CWD virus. John was a licensed rehabber and taxidermist for years prior to us knowing anything about CWD. I know that nobody would intentionally expose the live animals to anything that would risk their health.

Puddy

Bill you definitely are well informed on your deer information, I think you have helped many of us with some of our questions. I hunt Russian boars on a few of these enclosures, I just went to Homer last week. Could you tell me of a few more of these places locally, around there. I have been to the Old Stone Fence also. You know what the worst thing is, When I get home from Pennsylvania hunting, I take my deer scraps out back on my land to go after Coyotes, that is scary, I could be bringing that back too. Could you tell me if I burn the heads in my outdoor wood furnace, and just take the other bones and scraps out, if that carries the disease also?

Bill Yox

Puddy, its kind of a funny situation to quote. While we do not know what spreads it, or how, we are supposed to know how to eliminate it! They tell us that high temperatures, like incineration, is needed. I dont know how or why that is, but thats what we are being told. To that, Id have to say no, your wood fire probably wouldnt do. You are not supposed to bring deer on the carcass in from certain states, and its my hunch that soon more states will be added to the list. Its very hard to enforce this from neighboring states, and to my knowledge, PA is not a "suspect" state. The state vets told me that they feel that carcasses going to state landfills is adequate. Landfills fall under some type of heading that includes low level risk waste anyway.

As for the boars, CWD is very species-specific. This means that only certain species seem to be susceptible, and that also eliminates humans. But, its always a good idea to excercise caution with any animal waste. If you hunt coyotes over a carcass, this seems in line with nature, as long as no local laws on dumping were broken. Having a mass grave and using coyote hunting as a blanket excuse is not a good idea, of course. Boars can carry disease as swine, too, so really nothing is beyond caution, or common sense. Rabies, avian TB, Lymes disease, Johnnes, EHD, mange, zebra mussels, the list goes on.

In closing, to my knowledge, the material that seems to be in question is the brain stem, brain and lymph nodes. Tonsils are also being collected as a sample for research of live animal tests. With that in mind, throwing the heads in the trash and using the balance of the animal for consumption and coyote bait seems ok, but again, check with the DEC for their word. Im just the parrot!

Puddy

Thanks for the advise Bill. My outdoor furnace is a 500,000 BTU fire, burns head, hide and any other bones to powder overnight. It is a Classic Outdoor furnace. With the boars I hunt, the head and hide stay where I hunt them. Where I get it cut up, every animal has to have all heads and hides removed so we leave them where we hunt them. I cut my own deer up. We have never heard we had to debone our deer before we brought them home from Pennsylvania. I heard from a guy last night that they had killed 29 deer in Arieta, near where Bob Avery, a guy who had deer in an enclosure for years. They made the urine called "Horn Hunter" from there, you have probably have heard of this place. Bob's stepson or something like that, made a grunt call that is called "The True Talker", that Hunter Specialties bought the Patent from, did you know that? Best call I have ever used too. I have called in more deer, "Bucks" with that call than any other. Well thanks for the info. Bill. I will have to give you a call about the CWD and Hog hunts soon, got your e-mail this morning, thanks! Reid

NY Bowhunter

How long until it spreads to Cayuga County would you say so I know when to move?

Bill Yox

Well, I checked my crystal ball, and I see NC in your future.

Look, folks, CWD is definitely a disease that can affect deer. Unfortunately, hysteria and being uninformed affects so many others. We can only hope that cooler heads can prevail. Im heading to Albany with a good group of professionals Thursday to see if it will.