Commentary: Scrap antler restrictions in Pennsylvania disease areas to slow CWD spread

In a recent two-week period, two positive cases of CWD were found in wild deer, both adult bucks. One was in Carbon County and the other in Luzerne County, locations 10 miles apart.

A Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesman said the following “Given that the positive deer in Carbon County was displaying clinical signs of the disease, it was likely infected for a year or more, spreading prions all the while.”

Another agency spokesman said that the last, nearest CWD case to the Luzerne County case took place 40 miles away. He said ”it’s possible that deer moved from that area to the current location.”

So, we know that the deer that travel the most are yearling bucks in the fall. Pennsylvania and other states have proven this in studies by GPS collaring does and yearling bucks. A study in Centre County showed that a buck traveled 13 miles.

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Studies have shown that bucks wander farther than the females, and that CWD is more prevalent in older bucks – and the older bucks become, the more chance they have of contacting and spreading CWD.

The former executive director of the Game Commission was asked last year by a state lawmaker whether his agency considered relaxing or eliminating antler restrictions, “knowing that a point restriction exacerbates the spread of CWD.”

He first disputed the idea that antler restrictions promote the spread of CWD. However, he then admitted that “the most dangerous deer in the woods, in terms of spreading wasting disease, are young bucks. When they leave their birthplace, they travel more often and further than other deer.”

So, the Game Commission knows all of this and basically has admitted to how CWD is spread by the bucks, not by the does. Other states that have CWD issues have eliminated antler restrictions entirely or at least in the disease areas.

That seems to be one of their first moves to combat the spread.

So, why is the Game Commission’s focus on killing more does and continuing with antler restrictions, allowing the bucks to spread CWD?

There is no logical reason. All that the agency has really done to slow the spread is to blame the hunters for transporting possible infected deer into areas that have not been infected, or for feeding the deer.