Central Iowa
Life Member
I contacted a friend in Illinois that I knew had faced the CWD issues we may see in the future and wanted his insight to what he has experienced to help me understand what we may or may not be up against. Bob's a real world guy with hands on experience and easy to talk to. I encourage any questions as they will all help us understand this better. I will make sure Bob checks in once in awhile if there are questions. What do you guys think?
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]I am happy to offer my insight to our CWD experience. Hopefully my brother hunter/managers in Iowa can benefit from my experiences to gain a better understanding of its future impact.[/FONT]
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Before discussing our CWD experience to help IA folks understand the impact, I’d like to relay a very brief history of my properties and their management, to better illustrate my experience fully, and relate it to the present.
CWD was an obscure disease that happened elsewhere when I began managing my property 18 years ago, not dissimilar to bovine TB in MI. It didn’t impact “our” herd so it wasn’t a consideration for my plans. My goal was to have trophy bucks, and I wanted them to be visible.
At the time this was contrary to scientific thinking, which indicated several thousand acres were necessary to produce “trophy” deer. I also wanted to implement my plan in a holistic manner, good for the land, water other wildlife with an emphasis on deer.
My habitat improvement crusade began in 1993 with the acquisition of my first farm. I felt this would be a logical first step to attract, hold and eventually manage “my” deer herd. At the time my investment in land & equipment etc., was staggering but I felt my time and labor investment was even higher value.
My objective was to increase the deer population on my property in an effort to produce more buck fawns. A few successful years of recruitment were followed by seasons with slowly increasing doe harvests. As habitat improved, including feed available (both natural & food plots) the herd began a population boom. I added more acreage in the 2nd year, and more yet later. (increasing the need for my habitat labor and equipment investment & expense)
In short order we declared war on does, thanks to liberal tag availability. Our population didn’t really decline, it boomed with bucks and the does became harder to harvest. But my plan worked, and regular daytime sightings of more mature bucks (including kills) became reality.
I cannot stress the investment in time, labor and money enough, based upon a plan that, at the time (early 1990’s), experts said was impossible.
Then came CWD 80 or so miles NW of my properties in Mt Horeb, WI in 2001. This hit me like a ton of bricks as the State of WI announced an eradication plan, to kill every deer on, and in the surrounding counties. The media firestorm that followed scared the daylights out of me.
The very next year (2002) IL had a positive CWD deer found below the WI border 35 to 40 miles from home in Winnebago County. I thought it was only a matter of time, and all my effort and sacrifice would be for nothing. I also feared my property’s land value which had risen substantially (thanks to my proximity to the Chicagoland area) would plummet.
Baiting had been illegal here, but after season feeding was allowed which we enjoyed by the house. This practice was outlawed in short order (which I agreed with and still do).
Since this was potentially the end of my dream, I set out to document what I had achieved on my properties and how I had done it. Thus began the Building Whitetail Paradise DVD Series. At least a record would exist for others to follow who may not be impacted by CWD…as you know, I did it with my own time and money accepting no commercial endorsement even after it became a best seller. It was about truth, not silver bullets as Kroll says.
In short order I met with an IDNR supervising biologist regarding CWD, and it was a blunt conversation. They didn’t know much about how the disease was passed between deer or how long it would take to spread. Prions basically were thought to live forever in the soil…and computer models reflected the eventual end of deer populations, nobody knew the timeframe.
The best plan we could come up with would be to radically thin the herd, putting space between the deer themselves. Hunters would be participants, and sharpshooters would be utilized on State and county grounds, and private land where hunting was minimal due to the proximity to houses in densely populated areas.
Thanks to our Governor illegally raiding IDNR funds, no money to speak of was available to support the effort aside from salaries. I raised money to help get needed materials for the staff.
In short order CWD was found in adjoining counties, Boone, Ogle (my county), Stephenson in addition to Winnebago.
Over time it has been found in more counties, DeKalb, LaSalle & McHenry. My neighbors and I further ramped up doe harvest after discovery in our county based upon our discussion of the disease and its potential impact. In our informal cooperative, this did not include killing large numbers of bucks even when permits were liberalized. Older bucks do have a higher incidence rate of CWD, but I believed the vast majority of our bucks were locals due to annual photo census, video & direct observation. (radical at the time)
The disease spread here in IL can easily be traced to riparian corridors, I will provide a map for you. It seems sparks from the “main fire” can leap pretty good distances but haven’t yet led to brush fires in heavily hunted areas, which is comforting since one spark landed just a few sections from my property.
The latest totals for infection per county are as follows as of Dec. 2010:
Total CWD Cases per County:
Boone: 109
DeKalb: 31
LaSalle: 1
McHenry: 23
Ogle: 3
Stephenson: 2
Winnebago: 125
Total: 294
The rate of growth in CWD by year:
2003: 14
2004: 51
2005: 31
2006: 51
2007: 42
2008: 38
2009: 30
2010: 37
Basically, the risk to IA initially will be along riparian corridors, which run from the current area of infection in MN. Sparks will most likely occur fairly distant from known cases due to migration. Some of these sparks will take root as they have in McHenry County here, this is probably due to lack of hunting in more urban areas.
I absolutely support a combination of hunters stepping up harvest and sharp shooting where appropriate. Sharp shooting has occurred here in densely populated areas, and State properties where hunters either didn’t do the job on doe harvest, or lacked opportunity at all due to Forest Preserves and Nature Centers not allowing hunting.
I absolutely continue to support a ban on baiting & deer feeders due to concentration of deer at a specific spot. I absolutely recognize the difference between food plots and feeders and have not seen disease spread due to food plots.
I support the IDNR approach overall including public relations meetings and information availability. The proactive participatory wait and see approach by IL hunters, landowners and suburban homeowners has been excellent overall.
This contrasts with the hysteria in Wisconsin initially on all sides, and continues to some degree today.
The results to date on my properties have been positive as far as doe harvest increase. We have adjusted hunting strategy to further reduce hunter impact on movement while achieving my doe harvest goals. Even though our buck population has skyrocketed (I believe due to reduced buck fawn/yearling dispersal and increased migration in) they are very visible thanks to habitat, and screening strategy, and a dearth of big numbers of does.
I have adjusted my photo census strategy, which has been remarkably successful.
We now have a known buck distribution of approximately (estimated age of course) 59% aged 1.5 to 3.5, and 41% 4.5 and older including several ancient bucks. The density of bucks is staggering.
We continue to confirm age estimation via cementum annuli analysis by sending teeth to Wildlife Analytical Labs (deerage.com), which shows we are pretty darn good at estimating age prior to killing bucks. Our average harvested buck age has gone up over time. Our stacking of bucks in the 5.5 age class and up has led to rethinking many notions we had regarding when antler maturity is achieved.
Overall the CWD experience as of today has been most painful on 2 groups of people, those who didn’t apply QDM science to their overall management, and non-hunters who don’t get management. Both these groups contain people who will never get it, but many actually have, which is pretty cool.
So far the experience I have had has served to reinforce long held beliefs, and open my eyes to the fact that even after 18 years of intense overall management…things can continue to get better regarding deer hunting & deer experiences.
I hope this quick summary can be of help to my brothers in IA, I could go on for days…please feel free to share this as you see fit, and I welcome questions or comments from the public.[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]I have attached a CWD infection by section map for you.
[/FONT][/FONT]
Stay in touch Travis!
Bob Coine
www.Heartlandillinois.com
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]I am happy to offer my insight to our CWD experience. Hopefully my brother hunter/managers in Iowa can benefit from my experiences to gain a better understanding of its future impact.[/FONT]
[/FONT]
Before discussing our CWD experience to help IA folks understand the impact, I’d like to relay a very brief history of my properties and their management, to better illustrate my experience fully, and relate it to the present.
CWD was an obscure disease that happened elsewhere when I began managing my property 18 years ago, not dissimilar to bovine TB in MI. It didn’t impact “our” herd so it wasn’t a consideration for my plans. My goal was to have trophy bucks, and I wanted them to be visible.
At the time this was contrary to scientific thinking, which indicated several thousand acres were necessary to produce “trophy” deer. I also wanted to implement my plan in a holistic manner, good for the land, water other wildlife with an emphasis on deer.
My habitat improvement crusade began in 1993 with the acquisition of my first farm. I felt this would be a logical first step to attract, hold and eventually manage “my” deer herd. At the time my investment in land & equipment etc., was staggering but I felt my time and labor investment was even higher value.
My objective was to increase the deer population on my property in an effort to produce more buck fawns. A few successful years of recruitment were followed by seasons with slowly increasing doe harvests. As habitat improved, including feed available (both natural & food plots) the herd began a population boom. I added more acreage in the 2nd year, and more yet later. (increasing the need for my habitat labor and equipment investment & expense)
In short order we declared war on does, thanks to liberal tag availability. Our population didn’t really decline, it boomed with bucks and the does became harder to harvest. But my plan worked, and regular daytime sightings of more mature bucks (including kills) became reality.
I cannot stress the investment in time, labor and money enough, based upon a plan that, at the time (early 1990’s), experts said was impossible.
Then came CWD 80 or so miles NW of my properties in Mt Horeb, WI in 2001. This hit me like a ton of bricks as the State of WI announced an eradication plan, to kill every deer on, and in the surrounding counties. The media firestorm that followed scared the daylights out of me.
The very next year (2002) IL had a positive CWD deer found below the WI border 35 to 40 miles from home in Winnebago County. I thought it was only a matter of time, and all my effort and sacrifice would be for nothing. I also feared my property’s land value which had risen substantially (thanks to my proximity to the Chicagoland area) would plummet.
Baiting had been illegal here, but after season feeding was allowed which we enjoyed by the house. This practice was outlawed in short order (which I agreed with and still do).
Since this was potentially the end of my dream, I set out to document what I had achieved on my properties and how I had done it. Thus began the Building Whitetail Paradise DVD Series. At least a record would exist for others to follow who may not be impacted by CWD…as you know, I did it with my own time and money accepting no commercial endorsement even after it became a best seller. It was about truth, not silver bullets as Kroll says.
In short order I met with an IDNR supervising biologist regarding CWD, and it was a blunt conversation. They didn’t know much about how the disease was passed between deer or how long it would take to spread. Prions basically were thought to live forever in the soil…and computer models reflected the eventual end of deer populations, nobody knew the timeframe.
The best plan we could come up with would be to radically thin the herd, putting space between the deer themselves. Hunters would be participants, and sharpshooters would be utilized on State and county grounds, and private land where hunting was minimal due to the proximity to houses in densely populated areas.
Thanks to our Governor illegally raiding IDNR funds, no money to speak of was available to support the effort aside from salaries. I raised money to help get needed materials for the staff.
In short order CWD was found in adjoining counties, Boone, Ogle (my county), Stephenson in addition to Winnebago.
Over time it has been found in more counties, DeKalb, LaSalle & McHenry. My neighbors and I further ramped up doe harvest after discovery in our county based upon our discussion of the disease and its potential impact. In our informal cooperative, this did not include killing large numbers of bucks even when permits were liberalized. Older bucks do have a higher incidence rate of CWD, but I believed the vast majority of our bucks were locals due to annual photo census, video & direct observation. (radical at the time)
The disease spread here in IL can easily be traced to riparian corridors, I will provide a map for you. It seems sparks from the “main fire” can leap pretty good distances but haven’t yet led to brush fires in heavily hunted areas, which is comforting since one spark landed just a few sections from my property.
The latest totals for infection per county are as follows as of Dec. 2010:
Total CWD Cases per County:
Boone: 109
DeKalb: 31
LaSalle: 1
McHenry: 23
Ogle: 3
Stephenson: 2
Winnebago: 125
Total: 294
The rate of growth in CWD by year:
2003: 14
2004: 51
2005: 31
2006: 51
2007: 42
2008: 38
2009: 30
2010: 37
Basically, the risk to IA initially will be along riparian corridors, which run from the current area of infection in MN. Sparks will most likely occur fairly distant from known cases due to migration. Some of these sparks will take root as they have in McHenry County here, this is probably due to lack of hunting in more urban areas.
I absolutely support a combination of hunters stepping up harvest and sharp shooting where appropriate. Sharp shooting has occurred here in densely populated areas, and State properties where hunters either didn’t do the job on doe harvest, or lacked opportunity at all due to Forest Preserves and Nature Centers not allowing hunting.
I absolutely continue to support a ban on baiting & deer feeders due to concentration of deer at a specific spot. I absolutely recognize the difference between food plots and feeders and have not seen disease spread due to food plots.
I support the IDNR approach overall including public relations meetings and information availability. The proactive participatory wait and see approach by IL hunters, landowners and suburban homeowners has been excellent overall.
This contrasts with the hysteria in Wisconsin initially on all sides, and continues to some degree today.
The results to date on my properties have been positive as far as doe harvest increase. We have adjusted hunting strategy to further reduce hunter impact on movement while achieving my doe harvest goals. Even though our buck population has skyrocketed (I believe due to reduced buck fawn/yearling dispersal and increased migration in) they are very visible thanks to habitat, and screening strategy, and a dearth of big numbers of does.
I have adjusted my photo census strategy, which has been remarkably successful.
We now have a known buck distribution of approximately (estimated age of course) 59% aged 1.5 to 3.5, and 41% 4.5 and older including several ancient bucks. The density of bucks is staggering.
We continue to confirm age estimation via cementum annuli analysis by sending teeth to Wildlife Analytical Labs (deerage.com), which shows we are pretty darn good at estimating age prior to killing bucks. Our average harvested buck age has gone up over time. Our stacking of bucks in the 5.5 age class and up has led to rethinking many notions we had regarding when antler maturity is achieved.
Overall the CWD experience as of today has been most painful on 2 groups of people, those who didn’t apply QDM science to their overall management, and non-hunters who don’t get management. Both these groups contain people who will never get it, but many actually have, which is pretty cool.
So far the experience I have had has served to reinforce long held beliefs, and open my eyes to the fact that even after 18 years of intense overall management…things can continue to get better regarding deer hunting & deer experiences.
I hope this quick summary can be of help to my brothers in IA, I could go on for days…please feel free to share this as you see fit, and I welcome questions or comments from the public.[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]I have attached a CWD infection by section map for you.
[/FONT][/FONT]
Stay in touch Travis!
Bob Coine
www.Heartlandillinois.com
