Mississippi Special CWD Season

[3855WIN]

MDWFP - Special Deer Season Set

www.mdwfp.com

 

[Nick87]

They've been doing it here for over 10 years.

 

[KipCarson]

Interesting, I wonder why they were low on samples? If it’s anything like where I am in LA I assume the reason is because hunters are afraid of the potential for knee-jerk reactions resulting in extreme herd reductions that game depts have been known to make. I have a friend who is a biologist for our wildlife and fisheries who asked me to help him collect samples over in my area and to a man everyone I asked was hesitant and declined to participate. Their reasoning was they were not interested in turning our area into the new ground zero. We’re 160 miles from closest CWD and the sentiment is that it’s going to be here eventually anyway. Right or wrong I can’t say I blame them when mass killing could be the outcome.

 

[Nick87]

I've been to the public meetings here with biologist. We have the extra seasons because gey don't get enough samples. They claim there still not getting enough samples. Even though we have an archery season that is 3.5 months long that no samples are collected in. The biologist that was leading the meeting said it "sounds bad to the public if its mandatory for cwd and they dont want to raise concern" whatever. Extra cwd season doesnt sound bad though I guess I dont see the difference. Either way long story short on years that we dont get enough samples the dnr has shot deer over bait at night to collect samples. No I'm not making that up. Nothing like trying to stop the spread of cwd by baiting deer to take samples.

 

[thusby]

I miss the old hunting camp days in Mississippi. An extra 7 deer limit on a 2-day hunt.

 

[3855WIN]

In the Jackson area, the CWD drop location isn’t convenient to most of the metro area. Hunters aren’t likely to drive an extra 30 miles to drop a head off.

 

[Bux_N_Beards]

If this weren't so sad, given the nature of the subject matter, it would almost be comical.

The sampling effort in this region is low, IMO, due to three core reasons: Lack of convenience of testing locations (drop-off freezers), communication/education, and just the culture of hunters in that area. Marshall and Benton counties (MS), for example, are on the TN border, and are essentially mirror images of both Fayette/Hardeman counties in TN where CWD was first discovered in TN during the 2018-19 season, and the most prevalent. Based on records as I type this from the TWRA website, 4,310 samples were taken from those two TN counties during the 2019-20 season that just ended a couple of weeks ago. Mississippi, according to the MDWFP site, has only received 683 samples from these two adjoining counties (similar in land mass/terrain mix), during a season that is still underway, and now "extended".

All of these counties, in both states, are within an hour's drive of Memphis, TN. Needless to say, they get a fair amount of hunting pressure from both residents and non-residents, with MS likely having the edge on public land simply due to portions of the Holly Springs National Forest being in both counties mentioned above.

To my knowledge, there is was ONE (1) drop off freezer in Marshall county, located south of Holly Springs at Wall Doxey State Park. For perspective, anybody hunting along the TN border is not likely to go that far out of their way (30-45 minutes depending on location) to drop off a deer head. MDWFP could have put drop-off freezers at numerous locations along Hwy 72 along the TN border, and likely obtained exponentially more samples purely by making it more convenient. That highway is a thoroughfare of hunters from Memphis and its suburbs along the stateline. I have traditionally hunted this area and didn't buy a MS license this fall solely for this reason. And I know several friends who either shot fewer deer this fall due to this inconvenience, or simply chose not to have them tested, which is their decision.

TN, on the flipside, has a culture of having to check in big game (MS does not). Among other things, TN embedded communication into the online check-in app to not only collect data as to whether the successful hunter intended to have their deer tested, but also provided a list of locations where it could be submitted, and even confirmed which of those locations would be used to submit the sample if the hunter chose "yes". Likewise, especially in those counties in the "core" area, they made it convenient to drop off samples due to the availability off drop off freezers along major highways/roads in the region, along with coordination with both meat processors and taxidermists. I could find all kinds of reasons to pick apart how CWD went from unfound to what is likely about to prove to be one of the highest prevalence rates in the country (in mature bucks) in the span of one year - that's another subject. But to that end, I'll have to say, TWRA has done a commendable job of educating hunters, providing access to sampling (both onsite and self-serve), and continually communicating updates. I don't know if MDWFP is in denial, lacks the funding, or has some other "strategy" to all of this, but this situation has been a topic of discussion between the local deer hunting community all of this season. "Why is TN all over this, and MS is doing essentially nothing".

Take a look at these two maps, and tell me if you believe the state line to be some sort of magical "barrier" to the disease. Insert sarcasm font.

MS - https://www.mdwfp.com/apps/cwdmap/
TN - https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/twra/images/CommissionMap.png

Regardless, the proverbial "cat is out of the bag", and it has likely forever changed deer hunting as I've known it in this region forever. I cannot stand that, most importantly for how it is likely to impact the future, and selfishly for my own children as they grow as hunters.

 

[3855WIN]

Bux, the biggest problem in Mississippi is funding. There isn’t enough money to deal with this.
State game commissions have accomplished nothing other than to inconvenience hunters, regardless of funding or efforts.

 

[Bux_N_Beards]

Bux, the biggest problem in Mississippi is funding. There isn’t enough money to deal with this.
State game commissions have accomplished nothing other than to inconvenience hunters, regardless of funding or efforts.

That's what I've heard as well. TN is spending a considerable amount of funding on this too. Testing alone for this past season is one huge expense, as the state has tested upwards of 14K animals statewide. That said, I hope this attempt at the "extended season" is not simply a thinly veiled attempt to say, "Well, we tried to give hunters more time, and it didn't work", and then use that as an excuse to take more drastic measures. Most folks are burnt out at this point, after a 4 month long season, not to mention the deer have been pressured heavily as well. I just don't see this attempt having a material impact in regard to collecting more samples. They could have done some manned check-in stations during peak weekends earlier in the season and collected significantly more samples. I know they've incurred cost to set up their own lab, because TN was so backlogged once gun season opened, that they were sending their overflow to them to reduce testing turnaround time. I just can't imagine a few additional freezers, at a minimum in these border counties, being that material of a cost in the grand scheme of things.

Sorry to sound like an armchair quarterback, but they could have been better prepared going into to this season, especially given they've been coordinating with TWRA since this all came to a head last season. When you've hunted an area for over 30 years and see what's going on literally in your own backyard, it just suddenly gets more real. We're getting reports of prevalence rates in bucks 3.5 yo+ in the core of that map at 60-70%, and hearing valid reports of some landowners who've had all of their deer harvested this past season test positive. It's not good from any angle, and unfortunately as I said above, the cat is out of the bag. The whole situation stinks.