Pennsylvania Game News - June 2017 - 43

the disease. The agency will work with
landowners and hunters in this area to
ensure that enough deer are tested.
No other shooting initiatives to collect additional samples for CWD testing are planned.
The Game Commission actively
is developing a CWD research-andcontrol program.
For any disease-control program to
be effective, some deer will have to be
killed.
The key will be finding ways to
"surgically remove" pockets of infected
deer rather than trying to drastically
decrease deer numbers.
Laroche said the March initiative
demonstrated concern within the community and the willingness of the residents to cooperate with efforts to solve
this problem.
"The landowners who participated
understand the seriousness of CWD,"
Laroche said. "Their cooperation was
key to this surveillance effort, and
while there's no easy solution to the
CWD problem, the Game Commission
intends to launch control and research
efforts in an attempt to slow the increase and spread of the disease within
Pennsylvania."
CWD is a fatal disease that affects
deer and elk. The disease is spread
through direct deer-to-deer contact
and ingestion of CWD prions from
contaminated environments. The CWD
prion mostly is concentrated in the
brain, spinal cord and nervous system
tissue, but is present throughout an infected deer's body including its bodily
fluids. It remains infectious in soil for
many years.
There is no practical method to test
living deer for CWD.
At present, CWD has been detected
JUNE 2017

Shooting range rules change
The Pennsylvania Board of Game
Commissioners at its March meeting adopted
a provision that allows shooting ranges on
state game lands to open longer - from 8 a.m.
to sunset - on Sundays within the firearms
deer and bear seasons.
Regular hours at Game Commissionowned ranges are 8 a.m. to sunset, except
on Sundays, when ranges are open noon to
sunset. On Sundays immediately preceding
the firearms deer and firearms bear seasons,
however, ranges are open from 8 a.m. to
sunset.
Commissioners said the proposed
expansion of Sunday hours within the deer
and bear seasons, while minor, creates a
convenience for hunters who might find
themselves pressed for time to adjust sights
or scopes on firearms at the height of the
hunting season.
Other amendments in the measure
prohibit range users from intentionally
shooting at or damaging the frames and
stands on which target backboards are
mounted, using firearms in negligent
disregard for the safety of others, or loading
or discharging a firearm that contains
more than six rounds of single-projectile
ammunition.

among wild deer in southcentral Pennsylvania, as well as deer at several captive cervid facilities around the state.
As the number of free-ranging deer
infected with CWD increases, the potential for CWD to spread throughout
the Commonwealth rises. Ultimately,
this will be detrimental to deer populations everywhere and will affect the
ability of Pennsylvanians to enjoy deer
viewing and hunting in the future if the
disease goes unchecked.
Development and implementation of
effective control measures now, rather
than later, will provide the Game Commission with the best opportunity to
slow, and possibly contain, the spread
of CWD in Pennsylvania.
43

Pennsylvania Game News - June 2017

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