Pennsylvania Game News - August 2017 - 41

While the expansion requires
significantly more of Pennsylvania's
hunters and residents to comply with
special rules intended to slow the spread
of CWD, Game Commission wildlife
management director Wayne Laroche
said the expansion is the best way to
protect areas of the state from the serious
threat that CWD poses to the future of
Pennsylvania's deer and deer hunting.
"If we do not confront the disease
where it is known to exist, we have no
chance of confining it and keeping the
problem from spreading," Laroche said.
"Establishing buffers around known
CWD-positives, whether wild or captive,
is a necessary step to protect the rest of the
state where CWD has not been detected.
Hunters' cooperation and compliance
with the rules will give us a better chance
of minimizing the impacts of CWD."
Within DMA 2, DMAP permits will
be used to direct hunting pressure to two
areas within the DMA where multiple
CWD-positive deer have been found.
Hunters can purchase permits, while
available, for the two DMAP units - the
North Unit (Unit Number 2874) and
the South Unit (Unit Number 2875) -
anywhere they purchase their hunting
licenses. They just need to know the
number of the unit they want to hunt.
DMAP permits cost $10.90 each.
As with DMAP permits allocated
elsewhere, hunters can obtain up to two
permits in each unit. Each permit allows
for the harvest of one antlerless deer, and
the permits can be used within any open
deer season - including the antlered-only
firearms deer season.
What's different about these units
compared to other DMAP units is that
they contain a mix of public and private
land, so hunters who obtain permits for
these units need to make certain they
A U G U S T 2 0 1 7

DMA 1 dissolved
Established in York and Adams counties
in response to Pennsylvania's first case of
C W D , D is ea s e M a n a gem en t A rea 1 ha s b een
d is s o l v ed .
DMA 1 was established in 2012 after a
farm-raised deer at a captive facility tested
positive for CWD. But through five years of
monitoring, which included the testing of
a b o u t 4 , 8 0 0 w il d d eer w it hin t he D M A , C W D
never was found.
With DMA 1 dissolved, general hunting
regulations apply within this area.
Although this change lifts the ban on
feeding and the use of deer-urine lures in
t his a rea , t he P en n s y l v a n ia G a m e C o m m is s io n
still recommends people refrain from these
activities. These activities can concentrate
deer and increase risk of diseases spreading
b et w een d eer.
A l l hu n t ers s ho u l d b e a w a re t ha t D is ea s e
M a n a gem en t A rea 2 ha s b een ex p a n d ed
significantly in 2017 due to new cases of
CWD within and outside DMA 2. In fact, part
of the eastern border of DMA 2 now extends
eastward to the former western border of
D M A 1 .

have permission to hunt on land within
the DMAP units.
The 3,000 DMAP permits allocated
for the 375-square-mile North Unit and
4,200 DMAP permits allocated for the
525-square-mile South Unit are intended
to reduce deer populations where CWD
prevalence is highest.
In previous years, the Game
Commission allocated DMA 2 permits
that enabled permit holders to harvest
antlerless deer anywhere within DMA 2.
Last year, 14,500 DMA 2 permits
were allocated for use anywhere within
the DMA.
Rather than allow for additional deer
harvest throughout such a large area, the
switch to DMAP allows for focus on
areas with a known problem.
41
Pennsylvania Game News - August 2017

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