My name is Robin Floyd. I have been on TNDeer over 25 years. When I joined, I lived in Martin, TN but for over 20 years I have lived in Murray, KY. I am friends with several folks on TNDeer. Heck, Ruger probably saved my life once when he helped me drag out a huge doe a quarter of a mile thru a muddy cornfield to my truck. I am currently the Kentucky Dept of Fish & Wildlife Commissioner for the !st Congressional District, the 14 western most counties in KY. We recently discovered our first case of CWD in Ballard Co, KY, in far northwestern KY, in my District, probably 50 miles from TN. Since the discovery of the CWD positive deer in Henry Co, TN 3 years ago, the 5 counties within 20 miles of where this deer was found (Fulton, Hickman, Graves, Calloway, & Marshall) have been in a Surveillance Zone, with restrictions on baiting & minerals, import & export of unprocessed deer, & mandatory check stations. I was born in Fulton, grew up in Hickman, hunt in Graves, live in Calloway, & work in Marshall, so I'm invested. These restrictions have been fairly well tolerated. Many turkey hunters want baiting banned anyway due to aflatoxin. We have several processors in the Surveillance Zone so that hasn't been a huge issue. The first year, we had 96% compliance with the in-person check stations which we tried to make as pleasant & as much like the check stations when I was a kid as possible. (We gave away free coffee, hats, & thermoses & encouraged hunters to socialize & see what other hunters had harvested. There are no old country stores left but we had most of these check stations at processors where a lot of people were coming anyway.) KDFWR has always used the more accurate 2-step testing, BTW.
I recently read on the Tennessee Deer Hunters page that well over 90% of their members disagree with TN's CWD management plan. I am asking for advice because KDFWR need to put together a management plan that most of our hunters will go along with. We have to have hunter buy-in because deer hunters manage the deer. Thru surveys and a recent in-person CWD forum where the positive deer was harvested (a 2 1/2 y/o buck that was tending a doe.), we have learned the following:
1. Hunters want to be given the opportunity to manage any overpopulation first. If an area has too many deer, hunters want the first opportunity to rightsize the herd. If an area isn't overpopulated, they want the seasons to stay as they are. I agree with this.
2. Hunters are not in favor of killing all the deer to save the deer. The cure doesn't need to be worse than the disease. They especially don't want targeted removal in Jan & Feb where snipers kill shed bucks & pregnant does. also agree with this.
3. They don't want another modern firearm season. Right now, our modern firearm season is peak of the rut for 16 days. This is when the huge majority of our harvest occurs. Traditionally, are seasons have been set to maximize herd health & hunter opportunity. We now have over 1 million animals in our deer herd. We also have significant agricultural damage by deer in my district, a fact we can't ignore. If deer are harvested due to depredation, KDFWR has been successful in taking refrigerated trailers for those deer which have then been donated to Hunters for the Hungry, rather than wasted.
4. Some hunters have proposed expanding a early season (Early Youth & Early MZ) from 2 days to 9 with adult hunters being able to use pistols, slugs, & straight wall cartridges as well as archery & MZ in order to create more opportunity for youth & for mentors to hunt at the same time as youth. We have tons of deer so that would in no way hurt the resource.
The KDFWR Commission, of which I am a part, will almost certainly expand the Surveillance Zone to include Ballard Co & the 2 counties next door, for a total of 8 Surveillance Zone Counties, with the same restrictions as the original 5 SZ counties. Our goal is to slow CWD. We are well aware that eradication is unlikely, although that apparently did happen in NY. We know that the impact of CWD isn't catastrophic due to the up to two year time between a deer becoming infected & becoming sick. (We know EHD kills many more deer & much faster than CWD.) We also have to take into consideration the impact of CWD on people. Outfitters, guides, land owners, processors, and others who make their living from deer hunting have asked that we try to contain CWD down here in the far western part of the state.
Now here is where I need your help. Obviously, this is a controversial & complex issue. If you have a good understanding of CWD and it's social implications, I would welcome any advice of suggestion you might have. Please only comment if you're trying to help. I've already heard all the noise that CWD is not real, It's a hoax, nothing can be done, money grab, government conspiracy theory, etc. All 9 members of our Commission are decent men who grew up hunting & fishing. We all serve without a salary or any perks whatsoever. We were all appointed by the Governor but I've never met him & certainly never contributed to him. He's a city guy & hunting, fishing, & conservation aren't even on his radar screen. Finally, KY has received no huge grants to study CWD because we haven't had it until just this deer season.
I believe most people that hunt & fish have pretty good common sense. My only desire is to see hunters get the the first chance to manage this problem.
Thanks
