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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
The Michigan DNR reports a total of 3,695 deer in Michigan this year have been tested for chronic wasting disease (CWD). Four deer have been confirmed positive for the disease, with the fourth positive just recently found.
During the firearm deer season, a hunter from Dewitt Township (Clinton County) in the Core CWD Area brought a 1 1/2-year-old buck into the DNR's Rose Lake deer check station. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, confirmed the deer as CWD positive.
Because the deer was harvested within 10 miles of the Eaton County border, the DNR strongly encourages all hunters within Eaton County to voluntarily stop baiting and feeding, continue hunting and, most importantly, bring harvested deer into a DNR check station.
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
Each year, the Michigan DNR generates preliminary estimates of the firearm deer harvest shortly after the season closes. The 2015 firearm deer season wrapped up Nov. 30, with indications of mixed results throughout the state.
The harvest appears to have decreased in the Upper Peninsula and increased in the Lower Peninsula.
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
Michigan DNR conservation officers in southwest Michigan recently conducted enforcement operations targeting illegal importation of harvested deer into Michigan from states with chronic wasting disease (CWD) in their free-ranging deer herds.
Conservation officers conducted operations near the I-94 corridor of the Michigan/Indiana border, resulting in the seizure of six harvested deer. Five deer were transported into Michigan from Illinois, and one was transported from Wisconsin. Michigan law prohibits importing deer from CWD-positive states and provinces.
Five Michigan residents have been charged with the illegal transportation of deer into the state. They will be arraigned in the 5th District Court in Berrien County. Violation of Michiganís wildlife importation laws may result in fines ofup to $500 and up to 90 days in jail.
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
The Michigan DNR offers a Report All Poaching (RAP) reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual who shot a gray wolf in Houghton County Saturday.
The shooting took place along M-26, one half-mile south of Twin Lakes.
DNR conservation officers said the shooterís vehicle would have been parked along the west shoulder of M-26, heading southwest. The shooting took place sometime between the hours of 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. EST.
"The subject shot from the vehicle and struck the wolf as it was standing on the snowmobile trail (Trail No. 3) to the west of the highway," said Sgt. Grant Emery of the DNRís Baraga Field Office.
Gray wolves are a federally endangered species and are protected in Michigan. Wolves cannot legally be killed except in the defense of human life.
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Deer Check StationMost Michigan deer hunters have been in the woods as much as possible during this firearm deer hunting season.
However, one group of deer hunters - members of the DNR Wildlife Division - have given up some of their days afield to check other hunters' deer at check stations around the state.
Collecting valuable data about the state's deer population is something the DNR has been doing for decades.
The DNR is aided in its efforts by students and other volunteers and through partnerships with meat processors, taverns, recreation vehicle dealers and other businesses that provide some of the most popular check station venues.
"We get a ton of information from our hunters," said Chad Stewart, the DNR's deer specialist, who is located at the Rose Lake Research Center. "It's the one time of year when we can really get our hands on so many deer."