Ban on urine-based scent in deer hunting causes a stink

[Eric]

www.roanoke.com/sports/outdoors/bill-cochran-ban-on-urine-based-scent-in-deer-hunting/article_042e613a-7f0a-5728-b119-ebab556f3584.html

[8pointer]

I have seen no research to support this ban! CWD has been around for many years and is not the disaster some make it out to be. There is no need to panic. I think the DGIF is bowing to special interest groups now. There is no place for this in wildlife management.  The bear license is a case in point. The public was against it 2 to 1 but it past anyway.

[striperjohn]

Yep right on.
Start with scent then camou etc etc.

[formula180]

I have seen articles in Outdoor Life about CWD being spread by scents.  They believe the bacteria in the urine, feces or body fluids can spread the disease.

I have never used scents or camo to hunt deer.  I think the Game Department is just making sure things won't get worst until they know more about the problem.  The disease has continued to spread in VA.

[striperjohn]

I rarely use it myself. We probably lost 60 -70% of our deer herd last year. F&G claimed it was hemorragic fever but I saw its effects. I believe it is CWD.

[8pointer]

I can't speak for anyone else but I spend a tremendous amount of time in the woods from july to jan an I saw no sign what so ever of a die off. Where did you get your facts from? Only one county has shown any sign on CWD

[striperjohn]

I own a 100 acres with about 20 in food plots near Farmville va. We found (Nov14 - present)well over 40 dead deer on and around my property -all reported to F&G. Normal placing of 12-15 game cams with records going back 10 years show a major reduction. F&G said they estimated a 45% die off but those of us in the woods just about everyday see a different story, and game cams do not lie.

[striperjohn]

This is part of and ongoing email conversation I'm having with Fish and game. This was before we started finding massive deer kills.



12/11/14

to dgifweb

We are seeing less and less deer here in my area. I’ve heard from other friends around this area and they are witnessing the same thing. Are you aware of anything severely damaging the deer herd? We have had a few deer with split hooves but nothing major. We’ve found a few dead by creeks. But nothing that indicates a massive deer kill, yet we simply aren’t seeing deer. I’ve got food plots that by this time of year, even with the massive acorn crop we have, would be eaten and they’re not.

We do not have the deer herd here in the Farmville area that we’ve had in the past. What’s going on?.




Bowman, Jim (DGIF) <[e-mail]>


12/11/14


John,

We have received quite a few reports from many central and eastern counties that are similar to what you are observing. The incidence of Hemorrhagic Disease (HD) has apparently been widespread in some of those counties this year as reflected by reports of dead deer and sloughing hooves on hunter-killed deer from those areas. The effects of the HD outbreak, in conjunction with the generally good mast crop this fall, are going to result in a significant drop in harvest in many of those counties this fall. Of course, we won’t know the full extent of it until we can look at harvest data at the end of the hunting season. One of my co-workers actually observed a deer from his tree stand in an eastern county as it died from chronic HD a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, there’s really nothing that can be done to prevent the occurrence of HD because the virus is present in the environment and outbreaks tend to irrupt periodically. We’ll be reviewing the status of deer hunting regulations early in 2015 and will consider any adjustments that may be needed. Following is a link to information about HD in case you are interested: www.vet.uga.edu/population_health_files/hemorrhagic-disease-brochure-2013.pdf




Jim Bowman
Terrestrial Program Manager
Forest Regional Office
1132 Thomas Jefferson Road
Forest, VA 24551
434.525.7522

[formula180]

I'm not seeing many deer this year on my property in Loudoun County.  Winter came early and we had some of the coldest temperatures since the early 80's.  In the past, there were 18 does and 6 to 8 bucks.

While I didn't see any dead deer carcasses, the foxes and buzzards would have consumed them in several days.  I spend little time there in the winter.

All my game cameras are Bushnell 199466 which last about 3 to 4 years before having failures.  It is a waste of time to send them in for repair since they will only offer you a replacement camera at a price you can buy for less elsewhere.  In the mean time you are out of $20 for shipping.

[Eric]

Here is some follow-up to my original post:


Hunters opposed to ban on urine-based scent

The National Deer Alliance surveyed its member and found strong support for the use of deer urine scent to attract deer and mask human scent. Some 76-percent of the participants said they opposed efforts to ban such attractants.

Virginia recently outlawed the use of urine-based scents out of concern they might spread the deadly Chronic Wasting Disease. A Department of Game and Inland Fisheries poll found hunters 2-to-1 opposed to the ban, although the sample was small. Artificial scents remain legal.

In another survey by the National Deer Alliance, 83 percent of the participants said “they did not believe, or did not know, if urine-based attractants are a real threat to wild, free-ranging deer.”

In that survey, 72 percent of the participants also said they favored the use of minerals to attract deer, and 63-percent favored the use of bait when deer hunting.

www.roanoke.com/sports/outdoors/bill-cochran-field-reports-hunters-opposed-to-ban-on-urine/article_1715ed5e-3b8d-11e5-b0f6-27ec133cc28f.html