CWD found in wild deer in Eau Claire County triggers baiting and feeding ban

A wild deer in Eau Claire County tested positive for chronic wasting disease, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

The 2-year-old female was collected by DNR staff after they received a report of a sick deer from a local landowner. 

The animal, taken near the town of Brunswick, represents the first CWD-positive wild deer in Eau Claire County.

The finding will trigger deer baiting and feeding bans effective May 1. 

Eau Claire County, under a ban since the 2015 finding of CWD on a captive deer facility, will have its three-year ban renewed.

And Buffalo, Chippewa, Dunn, Pepin and Trempealeau counties will be designated as CWD-affected counties and be placed under two-year baiting and feeding bans.

Required by state law, the bans are placed on counties in which CWD has been found and counties within 10 miles of the detection site.

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It’s the first CWD-related baiting and feeding ban for Buffalo County, an area with a high percentage of outfitters and others who own or lease land specifically for trophy deer hunting. For more than a decade, many have placed deer bait, feed or licks with the intention of drawing bucks onto their properties and enhancing antler growth.

Such activities will now be prohibited.

Although the doe tested recently was the first wild deer in Eau Claire County, it’s not the first CWD-positive animal in the county. 

In 2015, Fairchild Whitetails in Fairchild had 33 CWD-positive deer among a captive herd of 228 in a 10-acre enclosure. The state paid Rick Vojtik, owner of the facility, indemnity of $298,770 for 228 white-tailed deer killed on his farm.

Before the depopulation, the DNR documented escapes of deer from Fairchild Whitetails.

In Eau Claire County, 971 wild deer have been tested for CWD since 1999, with 970 negative, according to DNR records. The only positive test result came from the sick animal taken this year.

There are currently 53 CWD affected counties in Wisconsin, according to the DNR. 

Of these counties 24 are designated as such due to having a wild CWD positive deer, 17 are within 10 miles of a wild CWD positive deer and 12 have a captive CWD positive or are within 10 miles of a captive CWD positive deer.

In response to the detection of the CWD positive deer, the department plans to convene a meeting with the local County Deer Advisory Councils from the six counties impacted by the finding to discuss management actions specific to the detection.

As it routinely does, the DNR also will establish a 10-mile radius disease surveillance area around the positive location and conduct surveillance activities to assess disease distribution and prevalence, including samples from car-killed deer and adult deer killed under agricultural damage permits.