Hunters' Almanac 2018

2018

HUNTERS’ ALMANAC

Garry Trudell, of Fairfield, with his 5 pt. 160 lb. buck and his wife, Eileen Trudell with her 6 pt. 119 lb. buck both taken in Fairfield.

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2018 Hunters’ Almanac

Page 2

HUNTERS ASKED TO HELP COLLECT DEER BIOLOGICAL DATA Ever wonder how old the buck was you took in deer season?

Vermont hunters who harvest a deer during the 2016 November rifle season will have the opportunity to

find out, if they submit the proper tooth from their deer.

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department is asking hunters to help in gathering more biological data on

the state’s deer population.

Hunters who get a deer during the November rifle season are asked to provide an incisor tooth from their deer when they go to a reporting station.

Supporting our Vermont lifestyle and our hunting traditions

Biologists are collecting middle incisor teeth from all rifle season deer in order to evaluate r e g i o n a l differences in ages and antler characteristics of bucks as well as to help estimate population size, growth rate, health, and mortality rates.

Each tooth will be cross-sectioned to accurately determine the deer’s age, and the results will be posted on the Fish & Wildlife website next spring.

Hunters are asked to obtain a tooth envelope from the reporting agent. Write your name, Conservation ID number and date of kill on it. Remove one of the middle incisor teeth, being careful to include the root. Place the tooth in the envelope and give it to the reporting agent.

Instructions on removing the tooth will be posted at reporting stations, and a video showing how will be available on Fish & Wildlife’s website www.vtfishandwildlife.com.

The department is also asking hunters to keep the antlers from their deer at home so they can be examined

by Fish & Wildlife personnel after the deer season in order to collect additional biological data on antler development.

“Information about the ages of deer in the population is critically important, and more information allows us to make better management decisions,” said Nick Fortin, Vermont Fish & Wildlife’s deer project leader.

“To get accurate population estimates, and to better assess our current management strategies, we really need to get teeth from as many deer as possible.”

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2018 Hunters’ Almanac

Page 3

Hunting buddies Kyle McNall, of St. Albans, bagged a 133.4 lb.

4 pt. Buck in Sheldon and Kevin Archambault, of Enosburgh, got a 144.2 lb. 4pt. Buck also in Sheldon.

Ayden Burns 14 years old, of Bakersfield, with his 95 lb. doe, approximately 1 1/2 yr. old taken in Bakersfield on Youth Weekend with Derek Krygier.

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Isaih Snider, 12 yr. old, with his first deer bagged on Youth Weekend.

The spike horn buck weighed in at 122.3lb and was taken in Montgomery Ctr.

Jay Robtoy with the 4 pt 168 lb. buck taken in Enosburgh.

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Page 4

2018 Hunters’ Almanac

READER SUBM

JP Lebel of Fairfax with his 177lb 9 pointer, shot in St. Albans.

Thomas Connolly of St. Albans with hi

Brooklyn Messierof St. Albans with his Youthweekend deer, shot in Fairfield. The 3 pointer weighed in at 120lbs.

Ada Kinney with her 3 pointer, 121.6lbs shot on opening day of rifle season. It was her first deer she ever shot.

Kevin Nichols from Swanton with his 5 pointer, 138lbs.

Brock Donna 15 years old, with his 3 pointer, 114 lbs.

Hunter weeke

2018 Hunters’ Almanac

Page 5

MITTED PHOTOS

is 200lbs 7 pointer shot in Sheldon.

Maegan Oliver with her 105lb spike horn taken on Youth Weekend.

r Mason, of Sheldon, with his 140 spike horn shot on youth end.

Chase Ovitt of Bakersfield with his 106lbs doe shot on November 4th, and Bryanna Ovitt of Bakersfield with her 105lbs doe shot on November 3rd.

Mattie Lampman, 14, of Highgate with her 60lbs doe taken in Highgate on youth weekend.

F O O R P

Corey Price, Swanton with his 6 pointer, weighing in at 171lbs.

Mike Hart of St. Albans with his Rifle Deer in East Wallingford. It weighed in at 149 lbs.

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2018 Hunters’ Almanac

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Megan Rowell of Sheldon with her 6 pointer, 170.2 lbs.

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Shawn Wells Sr, of Alburgh, with his 136lb five pointer shot in Alburgh on Veterans Day.

Stacy Ryea with her 8 pointer shot in Enosburg. The buck weighed in at 187 lbs and was the first deer she had ever shot.

Mon - Fri 7:30-5:00; Sat. 7:30-Noon

Congratulations to all of the successful hunters this year, from all of us at the County Courier.

Isaac Sullivan, 14, of St. Albans with his 105lb doe shot on Youth weekend in Highgate.

2018 Hunters’ Almanac

Page 7

Matt Artus and Nicole Gagne, from Franklin, with Matt’s 6pt. 164.4 lb. buck taken in Enosburgh the first weekend of rifle season.

Bill Sweeney and his 3 pt. 132lb. buck

Gavin Hakey, 11 yrs. old from Highgate Ctr. has been hunting for two years. This is his second deer, shot on Youth Weekend when he bagged this 1 1/2 yr. old doe weighing in at 98 lb. Helping Gavin are his dad (left) Jason Hakey and Mike Beyer (from Bakersfield).

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Skyler Sweet of Bakersfield and his 5 pt. 152 buck taken in Fairfield.

Page 8

2018 Hunters’ Almanac

FIGHTING CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE

By Gregory J. Lamoureux It’s a disease that was first discovered in the 1960s in Colorado, but now Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a concern for wildlife watchers throughout North America.

The neurological disease can attack deer, elk, caribou, and moose.

The disease belongs to a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) or prion diseases. The disease attacks the brain of the infected animal and produces small lesions that result in death. While CWD is similar to mad cow disease in cattle and scrapie in sheep, there is no known relationship between CWD and any other TSE of animals or people.

According to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, CWD has not affected any of Vermont’s deer or moose herds yet, however the concern is certainly there. Each year Fish and Game tests about 400 Vermont deer to look for signs of chronic wasting disease. At less than 3% of the annual deer kill from Vermont hunters, that testing number can seem low, but the testing process can be time-consuming. A small amount of each animal’s brain must be put under a microscope to look for brain degradation- not the disease itself, but the effect of the disease on the brain.

The concern for humans is unknown at best. The World Health Organization says there is no evidence that CWD would infect humans if the meat was eaten, but advises against consuming any animal with CWD. “Until a reliable conclusion can be drawn, the safest approach would be to not eat deer meat from animals appearing sick and from regions of the country where CWD is known to occur,” cautions the WHO. Usually, months to years pass before an infected animal shows signs of the disease, even when an infected deer or moose is contagious. Classic signs of CWD in animals aged 18 months or older, include emaciation, drooping head and ears, listlessness, teeth grinding, increased salivation, and excessive

thirst and urination according to experts. CWD is always fatal to infected cervids.

States that are known to have had CWD show up in their herds caution hunters to carefully slaughter their kill without cutting the spinal cord, brain, eyes, lymph nodes, and tonsils.

Recently the Fish and Wildlife Board adopted a carcass importation rule for hunter-harvested cervids taken outside Vermont’s borders.

Only certain parts of the animal (such as the meat and skinned hide) may be brought into Vermont if the animal was taken in a state or province that has had CWD. The department maintains a list of previously infected states and provinces on the website and in the annual law digest. To legally import harvested deer, moose, or elk into Vermont, it is important to know what states and provinces have had infected animals.

To date CWD has been detected in Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.

Last year wardens charged a Burlington man with importing deer from Lowville, NY - an area known to have been stricken by CWD. Vermont has also adopted a rule that bans baiting and feeding of deer.

This is to reduce the risk of deer congregating in a close area where feeding off the same food is thought to spread the disease.

The Fish and Game Department also says they try to maintain freeranging deer densities at less than 20 deer per square-mile by using hunters to harvest enough adult female deer annually. Having relatively low deer densities (compared to other southern and midwestern states) may prevent the disease from spreading rapidly if it gets here. It will also allow the department to eradicate the disease

when it is initially found and before it becomes well established.

Deer can number in the 50100 deer per square mile in some southern states, making it easier for CWD to spread.

Much like the scariest diseases in the human population, there is no known vaccine or treatment for CWD. Researchers recommend preventing direct contact between animals to restrict the spread of CWD. There is hope that CWD could be eradicated if and when it reaches Vermont. New York may have managed to do just that- however many states have tried and failed to

eradicate CWD when it was found.

“The disease can be expected to spread rapidly, making it difficult to contain or eradicate CWD before it becomes established in more than 1 percent of the population” says the Fish & Game Department.

Wisconsin spent millions of dollars trying to eradicate the disease by depopulating free-ranging deer, but failed. Scientific research later indicated that CWD was present in Wisconsin over a decade before it was discovered, so disease eradication efforts there were just too late.

The Vermont Department of Fish & Game has a CWD Strategic

Management and Response Plan.

The scientific consensus is that when CWD is first detected in a new area, disease eradication should be attempted if it is deemed possible.

According to the state, eradication of CWD can be achieved if freeranging deer can be depopulated to 0 to 5 deer per square-mile for a period of at least 5 years in an area within about 10 miles of the location where the initial infected animal was found. That is an area of about 300 square miles. With few or no deer to spread the disease, the infectious prions that cause CWD die after a few years.

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