Get Your Deer Checked

With the firearms season just days old, Michigan hunters are reminded that it’s a good idea to have their deer checked, not only for disease but for other factors as well.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources biologist Ashley Autenrieth, says the cooperation of hunters getting animals tested over the past several years in Northeastern Lower Michigan has led to a reduction of Bovine TB to only about two-percent of the herd, which she says is the next best thing to eradication.

Autenrieth says only one Michigan hunter has ever been infected by Bovine TB, and treated for it, but human cases of getting the disease are very rare.

Autenrieth says there have been no cases of humans getting Chronic Wasting Disease in Michigan, however the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned against consuming the meat of animals with CWD since there are variations of the mutated protein that have affected human health.

Right now there is mandatory testing for CWD in a 9 township area of Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton counties, where animals have been found with the disease.

Autenrieth says while neither disease has affected animals statewide, it’s a good idea for hunters to know where check stations are have animals tested. She says the testing also helps the DNR compile statistics on the age and health of deer for future management planning.