Disease spreading from 'farms' threatens Minnesota's wild deer

In several weeks, on Sept. 18, roughly 85,000 archers will take to Minnesota's woods and fields in pursuit of whitetail deer. They will be joined by half a million more hunters Nov. 6, when the firearms season opens. Deer hunting is tremendously popular in our state, generating over $20 million in license sales and tens of millions more in ancillary purchases by hunters.

And while other forms of hunting and trapping have seen significant declines in participation, deer hunting numbers have held relatively steady over the past decade.

I'm a deer hunter — a relatively new one, having shot my first deer just five years ago, at age 48. Last year I shot two deer and my son shot one, and we butchered them ourselves. We recently ate our last venison steak, and aside from a couple of pounds of ground venison, our basement freezer is empty, awaiting this year's harvest.

But despite the popularity of deer hunting, the vast majority of my fellow Minnesotans do not hunt. They may experience whitetail deer only as a nuisance, dead by the side of the road or foraging in gardens. But my question to hunters and non-hunters alike is this: Do you want a healthy deer herd in our state?

If your answer is "Yes," then please rattle the cages of your state legislators and Gov. Tim Walz. Because at this point, our deer herd is suffering due to bureaucratic incompetence and political apathy.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD), an always-fatal neurological malady that is spread by deer through prions (misshapen proteins), is expanding across the state, and our leaders have so far failed to take the dramatic action necessary to thwart this threat. Soon it will be too late.

Here's where things get a bit complicated:

Even though whitetail deer are obviously not livestock, deer "farming" is allowed in Minnesota. (Scare quotes intentional.)

These deer "farms" exist primarily so that "hunters" can shoot fenced-in bucks that are genetically bred to have trophy-sized antlers. They also extract deer urine for use in commercially sold deer hunting scents.

There are 259 such "farms" in Minnesota, holding captive over 7,600 whitetail deer.

Most importantly, CWD spreads primarily — maybe exclusively — from captive deer in these farms into the wild herd.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources used to provide oversight of deer farms. Years ago, oversight was transferred to the Board of Animal Health (BAH).

According to the Star Tribune, "Three years ago, the Minnesota Legislative Auditor's Office issued a report that said the Board of Animal Health was cozy with deer farms and lax on regulations meant to prevent CWD transmission" ("Deer farming drives predicament over CWD-infested dump site on public land," June 11).

A deer farmer in Beltrami County who had traded, bought and sold deer from at least nine other farms in the state illegally dumped dead deer on public land outside his farm. You guessed it: Some of those dead deer had CWD.

As a result, Walz urged the Legislature to transfer oversight of deer farms to the DNR. The Legislature responded with a half-measure, telling the DNR and the BAH to co-manage the responsibility. (Because, of course, two government agencies are better than one.)

The DNR ordered a two-month halt to all transportation of captive deer, but let it expire on July 31.

The Minnesota Senate took up a bill to impose a moratorium on any new deer farms in our state. That bill was defeated 35-29 in June.

Those of us who hunt wild deer do a lot to slow the spread of CWD. I hunt in a CWD zone, so I am required to get every deer I shoot tested for CWD; I cannot transport the venison out of the area until it's been butchered, and I must dispose of the carcass in a special dumpster.

But as hunters, we can do only so much. The obvious way to stop the spread of CWD is to ban deer farming in Minnesota — that is, to buy out all the farmers and prohibit any new farms.

When asked, BAH representatives say they do not know what that would cost, since the destruction of captive deer is paid for by federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

So I made a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the USDA, and it quickly provided figures for me. The USDA pays about $2,900 per deer to buy out deer farmers.

Using these figures, it would cost just $22 million to pay off all of the deer farmers in Minnesota and shut down that industry once and for all.

Whether it's the USDA or the state of Minnesota, that is a very small price to pay to protect our wild deer.

Tony Jones is the host of the Reverend Hunter Podcast (reverendhunter.com).