KINGSLEY -- Hunters, game ranch operators, farmers who raise and sell bait -- all are reeling amid the discovery of a deadly deer disease in whitetail-rich Michigan.
State biologists confirmed chronic wasting disease on Aug. 25 in a doe at a privately owned deer facility near Grand Rapids in Kent County, the first sign in Michigan of the fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose.
The condition causes infected animals to behave abnormally, display progressive weight loss and physical debilitation before eventual death.
State authorities clamped down with quarantines on fenced deer ranches and also banned baiting and feeding of wildlife across the entire Lower Peninsula, an effort to halt the spread of a disease with the potential to cost the state millions of dollars in lost wildlife resources and revenues associated with the annual archery and firearms hunting seasons.
CWD's presence already has created a ripple of concern.
"This will probably put us out of business," said John Boyd, owner of Boyd's Market in Kingsley.
Boyd has a pending order for tons of deer bait from area farmers -- sugar beets, corn, apples and carrots -- that hunters now are prohibited from using anywhere in Lower Michigan.
"What else can a farmer's market sell for half of September and all of October, November and December?" Boyd said. "That's three months of revenue taken away. I was banking on deer bait."
Some suggest the baiting prohibition could mean fewer hunters in the woods this season, a potential problem for the bottom line at sporting goods stores, bait sellers, grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations and hotels.
"I can understand what the state is trying to do, but maybe they're taking it to an extreme. It will be bad enough with the gas prices, but now you throw this in there, too," said Dave Asch, a hunter from Kalkaska. "But people are still going to bait, absolutely. There's a lot of hunters who don't know how to hunt any other way."
The state's quarantine also could affect hunters who turn to private deer ranches for their shots at trophy bucks. Hunting on fenced-in facilities usually heats up in early fall, but neither live nor dead animals can leave the sites until the quarantine is lifted.
Some ranch owners plan to adapt.
"I've got enough freezer space. But if I have to, I'll buy more," said Chris Keefer, of Valhalla Ranch near Grayling, a fenced hunting ranch.
Keefer hopes state officials pinpoint the source of CWD in Michigan, eradicate the problem and then allow his business and others to get back to work, even if new rules are created.
"There are some in this industry that give us a bad name, so that's why I support any new regulations that come into play, as long as they lift the quarantine and let us get back to business," Keefer said. "If you can't meet the standards, you shouldn't be in the industry in the first place."
Other game ranch operators also want the problem quickly fixed so they can return to normal business.
"How did this happen? They have to find out. Will the quarantine be a bit of a pain? You bet. But they've got to get to the bottom of this," said Doug Olsen, owner of World Class Whitetails in Millersburg, a fenced hunting preserve in Presque Isle County.
Michigan is home to about 600 private deer and elk facilities that hold roughly 26,000 captive deer and 2,850 captive elk. Those animals are worth about $60.4 million, according to a survey done this year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
For more on chronic wasting disease, see today's Outdoors section »
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