Nov 7, 2015 5 min read

With Ohio now added to the states in which Chronic Wasting Disease has been found, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has updated its rules that prohibit the importation of high-risk cervid parts.

Ohio has now been added to the list of states from which high-risk cervid parts – including the head and backbone – cannot be imported into Pennsylvania. The import of high-risk cervid parts is now also prohibited from anywhere in Maryland, New York, Virginia and West Virginia.

Previously, the import of high-risk parts was only prohibited from parts of those states.

Also, the boundaries of Disease Management Areas within Pennsylvania have been adjusted in response to new cases of CWD.

This is especially important for hunters here in Southwestern Pennsylvania, many of whom also hunt in West Virginia and Ohio.

“The ban on the importation of high-risk cervid parts exists to provide the best protection possible to Pennsylvania’s deer and elk, and hunters can help us prevent CWD from spreading,” commission executive director Matt Hough, a graduate of Trinity High School, said. “We understand that Pennsylvania hunters, and especially those who live near the state’s borders, frequently travel across state lines to hunt deer or other cervids. This expanded ban will inconvenience them, just as successful hunters traveling out of Pennsylvania’s Disease Management Areas are inconvenienced.”

The parts ban affects hunters who harvest deer, elk, moose, mule deer and other cervids in: Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming; as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Prohibted parts include the head (including brain, tonsils, eyes and any lymph nodes); spinal cord/backbone; spleen; skull plate with attached antlers, if visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; cape, if visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; upper canine teeth, if root structure or other soft tissue is present; any object or article containing visible brain or spinal cord tissue; unfinished taxidermy mounts; and brain-tanned hides.

Successful hunters are permitted to bring meat back from those areas so long as the backbone is not present. They also are permitted to bring back cleaned skull plates with attached antlers if no visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; tanned hide or raw hide with no visible brain or spinal cord tissue present; capes, if no visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; upper canine teeth, if no root structure or other soft tissue is present; and finished taxidermy mounts.

The first case of CWD was found in a captive deer in Adams Countin 2012. It has since been gound in free-ranging deer in Bedford, Blair, Cambria and Fulton counties, and in captive deer at a Jefferson County facility.

CWD, first identified in 1967, affects members of the cervid family, including all species of deer, elk and moose. It is not believed to be transmittable to humans but is always fatal to the deer it infects.

Signs include poor posture, lowered head and ears, uncoordinated movement, rough-hair coat, weight loss, increased thirst, excessive drooling, and, ultimately, death.

It is widely accepted that the disease is spread by a abnormal form of cellular protein commonly found in the central nervous system and lymphoid tissue, hence the ban on brain, spinal amd lymph matter.

• Bear season is right around the corner and the Pennsylvania Game Commission is forecasting another great season.

The commission estimates there are some 18,000 bear roaming the state – some even here in Washington and Greene counties – a number that has held steady and led to nine of the largest 10 black bear harvests coming in the past 10 years.

Last year’s kill of 3,366 was the seventh-largest in state history and 56 of the 67 counties in the state produced bear in 2014.

Since 2005, more than 34,000 bears have been taken by hunters in Pennsylvania and last year there were 41 killed that were 500 pounds or larger.

Three bears in last year’s kill were more than 600 pounds, with the largest being a 677-pound bear taken in Warren County.

• The Greater Pittsburgh and Suburban Rifle League is three weeks old and the defending champion Frazier-Simplex Rifle team has established itself once again as the team to beat.

Frazier-Simplex improved to 3-0 last week with a 1,480-1,470 win over Murrysville.

Zach Nicolella fired a 298, John Husk 297, Sylvia Dreistadt 296, Cyril Walther 295 and Zac Szabo 294 for Frazier.

Wes Robinson and Kevin Dufford both shot 296 for Murrysville (2-1), which was coming off a win Week 1 over Dormont-Mt. Lebanon, 1,474-1,469. In Week 2, Murrysville defeated Irwin with a 1,468.

Dormont-Mt. Lebanon moved into a second place tie with Murrysville with a 1,481-1,461 win over Irwin. Dean Trew and Tom Benedict led the way with a 298 each, while Dan Francis, Tom Gerner and Matt Piatt all fired 295s.

Rachel Mills had a 294 in the losing effort.

It appears that those four teams are all strong this season and it should make for an interesting year.