According to local gun retailers and gun license retailers, the current chronic wasting disease epidemic is not hurting sales, instead, with Thursday marking the beginning of a special quarantine season, sales are actually improving.
The state Department of Natural Resources declared its extended \critical"" season to control spread of CWD in the Dane, Sauk and Iowa Counties. A 411-square-mile plot has been declared an ""eradication zone,"" and the agency hopes to eliminate roughly 25,000 deer in the area, according to Laurel Steffes, director of the DNR's Bureau of Communication and Education.
""Our goal is to get the number of deer as close to zero as possible ... . Obviously we harbor no illusions that we'll be able to get every single deer,"" she said. ""But basically, officials in Colorado said [we have] got a real shot at eradicating this disease in Wisconsin.""
To ensure successful hunting, the extended season permits the use of rifles, which are generally not allowed until late November. Steffes said it also differs from the general deer season in that it is intended as a massive blitzkrieg to quickly eliminate the population.
""There's no happiness about the extended season. It's just mechanics: shooting to get the job done. There is no thrill of the hunt,"" Steffes said.
But local retailers say sales indicate otherwise.
""We're selling a lot more guns than normal. We're also seeing a lot more gun licenses sold earlier this year,"" said Wilderness Fish and Game salesman Wally Banfi, whose store is situated in Sauk City, Wis., close to the eradication zone. ""The general consensus is that hunters are going to eat the deer and not have them tested'we think the media hype is starting to wear off.""
Ken Candee, of Bill's Sporting Goods, in Lomira, Wis., concurred.
""License sales have been approximately the same as last year,"" he said. ""We've had a slow September and a very fast October. [CWD's] actual impact is hard to determine.""
Chronic wasting disease's effects on humans are unknown, but the risk to hunters is minimal according to the DNR.
""[CWD] has been in the U.S. since the '60s, but has never been known to cause disease in humans,"" Steffes said.
