The whitetail deer is the No. 1 big game animal in America. As such, possibly more research and study has gone into this species than all the big game species on this continent. A hunter who can’t explain the Theory of Relativity can explain in minute detail the life cycle of a deer from gestation to death including any of the diseases associated with that cycle.

    On of the recent disease concerns has been Chronic Wasting Disease. CWD probably has been around since whitetails first showed up eons ago, but with this general information and laboratory scrutiny, the concern only has been recent. A neurological disease of the same family as the mad cow disease that gave us all concerns, it showed up in 10 western states and two western Canadian provinces before pinging in West Virginia and New York without any geographical connection. Wildlife biologists were puzzled at the jump and concerned about the impact. Several states made irrational decisions while other laid out a calculated response to the issue.

    In the case of our Delaware the biologists ensured the politicians, who like to nose into any issue in which the public takes notice, that CWD was being closely monitored in our herds. For the last five years, more than 2,400 deer taken in those seasons have been analyzed. Random and select deer were taken at checking stations and from state sponsored hunts and brain and lymph node tissues were taken and tested. In the 2007 season, nearly 600 samples were tested and for the fifth successive year, there has been no evidence found of CWD.

    Joe Rogerson, the Fish and Wildlife game mammal biologist said the samples give Delaware hunters a 99% probability of finding the disease if it occurred in as little as 1% of the state deer herd.

    “While this doesn’t provide 100% assurance of no disease, we are encouraged by these results,” he said.

    More good news for dove hunters. If you haven’t checked the state F&W website (www.fw.delaware.gov), you may not know about the seasons and increased bag limits for doves just implemented in the last couple weeks.

    Dove season starts Sept. 1, 30 minutes before sunrise (Yes, I know. Historically the season didn’t begin on opening day until noon, but throughout dove hunting states, the times have been standardized to one-half-hour before sunrise to sunset). The old limit of 12 has also been changed, so if that’s what you have in your mind and what it says in the Hunting and Trapping Guide, delete it. The new nationwide limit is 15 birds per day with a possession limit of 30.

    USFWS studies show a marked increase in bird numbers. As mortality figures don’t change drastically, it’s conceived that farms turned into housing developments with the inherent home bird feeders have given the birds an unexpected sanctuary to raise extra and healthy broods increasing those base numbers.

    Personally, I doubt I could carry enough shells to the field to limit out anyway, but it will mean some extra time in the field for all of us. What could possibly be wrong with that picture?

    Just a note to those enrolled in the Certified Master Hunter program.

    Extensive and more demanding changes are being made within the program to validate anyone calling themselves a “master hunter.” One of those changes will be that if you want to take part in any state sanctioned hunt, you will have to qualify each and every year you wish to participate. Hunter Education Coordinator Bill Dugent and select CMH instructors will hold and certify this qualification during “Sight In Days” around the state.

    Two such dates and locations have been set up thus far. The first will be Sunday, Sept. 14, at the Ommelanden Hunter Education Training Center and Range in New Castle. The second will be held Sunday, Oct. 19, at the Bridgeville Rifle and Pistol Club in Bridgeville. Directions to both facilities are online at the F&W website. Sessions start at 8 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. The sessions are open to Certified Master Hunters  and  “active” CMH program candidates. You need to sign up online to have your hunter education certification card updated. You can bring sandbags to shoot from, but no clamping rests or vises are allowed during certification.