Outdoors Congress To Gauge Reaction To CWD Carcass Bounties

The Wisconsin Conservation Congress plans to ask outdoor lovers whether the state should again offer bounties for deer infected with chronic wasting disease.

The congress plans to put the question to attendees at its statewide spring hearings in April. The outcome will be advisory only but could influence how new Gov. Tony Evers approaches the issue.

Landowners and hunters would be paid for each CWD-positive deer they harvest. The congress suggests that payments could ring in at $750 per deer to as much as $1,250 per deer.

Funding would have to be included in the state budget.

Former Gov. Scott Walker’s administration took a largely hands-off approach to the disease, choosing to monitor its spread rather than undertake any major efforts to curtail it.