The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks is pushing for a
greater harvest of deer with the goals being to not only slow the spread of chronic wasting disease, but to
grow more trophy bucks.
"What has our deer population been doing?" asked William McKinley, MDWFP Deer Program coordinator. "Well, it's been rising and it's been rising at a rate that is a little bit alarming."
McKinley spoke before the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks during an educational session in Jackson on Thursday, July 23. McKinley's presentation largely focused on CWD;
a neurological disease that affects deer and similar animals and is always fatal. It's a disease that is spreading in Mississippi and is having a pronounced impact on deer numbers in parts of the state.
McKinley also discussed another issue; the lack of trophy bucks harvested in Mississippi in recent years. The two may seem unrelated, but he explained that they are. Both are being fueled, at least in part, by far too many deer on the landscape.
