Deer hunting is a very popular activity in Ballard County.  Our large percentage of farmland, wildlife refuges, river bottoms and general rural heritage result in an area where deer tend to thrive.  While deer do substantial damage to some crop fields every year, cause numerous problems for automobiles and insurance companies and even resulted in problems at grain elevators this year with “deer poop” in wheat samples, we want our deer population to be healthy.

Kentucky’s first confirmed case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was found in a deer in Ballard County last fall.  CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk and other members of the deer family. It is caused by a prion, a type of protein that attacks the brain and nervous system. There is currently no known cure for CWD. Highly contagious, the disease has spread extensively among deer and elk populations across North America over the past two decades.

Ky Fish and Wildlife has had a long term plan to deal with CWD when it entered Kentucky.  With the first case in Ballard County, it was added to CWD Surveillance Zone established in 2021 when a diseased deer was located in NW Tennessee.  The Ballard County Extension Office has partnered with KY Fish and Wildlife and Wes McFadden from the Ballard Wildlife Management Area to have a sample drop point in an outdoor freezer placed at the Extension Office in La Center.  The Extension Office will also serve as a CWD Check Station for all deer harvested during the weekends of gun season this fall.  The deer samples will be processed in a lab to check for CWD confirmation.  Hunters will be able to check the results online for their individual deer.  

Tom Miller, Ballard County ANR Agent worked with Wes McFadden to develop a newspaper article and a newsletter piece to alert and educate the hunters in Ballard County.  While too early to tell the outcomes from the program, sample numbers will be available after this deer season to direct Ky Fish and Wildlife on the spread of the disease and whether changes need to be made to the long term CWD plan.