A recent press release from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) sent shivers down the spines of northwestern Wisconsin when it reported that a deer was found on a deer farm in Washburn County that tested positive for chronic wasting disease.
Although DATCP did not provide the name of the deer farm where the infected deer are living, DNR Wildlife Biologist Nancy Christel of Spooner confirmed that the deer came from a farm that was once called Thun-Deer Trophy Whitetails, a 150-acre hunting ranch with about 300 deer in southeastern Washburn County near Birchwood. An Internet search indicates that the property may have changed ownership and name in the past few years and is now an LLC registered in Minnesota.