On April 10 we reported on the first-ever release of a pen-raised whitetail deer into the wild in Oklahoma. The release occurred earlier this year as part of a state-approved CWD experiment established under a new and controversial law known as the CWD Genetic Improvement Act.
According to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry, which is approving and overseeing these releases, that deer was sold by a deer breeder to a private landowner, who released it in the northeast part of the state. It was also the first of several captive deer releases that the agency had approved for this year. Under the new law, those releases had to take place between Feb. 1 and April 15.
“We had a total of six [deer] that were proposed to be released that we approved,” state veterinarian Dr. Rod Hall told Outdoor Life earlier this month. “We verified that they met the genetic markers and all.”
Only one other deer was released by the April 15 deadline, however, ODAFF spokesperson Bryce Boyer confirmed with Outdoor Life Friday. This means that a total of two captive deer have been released into the wild in Oklahoma so far. The second release occurred in central Oklahoma, according to ODAFF, but the agency was unable to provide the specific locations or counties for either release.
Registration forms that OL acquired through a public records request show that two registered deer breeders were approved by the agency to release captive whitetails this spring. As required by law, the breeders each submitted one of these forms to the agency, along with a one-time permit fee that cost the breeders $100 each.
The first form was submitted on Dec. 28 by Larry Ellis, of Hinton, who owns Sun Set Whitetails. Ellis listed four captive deer on the registration form: a 1-year-old buck, two 1-year-old does, and one 2-year-old doe. The form shows their parentage, their USDA identification number, and the key genetic markers showing their durability (not resistance) to CWD.
The second form was submitted on Dec. 30 by Tranquility Springs, a deer breeding operation in Watonga. It was signed by Kyle Crawford, of Edmond, and it lists a total of 30 captive whitetails: seven 1-year-old does, and 23 six-month-old bucks. The form also includes their USDA identification numbers, along with a secondary ID showing that their genetic markers were approved and verified by the North American Deer Registry.
According to Boyer, meeting these genetic benchmarks was the only requirement for release. ODAFF did not test the deer for CWD beforehand, and they are not being tracked with GPS collars or monitored in any way post-release. Application forms indicate released deer are required to have ear tags (similar to cattle).
Boyer explains that the combined total of 34 whitetails on the two registration forms were the captive deer available for release — and not necessarily the deer that breeders had gotten approval to release. He did not provide an explanation for why only two deer were released by April 15, when ODAFF had approved a total of six.
Meeting these genetic CWD benchmarks was the only requirement for release. ODAFF did not test the pen-raised deer for CWD and they are not being tracked or monitored in any way post-release.
“Based on the conversations I’ve had, I believe it was Larry Ellis” who released the two deer, Boyer says. “But I’m not a hundred percent on that.”
Ellis did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Crawford, the owner of Tranquility Springs, told OL he has not released any pen-raised deer so far.
“Ninety percent of our deer will meet that genetic marker requirement,” Crawford tells Outdoor Life. “I didn’t release any deer this year because I’m still building my herd to get to a higher number of [genetically durable] deer.”
As the owner of the largest genetically-certified captive deer herd in Oklahoma, Crawford is a big proponent of the program and the underlying theory of genetic durability.
“I think it’s a great program. We’re breeding strictly for genetics.” Crawford says. “And here’s the deal. The horns come with it. They aren’t always great, but the deer are always genetically superior. I can tell you as far as my farm, I don’t even look at the antlers. I look at one hundred percent survivability.”
The Theory Behind Captive Deer Releases
The underlying theory for the release program is that breeders can now look at the genetic markers of captive deer to determine which ones are more durable to CWD. And when those durable deer are released onto the landscape — or so the logic goes — they can spread their more durable genes throughout Oklahoma’s wild population, thereby improving the overall genetics of the herd.
It’s unclear what effect (if any) this could have on Oklahoma’s free-ranging elk and mule deer, which can also contract the disease. The most recent case of CWD to be confirmed in the wild in Oklahoma was announced by the ODWC in February. It was a hunter-harvested mule deer killed in Cimarron County.
There are certainly others like Crawford, who view the pilot program as an innovative and exciting approach to combating CWD. But the program has overwhelmingly received criticism from conservation groups, including the National Deer Association, along with other CWD experts and wildlife biologists. These critics say the idea of genetic durability is still unproven in the wild, since the research supporting it has so far been limited to captive breeding facilities.
The main concerns being voiced by CWD experts are that releasing captive deer could have unintended consequences, including: the unintentional release of CWD-positive deer, the emergence of new CWD strains, and the spread of other diseases. They also say the idea seems unfeasible due to the massive amount of releases that would be required to change the genetics of the roughly 875,000 wild whitetail deer in Oklahoma.
The Boone and Crockett and Pope & Young Clubs released their own statement opposing the program in December. The clubs warned that if captive pen-raised deer are released into the wild, their “respective records committees would be forced to consider the implications for accepting record book entries from anywhere in Oklahoma.” This is due to their longstanding position that genetically manipulated game is not eligible for entry.
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The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and the state’s wildlife commission have also spoken out against the release program. ODWC chief of wildlife Bill Dinkines said in a statement earlier this month that the release of captive whitetails into the wild is “not justified and is not worth the risk.”
Due in part to this pushback, some state lawmakers are pushing forward a bill that would amend the Genetic Improvement Act by removing ODWC from the process and transferring its regulatory authority to ODAFF. The legislator who authored the bill, Rep. Nick Archer, claims that ODWC has “consistently and habitually [ignored] the law” and delayed its implementation — a claim that ODWC has refuted.
Archer’s bill has already cleared the state House. According to the Senate agenda, the bill is scheduled for a hearing in the Agriculture and Wildlife Committee on Monday.