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CWD FACTS too good not to share...............

Andy S. said:
Correct, 2021 season was almost 60% for bucks. 50% for does. Sampling deer from 18,000 acres.

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Andy....with the Ames rate at 50% have you heard if anyone, based off other states or studies, have calculated when CWD may started there?
Or is it even possible to understand how long it takes to reach 50% on 18,000 acre?
5 years? 10 years? 15 years?
 
^^^ It was first detected in 2018, and the rate was so high at that point that many considered CWD to be "environmental", as in CWD is rampant in the deer herd with years of prion shedding into the earth/soil/water/plants. I have heard it be said that they suspect CWD had been in the area 5+ years, and very possibly 8-10. I fully believe 5+, and I can tell you MANY of us Ames members, our friends and family consumed A LOT of infected venison over those 5+ years. We killed 180-200 deer those years and ate a lot of them. Of course, some were donated, etc, but a lot of infected venison was likely consumed among the 60-100 members (membership fluctuated annually). Link below from MN talks about CWD becoming "environmental" on the landscape.

Emerging environmental threat of chronic wasting disease
 
Andy S. said:
^^^ It was first detected in 2018, and the rate was so high at that point that many considered CWD to be "environmental", as in CWD is rampant in the deer herd with years of prion shedding into the earth/soil/water/plants. I have heard it be said that they suspect CWD had been in the area 5+ years, and very possibly 8-10. I fully believe 5+, and I can tell you MANY of us Ames members, our friends and family consumed A LOT of infected venison over those 5+ years. We killed 180-200 deer those years and ate a lot of them. Of course, some were donated, etc, but a lot of infected venison was likely consumed among the 60-100 members (membership fluctuated annually). Link below from MN talks about CWD becoming "environmental" on the landscape.

Emerging environmental threat of chronic wasting disease
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Thanks Andy...appreciate the information and observations....with all this said I'm curious if during the 5+ years (or possibly 8 to 10 years) before the first case was detected...was there any indication something was wrong? During this period was the quality of hunting trending downward? Or was everyone surprised when the first positive test came back? Appreciate your time.
 
I mostly hunt south Shelby County, near the Fayette County line. I haven't had a deer come back positive yet 🤞. I've talked with a lot of folks who I would consider "seasoned" hunters, who hunted southern West TN. Most have told me they have stopped hunting because of CWD. These are the folks that would have been teaching their grandkids to hunt, but now they're not.

Does anyone think we'll be overrun with deer since the number of hunters is going down? Seems like there won't be hunters to "kill them all" like the TWRA wants.
 
Easy3actual said:
I mostly hunt south Shelby County, near the Fayette County line. I haven't had a deer come back positive yet 🤞. I've talked with a lot of folks who I would consider "seasoned" hunters, who hunted southern West TN. Most have told me they have stopped hunting because of CWD. These are the folks that would have been teaching their grandkids to hunt, but now they're not.

Does anyone think we'll be overrun with deer since the number of hunters is going down? Seems like there won't be hunters to "kill them all" like the TWRA wants.
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They quit hunting cause deer might have a prion disease that has never crossed over to humans? Man I hope they don't risk driving and stay home. It's dangerous on the roads.
 
AlabamaSwamper said:
BSK

I know at least two dozen hunters that quit due to the silly rules put in place. At least that many
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I'm just wondering about the big, regional numbers. I'm not questioning whether or not they have gone down, just would like to see solid research into that. I remember when the Interior Department ran the big nationwide Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Participation studies. Great data, but I don't think they do them anymore. Haven't seen any stats on Big Game Hunting License sales for TN either.
 
I see online a lot of people saying they eat positive deer if they appear healthy. I can say we don't kill many in Grand Junction but every deer die or buck has been positive.
 
TheLBLman said:
IMO, the fear-mongering of CWD absolutely destroyed biologically & scientifically sound deer management across West TN, and along with it, has greatly damaged the heritage of deer hunting.

Why? Mostly fears based on fears of the unknown.
Fear-mongering, and much of it pushed by the TWRA.
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Sounds a lot like Covid and the government - smh
 
BSK said:
He's right if he says there's nothing that can be done management-wise to end the spread of CWD. Whether or not they can produce a CWD-resistant deer is another question. But Dr. Kroll has been wrong - and deeply misguided - on many, MANY topics.
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Deer farming has proven CWD resistant deer can be selectively bred. Transferring that knowledge and practice over to wild herds is probably going to be near impossible with the data and knowledge we currently have.
 
BSK said:
He's right if he says there's nothing that can be done management-wise to end the spread of CWD. Whether or not they can produce a CWD-resistant deer is another question. But Dr. Kroll has been wrong - and deeply misguided - on many, MANY topics.
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May be, but that .02% number in free range deer might as well be zero. I also understand anyone can make statistics and studies prove what they want to prove. So who knows. If the deer is acting normally, I'm shooting it, and processing it myself and eating it. I hunt west tn and something that has bothered me from the git go, the processors do not wait for the results of the test to come back they run every deer brought to them through the same equipment. No cleaner will kill it only 1800 degrees or so we are told. If it was such a big deal they would have shut down the processors. That's when I started processing my own.
 
hillbilly68 said:
May be, but that .02% number in free range deer might as well be zero. I also understand anyone can make statistics and studies prove what they want to prove. So who knows. If the deer is acting normally, I'm shooting it, and processing it myself and eating it. I hunt west tn and something that has bothered me from the git go, the processors do not wait for the results of the test to come back they run every deer brought to them through the same equipment. No cleaner will kill it only 1800 degrees or so we are told. If it was such a big deal they would have shut down the processors. That's when I started processing my own.
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I've always processed my own, for a couple of reasons: Am I actually getting back my own deer from a processor? Processors often cut through bone, which we do NOT do. Are they cleaning equipment between deer? I doubt it.

If/when CWD gets to my area, I will not change a thing. I will hunt the way I've always hunted, and manage the way I've always managed. And I will process and eat the deer I kill.
 
BSK said:
I've always processed my own, for a couple of reasons: Am I actually getting back my own deer from a processor? Processors often cut through bone, which we do NOT do. Are they cleaning equipment between deer? I doubt it.

If/when CWD gets to my area, I will not change a thing. I will hunt the way I've always hunted, and manage the way I've always managed. And I will process and eat the deer I kill.
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agree 👍
 
Have y'all considered that the folks who are trying to control the food supply might not want you eating an animal you can kill and butcher yourself? They just came out with a new poison to control wild hogs too.
 

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