New Article on CWD by Dr. Alan Houston, Ames Plantation

[Speedwell-Hunter]

What is chronic wasting disease? A wildlife scientist explains the fatal prion infection killing deer and elk across North America

A deadly neurological infection, chronic wasting disease, has been detected in deer, elk and moose in 30 states and four Canadian provinces. Human risk is low, but hunters need to take precautions.

theconversation.com

WOW:



Once they are deposited on the landscape in urine or feces, CWD prions can persist for decades. Years after deer infected with chronic wasting disease were removed from pens, other deer placed on the contaminated soil in those same pens also became infected.



CRAZY

 

[Speedwell-Hunter]

I've been dealing with it for the last 3-4 years and it's affected me. I've built a lifestyle around deer hunting for over 40 years and I haven't eaten any venison in the last 3 years even though I've killed several deer and donated them or attempted to donate them to HFTH. The desire to kill has certainly diminished and I still will hunt some, I've started moving away from the tradition. I know others who have done the same. It will never be as good IMO.

Why did you not eat if tested? They all come back positive I assume?

 

[Speedwell-Hunter]

I agree with Jcalder. CWD has been around since the 1960's. Unless people start dying from CWD, I don't see much of anything changing.

Not a single case of a human case reported thus yet, since 1960s...interesting for sure.

 

[BSK]

WOW:



Once they are deposited on the landscape in urine or feces, CWD prions can persist for decades. Years after deer infected with chronic wasting disease were removed from pens, other deer placed on the contaminated soil in those same pens also became infected.



CRAZY

As far as we know, the prions persist FOREVER. They cannot be destroyed even by incredibly intense heat.

 

[fairchaser]

Why did you not eat if tested? They all come back positive I assume?

Yes, the last 4 deer have been positive.

 

[BSK]

Would I eat a CWD positive deer? Yes. Would I ask my family to eat it? No.

 

[tnanh]

So it sounds like the CWD regulations could be more detrimental to deer hunting as we know it than CWD itself.

Exactly. Has been said for a while. TWRA has not listened.

 

[fairchaser]

Not a single case of a human case reported thus yet, since 1960s...interesting for sure.

There doesn't appear to be any jump to other species but mad cow disease took years and only after millions of pounds were consumed by humans did a small percentage of people develop the disease but it was 100% fatal. So there you are right smack dab in the middle of a dilemma.

 

[Andy S.]

Most of us reading/posting here on TNdeer are much more knowledgeable about the risks (or lack thereof) in personally consuming CWD contaminated venison, so regarding just that, I agree, the threat of CWD may not change much about our personal deer hunting.

But it's an entirely different circumstance with the "average" TN deer hunter, as well as their non-hunting family & friends. They have reservations about eating venison, therefore, the supplier of that venison is going to deer hunt less, and kill far fewer female deer for any human's consumption.

The above only deals with the issue of EATING venison, and how less desire to eat it, effects the average deer hunter's desire to deer hunt and kill deer.

DITTO!! Spot on from what I have seen in SW TN over the last 5 years discussing deer hunting and the desire to consume venison. This could change over time, but only time will tell.

 

[Andy S.]

Would I eat a CWD positive deer? Yes. Would I ask my family to eat it? No.

This is the opinion of a lot of hunters I talk with in SW TN. Most hardcore "in the know" deer hunters in SW TN have this stance, or they "may eat the positive" deer, but they will not ask, or expect, friends/family to eat the positive deer. Due to not asking family/friends to eat it, it loses it's allure/appeal to be served at dinner and consumed by the masses. Some of the average deer hunters have all but quit hunting/eating deer in
Unit CWD because them or their spouse mention "that CWD brain disease" that deer have, and instantly all whitetail deer are taboo. This is the second and third order effect of the news articles and media coverage of CWD combined with average hunters and spouses knowing next to nothing about CWD, the history of CWD on the landscape, other States history with CWD, etc. Believe what you want, but it is having some effect currently in SW TN with overall less desire to consume suspected positive deer, thus less overall desire to spend time and money to hunt, kill, dress, freeze and wait on a CWD test to come back.

 

[fairchaser]

True...only time will tell....and I agree that you can never make everyone happy....but I am thankful the choice wasnt to "do more, go farther and exceed what is reasonable to rid CWD"
My goodness..what?
The same people say that CWD will never be eradicated? And other states tried the disaster of eradicating the herd.....destroying the herd to destroy or rid CWD hasn't worked....Also there is a difference in armchair quarterbacking and looking at (and hunting in) other states that have been dealing with CWD for decades.

I sincerely hope you're right and a decade from now we will be asking what "CWD". No one knows what CWD will do to the southern deer herd with a disease that is proximity specific. Our herd density is far greater than most places out west and our ground is different than the ground in the northeast. CWD seems to have spread farther and faster here than anywhere else. Half of our deer herd here on Ames has it and got there probably in only a decade. You could say we were blind until our chickens came home to roost. I don't know if the efforts from the state have done anything at all, but I know it's wrong not to try.

 

[Lost Lake]

I can tell y'all how it's affecting my attitude toward deer hunting.

I hunt in Henry county. It used to be that my friends and I would shoot what we wanted, wait til late morning, and field dress and haul our kills to the processor that we used for 20 some odd years. It was kinda fun to get the midday break truck ride and then hit the woods again.

Now, anytime we shoot something, it's full on work. Run for the coolers, start butchering, get it packed up and maybe hit the woods after butchering 4-5 deer in a morning. We've gotten extremely fast at it, but it's become monotonous.

We've all but quit evening hunting on the last day of our weekend hunts.

After just a couple of years of our area being in the CWD unit, our hunts have turned into simple meat gathering trips, and we're getting to where we dread someone pulling the trigger on does, and just hold out for a decent buck. Don't get me wrong, I like the processing, just not the amount we're doing.

I bought a half beef this year. I doubt that I'll hunt outside the month of November or shoot a doe in Henry. My friends feel the same.

 

[Speedwell-Hunter]

I sincerely hope you're right and a decade from now we will be asking what "CWD". No one knows what CWD will do to the southern deer herd with a disease that is proximity specific. Our herd density is far greater than most places out west and our ground is different than the ground in the northeast. CWD seems to have spread farther and faster here than anywhere else. Half of our deer herd here on Ames has it and got there probably in only a decade. You could say we were blind until our chickens came home to roost. I don't know if the efforts from the state have done anything at all, but I know it's wrong not to try.

Fairchase, are you Dr. Allan Houstan? IF so, honored to have you here!

 

[BSK]

There doesn't appear to be any jump to other species but mad cow disease took years and only after millions of pounds were consumed by humans did a small percentage of people develop the disease but it was 100% fatal. So there you are right smack dab in the middle of a dilemma.

Absolutely true. Transmission rate was EXREMELY low. Out of 35-38 million people who ate MCD infected meat, only 206 cases of human transmission occurred. So there is the possibility CWD can be transmitted to humans and the only reason it hasn't happened is because not enough people have eaten CWD infected meat. However, it also has to be remembered how beef is processed and how hunters process deer. Prions are concentrated in the brain and spinal column but occur at very low levels in muscle. With beef processing, saws are used to cut through the spine and spinal column. This transfers prions into the meat. And in industrial processing, there is a lot of grinding of internal organs into meat products. Hunters - if they are careful with their processing - don't transfer prions from high prion concentration locations into low concentration meat.

The fact around 1 out of every 175,000 people in Europe that ate MCD infected meat became infected themselves may be due to how the meat was processed. Due to differences in how venison is processed, the risk of CWD transmission to humans could be tens if not hundreds of times lower than MCD infection, and is the reason no one yet has been infected by CWD. Considering the possibility of CWD infection is probable several million to one, I'll personally take that chance.

 

[fairchaser]

Absolutely true. Transmission rate was EXREMELY low. Out of 35-38 million people who ate MCD infected meat, only 206 cases of human transmission occurred. So there is the possibility CWD can be transmitted to humans and the only reason it hasn't happened is because not enough people have eaten CWD infected meat. However, it also has to be remembered how beef is processed and how hunters process deer. Prions are concentrated in the brain and spinal column but occur at very low levels in muscle. With beef processing, saws are used to cut through the spine and spinal column. This transfers prions into the meat. And in industrial processing, there is a lot of grinding of internal organs into meat products. Hunters - if they are careful with their processing - don't transfer prions from high prion concentration locations into low concentration meat.

The fact around 1 out of every 175,000 people in Europe that ate MCD infected meat became infected themselves may be due to how the meat was processed. Due to differences in how venison is processed, the risk of CWD transmission to humans could be tens if not hundreds of times lower than MCD infection, and is the reason no one yet has been infected by CWD. Considering the possibility of CWD infection is probable several million to one, I'll personally take that chance.

I agree. That's why I'm not that worried about contracting it. But there's a better than 50% chance that I would be consuming it where I hunt which increases my odds and therefore I choose not to. You also make a good point in that it's not that it can't infect humans but that it hasn't yet that we know of. Sort of like winning the lottery in reverse. Yet, millions play the lottery in hopes of winning even though I have nearly the same chance and I don't buy lottery tickets.

 

[Andy S.]

Just read the article and not sure this statement is 100% accurate:

"

What do hunters need to know?

No one wants a disease named after them. With infected deer often appearing healthy, even at close range post-harvest, the only way to be sure an animal is disease-free is to have it tested, usually using lymph nodes.

All of my tests (15-20) have stated "not detected". That is not the same as 100% certain the deer does not have it. I've read that the deer could be infected with early stages of CWD and "not be detected", but still be infected.

This website is a credible source for those who want to read more. CWD INFO

 

[Omega]

Absolutely true. Transmission rate was EXREMELY low. Out of 35-38 million people who ate MCD infected meat, only 206 cases of human transmission occurred. So there is the possibility CWD can be transmitted to humans and the only reason it hasn't happened is because not enough people have eaten CWD infected meat. However, it also has to be remembered how beef is processed and how hunters process deer. Prions are concentrated in the brain and spinal column but occur at very low levels in muscle. With beef processing, saws are used to cut through the spine and spinal column. This transfers prions into the meat. And in industrial processing, there is a lot of grinding of internal organs into meat products. Hunters - if they are careful with their processing - don't transfer prions from high prion concentration locations into low concentration meat.

The fact around 1 out of every 175,000 people in Europe that ate MCD infected meat became infected themselves may be due to how the meat was processed. Due to differences in how venison is processed, the risk of CWD transmission to humans could be tens if not hundreds of times lower than MCD infection, and is the reason no one yet has been infected by CWD. Considering the possibility of CWD infection is probable several million to one, I'll personally take that chance.

I read that they are studying some DNA markers in those that were infected because many had the same markers. So it may have been that those infected were genetically disposed to get it, and other prion type diseases.

 

[gobblegrunt]

Gloomy information…this will cause the demise of deer hunting in TN and other areas if you extrapolate the data on down the road imo…sad

CWD has been around since what, the 60's? How can you say it will cause the demise of deer hunting in Tn when other states have had it far longer than we have? Their deer herds are just fine.

 

[TheLBLman]

CWD has been around since what, the 60's? How can you say it will cause the demise of deer hunting in Tn when other states have had it far longer than we have?

It's not so much the CWD we fear as the TWRA's ways of addressing the CWD.

 

[fairchaser]

It's not so much the CWD we fear as the TWRA's ways of addressing the CWD.

On the contrary LBLman, the easing of restrictions and added buck tags have kept me in the game one more year and one more year and maybe one more year. I earned my buddy a free Sportsmans license last year, because I had two positive does. I can now hunt with a rifle during the velvet hunt and I sold my smokeless ML due to the elimination of that requirement. I can choose what size/age bucks or bucks I want to harvest. I can keep hunting all the way through January now. I've got a couple processor credits I can use. It's like Christmas morning wondering what new gifts the state will give us this year. The payback might be fewer mature bucks that is if CWD doesn't get them first.