Should we even worry about CWD anymore?

[AT Hiker]

I lived in NM for 11yrs and still hunt out there. I've heard every excuse in the book for getting rid of whitetails. Western hunters hate them. Never did understand it. IMO it's a cultural sentiment qualified with nonsense excuses.

Well, mule deer are extremely sensitive to habitat disturbances and seemingly lack the ability to quickly adapt. This allows elk and whitetail to move in and thrive, further limiting mule deer habitat.

It's also widely accepted, whether true or not, that whitetail help spread diseases more quickly to mule deer. Apparently they carry CWD at higher rates and do better at dealing with the disease vs mule deer.

Idk, but I'll tell you this; Whitetail are thriving in many western landscapes (mainly river bottom corridors) and private landowners have learned to capitalize on them.

 

[fairchaser]

This is correct. The areas that have CWD the longest and at the highest concentrations are the "test beds" for finding resistant or immune deer.

So far all we have seen is higher prevalence and fewer deer. I'm hoping we will see a tide change in the next few years.

 

[fairchaser]

Perhaps, but I see a state that went rogue on the herd, therefore decimating everything you guys have been doing to promote an older deer herd. Depred permits are possibly the number one issue that hasnt been addressed, for multiple reasons. I personally think that's why your numbers are in the dumps.

We are aware of the harvest numbers and any depredation permits in our area. Everything is well documented on Ames. Even with the liberal permits and limits, we've killed fewer and fewer deer each season since CWD was discovered. I can tell you for a fact, our deer numbers are not in the dumps from over harvest or depredation killing.

 

[Jcalder]

We are aware of the harvest numbers and any depredation permits in our area. Everything is well documented on Ames. Even with the liberal permits and limits, we've killed fewer and fewer deer each season since CWD was discovered. I can tell you for a fact, our deer numbers are not in the dumps from over harvest or depredation killing.

How many deer were killed on the permits

 

[fairchaser]

How many deer were killed on the permits

They killed 7 deer on permits. Six does and one young buck back before CWD was discovered. No deer were killed under depredation permits since then. None were issued although, the state did say they wanted to bring in sharpshooters and kill every deer on Ames. That request was denied. The year they had permits, management thought the club hadn't killed enough does so they used some permits.

 

[Jcalder]

They killed 7 deer on permits. Six does and one young buck back before CWD was discovered. No deer were killed under depredation permits since then. None were issued although, the state did say they wanted to bring in sharpshooters and kill every deer on Ames. That request was denied. The year they had permits, management thought the club hadn't killed enough does so they used some permits.

Is that just at Ames or the neighbors as well.

 

[Ski]

So far all we have seen is higher prevalence and fewer deer. I'm hoping we will see a tide change in the next few years.

I feel for yall in the epicenter. Hopefully you're through the worst of it and can enjoy progressively better hunting from here on.

 

[Jcalder]

I feel for yall in the epicenter. Hopefully you're through the worst of it and can enjoy progressively better hunting from here on.

I would guess the hunting in the epicenter is still better than hunting on the east side

 

[Ski]

I would guess the hunting in the epicenter is still better than hunting on the east side

Possibly. But it still sucks that something is so negatively affecting the hunt. I wouldn't wish it on anyone anywhere.

 

[BigAl]

I hunt near Ames and we have seen a decline in population. Even though everyone says it's the fault of liberal bag limits, I don't think that's the issue. When you see half the deer you used to, you're not going to kill as many. The only wildcard where I hunt is the depredation permits. I hear there have been many issued and lots killed. It would be nice to know how many. How can you confidently manage without knowing this?

 

[CBU93]

Declining population census, harvest, and observation numbers were happening for several years before CWD was announced.

Also, as an observation to the conversation, many arguments that CWD is not that bad is based on state's herd population information. Those of us expressing concern are talking about localized herd management approach, in a hot zone (even then a wildly varied experiences). Understand, many of the hunters in this zone are in Fayette county, on relatively large properties that are very in tune with other adjacent landowners actively managing the herd. Also, arguments to the contrary don't explain the exact same experiences across the state line in adjoining MS counties that have different regulations and philosophies of managing deer herds.

 

[BSK]

So far all we have seen is higher prevalence and fewer deer. I'm hoping we will see a tide change in the next few years.

I wouldn't hold my breath. Because CWD kills so slowly, Nature will be slow to work. The faster an infectious disease kills, the fast those who are immune begin to dominate reproductively. The slower it kills (and the more offspring a non-immune animal can have before death), the longer it takes for immunity to spread. Considering CWD is about as an extreme case as possible for delayed death, I would suspect immunity spreading through a population would take 50 to 100 years.

 

[Dirtcop]

I disagree, we humans need to stay out of it until nature runs it's course. Nature will select which ones survive and which will not, all we do is interrupt that cycle. Once the prevalence rate declines to an acceptable level, then we can repopulate any areas that may have been decimated by deer with weak constitutions.