91 CWD positives!?!
- Thread starter poorhunter
- Start date
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
This may be the largest outbreak in the country (as far as prevalence rates in the affected zone).
For comparison, MS has tested as many deer and only has 12 positives (most from the counties bordering TN)
Sent from my SCH-R970X using Tapatalk
For comparison, MS has tested as many deer and only has 12 positives (most from the counties bordering TN)
Sent from my SCH-R970X using Tapatalk
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
Using the same testing folks?megalomaniac":27tm9p7d said:
AT Hiker
Well-Known Member
This is insane. Like I said before, I'm hoping it's some kind of lab error and we awake from this nightmare soon.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
BULL MOOSE
Well-Known Member
It is like watching a zombie outbreak movie. That one deer in Madison is what worries me the most.
I would bet the folks just south in MS are not very happy at the moment.
I would bet the folks just south in MS are not very happy at the moment.
wmd
Active Member
That is just crazy. Makes you wonder why the deer there seem to be so susceptible to the disease. Is it deer density? Some unknown factor? Also makes you wonder why with even the reduced level of testing that was going on in the previous years this wasn't found given what the apparent prevalence rate seems to be.
DaveB
Well-Known Member
That number is difficult to accept.
The previous testing procedure had to have some kind of error, this high a rating could not possibly have slipped by.
What the HxLL is going on?
The previous testing procedure had to have some kind of error, this high a rating could not possibly have slipped by.
What the HxLL is going on?
fairchaser
Well-Known Member
Either our southern deer are more susceptible or the conditions are more ideal to spread the disease. More likely we have a perfect storm of conditions that have allowed this. At the center, the prevalence rate possibly is much higher and could even threaten the viability of the herd. The only way we can grow out of this high rate is to back off on the harvest and see if the herd can bounce back.
DaveB
Well-Known Member
^^^Agreed^^^I mean I hope this is correct.
I would suspect some fairly drastic rules changes are headed our way.
I would suspect some fairly drastic rules changes are headed our way.
fairchaser
Well-Known Member
DaveB":2ptjr365 said:
DaveB, I'm curious as to which direction you think the rules are headed? Do you think they will take the approach of cut wider and deeper and move toward an extermination approach or just allow the herd to rebound so pullback on next season's harvest?
Mike Belt
Well-Known Member
I really hope I'm wrong but how can the deer rebound from something that's so widespread and is still present on the landscape?
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Containment is not even remotely an option at this point... FAR too widespread and common in the area.
At this point, all the state can do is allow liberal kill of deer in the affected area to reduce deer density, then just live with the 'new normal'...
OFC, the 'new normal' is deer having an expected lifespan of 3-4 years, instead of 10-12 years. Stinks if you like to hunt mature bucks, as there will be very few in the area.
At this point, all the state can do is allow liberal kill of deer in the affected area to reduce deer density, then just live with the 'new normal'...
OFC, the 'new normal' is deer having an expected lifespan of 3-4 years, instead of 10-12 years. Stinks if you like to hunt mature bucks, as there will be very few in the area.
megalomaniac":2yk9cvxy said:
I would agree, however is that the way it is in areas it's been for 10+ years? I have no idea myself, but to hear some on here hunting hasn't changed in those areas much at all.
SOMETHING weird has happened in those two counties. Lots and lots of unanswered questions abound, but to say this is not out of the ordinary is a little blinded maybe. I'm still wondering if there is some environmental factor that hot zones have in common. How does CWD NOT spread everywhere considering its life span and ease of transmission and it's lethality? How is it that some areas have had it for 10+ years and it is basically held in check in a small area? You mean to tell me that wildlife agencies have been able to arrest the spread? If it's so easily spread through close contact and even uptake into their food, what are they doing to stop close contact between deer? How do they stop them from eating tainted food in the wild? Deer are licking each other's faces and licking branches and corn piles and on and on, and they move WIDELY during the rut. This should be spreading like a grass fire with all these things...but it isn't, or is it?
DaveB
Well-Known Member
Historically the approach to virus infected animals is a complete cull of the population. Hoof & mouth disease in cattle and H5N1 in fowl are two that come to mind. Because these are barnyard animals the approach is to burn the disease out. That is very close to what was legally set in motion in the 3 original CWD counties. Kill every animal that reproduces.
With that as a background if your county is in a CWD hotzone I would expect very restrictive rules.
With that as a background if your county is in a CWD hotzone I would expect very restrictive rules.
That map is interesting. At the center of it and along the line with most cases you've got Ames, a processor, and a couple of high fence clubs. But one as to wonder how it spread so far so fast from the center, while also leaving vast areas with no positives. I'd still say it be interesting to see a map with all tests, including positives and negatives.
Boll Weevil
Well-Known Member
In my case, 99.999% certain it arrived in my neighborhood in the back of a pickup from deer killed at ground zero. If there's a way TWRA could ask, "Within the last 10 years have you moved a carcass from ground zero, processed it at your home, and discarded the carcass nearby?" Get the "destination" zip code or lat/long coordinates for those carcasses and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they could begin predicting where future cases are likely to emerge.BigAl":1bywi0jo said:
Boll Weevil":3m7dsv4b said:
The number one way to slow it down is to never remove the carcass from where it was killed within a mile or so. Kill a deer bone it out immediately in the spot and leave the carcass. It will spread on its own, but much faster in the back of a pickup truck than deer licking each other and waking away.
MickThompson
Well-Known Member
poorhunter":259vc7jp said:
Even better to bury the skeleton deep (as in landfill deep) and make the prions unavailable.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Agreed, but I'd bet 95% of hunters have not done this over the last decade with deer they have killed in/near the hot zone. The damage is likely done, we just need to find out where all of these deer have ended up, just as Boll Weevil eluded to.poorhunter":28ar1nbt said:
Boll Weevil
Well-Known Member
Agree 100% on not moving carcasses.
I believe one of the current challenges is in part retrospective as movement has been taking place for many, many years without knowing a given carcass carried the disease...or even that CWD even existed within a given locale. Think about how many 1000s of deer have been transported out of this area over the last 10 years and well before it was discovered just a few months ago.
With many (if not most) highly infectious diseases, propagation often FAR precedes discovery...my guess is that this outbreak is also following that pattern to some degree.
I believe one of the current challenges is in part retrospective as movement has been taking place for many, many years without knowing a given carcass carried the disease...or even that CWD even existed within a given locale. Think about how many 1000s of deer have been transported out of this area over the last 10 years and well before it was discovered just a few months ago.
With many (if not most) highly infectious diseases, propagation often FAR precedes discovery...my guess is that this outbreak is also following that pattern to some degree.
