CWD

[TNGRIZZLY_]

Are we able to control it or is it something we should prepare for the rest of the state?
What can be done? Wipe all the deer out and start over?
Serious question

 

[Trapper John]

It will be statewide eventually. At some point I image every state will be impacted. Seems like a simplistic answer, but I tend to believe it will run through the herd, survivors will pass on their immunity/resiliency,, and nature will do what it always does...the strong will survive. Of course, we'll all be dead and gone by the time that happens.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Wipe all the deer out and start over?

Afraid that won't work. From what I understand, if an area has infected deer, the area will continue to have cwd. Supposedly, the prions that cause cwd can live in the soil for a very long time, decades or longer. So, if scientists are right, then this is not going to go away just because all the deer are killed out of an area.

 

[catman529]

It's gonna keep spreading like it always has. I just hope the agency doesn't continue with the "kill all the deer to prevent the spread" mentality because over time that will hurt more than the disease itself.

 

[Ol’Brows]

Catman is spot on. Thinning the herd isn't effective unless you kill them all and wait until you can't detect the Prions any longer in the soil. That Could take decades. The academics push Darwin's theory and use it as the cornerstone of biology but for some reason the biologist think they can fix it themselves in the real world. Makes no sense, the deer will adapt to CWD over time. Meddling biologist created CWD anyway. They let it jump from sheep to captive mule deer then turned them loose.

 

[1 good shot]

Every buck but one has tested positve off both our places but none of the doe did.
This guy doesn't look so good either

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Every buck but one has tested positve off both our places but none of the doe did.
This guy doesn't look so good either

He probably died within 10 minutes of that picture being taken, given the looks of the coyote in the background.

 

[megalomaniac]

Every buck but one has tested positve off both our places but none of the doe did.
This guy doesn't look so good either

Heartbreaking... I dont think I've ever seen a deer walking with that much muscle wastage. And his coat looks terrible as well.

 

[1 good shot]

He probably died within 10 minutes of that picture being taken, given the looks of the coyote in the background.

There were more coyotes in the other pics.
Found a dead fawn 1/2 mile from there

 

[wildlifefarmer]

There were more coyotes in the other pics.
Found a dead fawn 1/2 mile from there

from the sound of it, it appears y'all need to start a trapping program on the properties!!!

 

[1 good shot]

from the sound of it, it appears y'all need to start a trapping program on the properties!!!

Probably so.
But the point I was trying to convey was there was multipe coyotes in other pics of the same buck that day

 

[fairchaser]

Research continues at Ames. Currently, we are tying bucks, to scrapes to CWD. This is in an effort to have an early warning system in place for areas that have not detected CWD. The herd at Ames continues to survive under CWD. It's not the herd of the glory days but there are plenty of deer and good bucks.

 

[Kyboy]

Let me ask y'all this for the CWD area people, do you think the fish and wildlife efforts are helping slow the spread of CWD or doing virtually nothing but ruining the deer population?

CWD is not going to go away anytime soon and natures way of figuring our herd immunity is probably better than any Biologist in the world. What stops a crow from eating a deceased deer in Wisconsin that had CWD, then the crow migrating south and lets say stopping in Kentucky, and crapping on some acorns then a deer eats them and gets CWD. Far fetched I know, but from what I have read and heard about CWD it seems possible.

 

[BSK]

Let me ask y'all this for the CWD area people, do you think the fish and wildlife efforts are helping slow the spread of CWD or doing virtually nothing but ruining the deer population?

I don't believe the answer is one or the other at the extremes. I suspect the increased harvests in CWD areas does slow the spread. However, at what cost? Slowing the spread is not stopping the spread. Eventually CWD will spread through the entire range of the white-tailed deer, and there's nothing we can do to stop it. What if the liberal harvests in CWD areas vastly reduced deer densities to the point hunters stop hunting? Now who is going to keep deer densities down? Professional shooters? That will end recreational deer hunting for sure.

 

[AT Hiker]

Not sure how feasible it would be here but some states have CWD "approved" landfills. You would think this would be a huge step in the right direction to slow the spread, my God do I hate that term now.
WY for example now makes you leave everything in the field or you have to dispose of it in an approved dump station.
I'll say this, CWD transport laws are not black and white. Some can be down right confusing, especially for such a simple concept.

 

[Kyboy]

Not sure how feasible it would be here but some states have CWD "approved" landfills. You would think this would be a huge step in the right direction to slow the spread, my God do I hate that term now.
WY for example now makes you leave everything in the field or you have to dispose of it in an approved dump station.
I'll say this, CWD transport laws are not black and white. Some can be down right confusing, especially for such a simple concept.

I am fully aware on how they can be confusing...got a nice ticket over a deer few years ago.

 

[TheLBLman]

What if the liberal harvests in CWD areas vastly reduced deer densities to the point hunters stop hunting? Now who is going to keep deer densities down? Professional shooters? That will end recreational deer hunting for sure.

It's not just that, but may be more about all the complexities and inconveniences being mandated by game agencies.

For example, this weekend, on the TN National Wildlife Refuge (Big Sandy Unit, which is in Henry County, TN)
there were 100 Quota Rifle Hunt Permits issued by lottery draw a couple months ago.

Most of these drawn hunters absolutely would have gone hunting there this weekend, many had made advance vacation plans, JUST IN CASE they were lucky enough to be drawn.

But now, most have cancelled their plans to go hunting there because of what's been mandated by TWRA. This change of plans had nothing to do with the deer density.

Should a hunter go there this weekend (and kill a deer), the deer must be completely "dressed" (deboned), head & bones left in the woods, BEFORE any meat or antlers can be transported out of the refuge!

The weather may be seasonable "nice" for mid-October, but who wants to butcher a deer in the woods, completely debone it when the outside temperature is around 70 degrees? And, this must be done without any running water or electricity, truly "in the field".

But wait, if you kill a deer and don't do ALL of this,
or if you do ALL of this,
you might then get ticketed for "wonton waste"
whether you do it or don't do it?

Everything has become so confusing and complicated,
that many hunters are (or will) just give up on deer hunting
when their county gets designated a CWD county?

 

[Omega]

I don't hunt the CWD areas, but I don't see the big deal on deboning the meat. I only quarter mine currently, but can debone the deer easily enough and place it in a cooler for transportation. To me, the head part is what is a bit troubling, are they saying you can't take the head with you? While I don't hunt for antlers, I will take one if one were to present itself, and would be interested in making a european mount from it.

 

[Remington700]

Every buck but one has tested positve off both our places but none of the doe did.
This guy doesn't look so good either

Interesting! I am sure you are near the hot zone. I hunt Williston and we have only had one test positive (a buck). We have found some dead deer that last few years and sightings of big deer have been down.

 

[1 good shot]

Interesting! I am sure you are near the hot zone. I hunt Williston and we have only had one test positive (a buck). We have found some dead deer that last few years and sightings of big deer have been down.

We're apparently in the epicenter of the outbreak