Is this for real? TWRA vs CWD

[Boll Weevil]

The more I think about it maybe the incentives are focused more on encouraging testing than simply killing. Read the language:
- "Hunters who harvest a positive deer..."
- "Residents who kill 2 or more CWD-positive deer..."
The only way to know with certainty if a deer is positive or not is to have it tested...a hunter didn't know they were killing a positive deer when they pulled the trigger.

Now I could be 100% wrong and the goal really is to simply kill more deer becuase I believe we're headed for a population explosion because the number of deer killed is decreasing. This is a graph of total harvest (blue line) and % antlerless (red line) for Hardeman county from 2005 to 2020. As you can see harvest has tanked, partly because there are fewer deer to kill, hunters are more selective than in years past, and perhaps the emergence of CWD.

 

[TNGunsmoke]

This years incentive is a vast improvement over the one they used last year. Last year, you had to kill your 2 bucks, and at least 4 does to earn 2 bonus bucks, and then kill both bonus bucks and have all 8 deer tested in order to get your free sportsman's license. At least with this incentive program, it has to be CWD positive deer to get the free license, and I don't have a problem with the voucher program for a positive deer. The processor I use has a CWD insurance program, $10 a deer, and if it tests positive, he'll dispose of the infected meat and credit your regular processing fee back to your account for the next deer anyhow. But not all processors offer this, so it just helps out the folks that don't have this option.

 

[megalomaniac]

I don't understand. Please explain why you think it is bad?

To prevent CWD form spreading to unaffected areas it is critical to try and reduce the number of infected deer. This is simply a way to try and encourage more people to kill more infected deer - people who might otherwise avoid hunting a CWD area.

Whether it works or not is a reasonable question, but I sure don't see any effort to reduce the spread of CWD as a "bad thing."

Change my mind.

It was my understanding TWRA was not flush with cash. Since they have so much money they can afford to throw a bunch away, it is quite obvious they are overcharging for hunting and fishing licenses.

 

[Winchester]

Very strange imo.

 

[timberjack86]

Because the approach of "kill ALL the deer" has been tried many times. Has not worked, NOT AT ALL! Only thing the approach of "kill more deer to stop CWD" has accomplished is MANY dead deer. That approach has had ZERO effect on CWD everywhere it has been tried. It never helped in any way at all.

Agree, what good is going to come from wiping out the deer herd when cwd prions stay active in the ground for years. Plus the possibility of Eastern hunters being drawn to cwd areas by all the freebies increases the likelihood of spreading it east with shabby processing. Change my mind!

 

[Willysman]

What!!!!

 

[Bon3_Daddy]

All im sayin is...my deer are getting tested anyways, so if i can luck up and get 2 that can save me 168 bucks...good luck to all.

 

[rsimms]

Because the approach of "kill ALL the deer" has been tried many times. Has not worked, NOT AT ALL! Only thing the approach of "kill more deer to stop CWD" has accomplished is MANY dead deer. That approach has had ZERO effect on CWD everywhere it has been tried. It never helped in any way at all.

As I said, "Whether it works or not is a reasonable question, but I sure don't see any effort to reduce the spread of CWD as a bad thing."

 

[rsimms]

Agree, what good is going to come from wiping out the deer herd when cwd prions stay active in the ground for years. Plus the possibility of Eastern hunters being drawn to cwd areas by all the freebies increases the likelihood of spreading it east with shabby processing. Change my mind!

Active prions remaining in ground is correct (from what I've read) ... but deer must move TO the infected area, versus the infected deer moving to the next county, and then the next, and then the next. Fewer deer in infected area reduces opportunity of transmission. I totally agree that you are NEVER going to eliminate it. Once it's there, it's there. But reducing the chances of transmission seems wise to me. Of course during the COVID peak, I also wore a mask.
It seems to me that shabby processing would simply increase the likelihood of spreading it to humans, which they still say has never occurred.

 

[rsimms]

It was my understanding TWRA was not flush with cash. Since they have so much money they can afford to throw a bunch away, it is quite obvious they are overcharging for hunting and fishing licenses.

I can't argue the money question. It will be interesting to learn in a year or so, how many people actually claim these vouchers and/or get a free Sportsman License.

 

[mike243]

Lack of public hunting areas and chances of killing a infected deer don't entice me to go west , when it gets here I am done, cant see shooting them just to get a mount out of the deal. ymmv

 

[timberjack86]

Active prions remaining in ground is correct (from what I've read) ... but deer must move TO the infected area, versus the infected deer moving to the next county, and then the next, and then the next. Fewer deer in infected area reduces opportunity of transmission. I totally agree that you are NEVER going to eliminate it. Once it's there, it's there. But reducing the chances of transmission seems wise to me. Of course during the COVID peak, I also wore a mask.
It seems to me that shabby processing would simply increase the likelihood of spreading it to humans, which they still say has never occurred.

Did it work out in the states that tried to eliminate the herds? Looks to me like they still have cwd. Just saying

 

[gasman]

Some of yall gonna gripe no matter what.... The deer aint going nowhere. Nobody is going to wipe out the herd. Honestly, the ones who will cash in on this are the ones who shoot 5 or more deer anyway.

 

[knightrider]

Kill em all before they die!!

 

[megalomaniac]

Some of yall gonna gripe no matter what.... The deer aint going nowhere. Nobody is going to wipe out the herd. Honestly, the ones who will cash in on this are the ones who shoot 5 or more deer anyway.

My gripe is that this is a total waste of my license fees. Money thrown down the toilet, with nothing accomplished. If TWRA has money to burn, they are obviously overcharging license fees and they should be reduced.

 

[UpperTully]

I don't understand. Please explain why you think it is bad?

To prevent CWD form spreading to unaffected areas it is critical to try and reduce the number of infected deer. This is simply a way to try and encourage more people to kill more infected deer - people who might otherwise avoid hunting a CWD area.

Whether it works or not is a reasonable question, but I sure don't see any effort to reduce the spread of CWD as a "bad thing."

Change my mind.

What good does it do to kill the deer when the prions are in the ground to stay? CWD has spread because of hunters transporting and dumping infected carcasses. It started in Fayette and Hardemen and now is as far away as Henry County. That wasn't spread from one deer to another. CWD is here to stay, but with the current approach, the only thing that wont be here is a future for my children to deer hunt here in West Tenn.

One of the best things to happen at this point is drop a few infected deer in spots of Middle Tenn. Perhaps TWRA will change their tunnel vision mindset. TWRA is causing more damage in West Tenn than CWD itself. Processors are going out of business and hunters losing interest in deer hunting.

 

[xtremedeerman]

No it did not work ask Ted Nugent about Michigan

 

[gasman]

My gripe is that this is a total waste of my license fees. Money thrown down the toilet, with nothing accomplished. If TWRA has money to burn, they are obviously overcharging license fees and they should be reduced.

Kill you 2 does and get a free license next year

 

[megalomaniac]

Kill you 2 does and get a free license next year

And how did killing those 2 does to earn the free license make a difference in eradicating CWD (the purpose of the free license)? Just TWRA money down the toilet like the rest of my taxpayer dollars.

I'm fine with it as long as I never hear TWRA is hurting for money. Like th88 said, pay youtubers to kill, pay hunters to kill. Why can't we start killing all other game to sell for meat or organs for profit (Bear gallbladders?). I don't see much difference.

 

[TX300mag]

Is it true that TWRA is giving away an extra buck tag to those who show proof of vaccination?