Texas CWD per Dr. Deer

[Dean Parisian]

From Dr. Deer. Dr. James Kroll of Texas.

I just received the CWD test data for the first half of 2024 for Texas. The breeder deer tested had a 0.81% apparent infection rate and the free-range deer 0.69%; hardly a rampantly occurring deer disease in anyone's objective book. CWD has been reported in Texas since 2012. Testing began in 2002, and since then 130 free range deer tested positive. Let's put all this into perspective. In the first half of 2024, for every 10,000 free range deer, that's about 70 deer. Thats only testing positive for CWD prions, not yet mortality. There are 54,000+ auto collisions annually in Texas, with high probability of at least one deer death per accident! The annual deer harvest in Texas in 2023-24 was 757,047! There are probably 6 million deer in Texas, and growing at an alarming rate, which negates concern for CWD decimating the herd after 12 years of known CWD occurrence!

 

[EastTNHunter]

What else would you expect from the guy? He's been eating out of the breeder deer industry's hand for years

 

[redblood]

I agree with both points. Yes Dr Deer is a tool and has profited immensely from the deer breeder industry. At the same point, the cure for CWD is worst than the disease. Killing all the deer to stop a disease that will kill a few deer in mindless!

 

[Patrick H]

I think from a statistical standpoint it would be better to look at the infection rate by county. I have not looked but suspect CWD is not throughout the entire state and the infection levels can vary significantly by county.

 

[BigAl]

Does TX have the deer density that some areas of West, TN has?

 

[Ski]

Does TX have the deer density that some areas of West, TN has?

In certain areas I'd say probably so. In SW TX deer are thick as cockroaches.

 

[fairchaser]

CWD is density and proximity specific. You can make the numbers say what you want. Figures lie and liars figure. In areas like Fayette County, TN, CWD has taken hold and caused population declines. First gradually, then all at once.

Texas may escape this decline for years and decades, but may succumb eventually. I am hopeful for a solution, but I think the deer are gonna have to overcome this on their own.

 

[redblood]

CWD is density and proximity specific. You can make the numbers say what you want. Figures lie and liars figure. In areas like Fayette County, TN, CWD has taken hold and caused population declines. First gradually, then all at once.

Texas may escape this decline for years and decades, but may succumb eventually. I am hopeful for a solution, but I think the deer are gonna have to overcome this on their own.

Agreed. And state deer agencies should make smart and mindful common sense tweeks to regulations to approach it- no baiting, no minerals (possibly) , possibly increased doe harvests in some areas and proper disposal protocols for deer remains.


Not follow twras killem all with a hp rifle for 5 month approach.

 

[Boll Weevil]

In Texas baiting is the rule vs the exception. If CWD ever takes hold I wonder if it rips thru the herd.

 

[GumbyGuy]

Sounds like they need to extend deer season by two or 3 months for a couple of years

 

[redblood]

Deer have survived cwd for millennia…….we just know have named it and have to ability to detect it…..imagine id we never named or recognized covid 19- would we ever known the difference ?

 

[Doskil]

The TWRA backed off most of its changes it made due to CWD

They do let hunters still get extra buck tags and require them to be tested

Hunters don't have to kill the deer population down

 

[Doskil]

In Texas baiting is the rule vs the exception. If CWD ever takes hold I wonder if it rips thru the herd.

Texas has CWD already and will never ban baiting

 

[ttf909]

There's not a better authority on anything deer than J.k . Period.

 

[readonly]

Deer have survived cwd for millennia…….we just know have named it and have to ability to detect it…..imagine id we never named or recognized covid 19- would we ever known the difference ?

Where do get that deer have survived it for millennia? Doesn't the evidence point to CWD showing up in penned deer exposed to other livestock in the 2nd have of the last century.....and that it first jumped from sheep to deer about 60 years ago...spreading from enclosure to enclosure as captive deer were bought and sold, before jumping the fence to the wild?

 

[EastTNHunter]

There's not a better authority on anything deer than J.k . Period.

I'm not trying to be argumentative or rude, but he is bought and paid for, and has been for years. His research is based upon captive herds and he has made wide ranging applications of his research in his articles to free range herds. It will always support the caged, high fence deer farm community. If I recall correctly, @BSK or @Ski covered this a while back in a little more detail. I don't want to besmirch the guy, but he is not as much of an authority as he or others claim that he is

 

[MickThompson]

There's not a better authority on anything deer than J.k . Period.

Just ask him, he'd tell you exactly that

 

[Doskil]

But he's not wrong

The "cure" for CWD is worse than the disease imho

 

[TX300mag]

Texas wouldn't know how to hunt without feeders. At least 99%. There's so much money in it they won't ever touch it.

 

[BigAl]

imagine id we never named or recognized covid 19- would we ever known the difference ?

We would just be sitting around wondering what killed so many people.

 

[Boll Weevil]

Texas wouldn't know how to hunt without feeders. At least 99%. There's so much money in it they won't ever touch it.

100% true.

 

[redblood]

We would just be sitting around wondering what killed so many people.

I have my doubts. I think it would have been a couple bad flu seasons until herd immunity was achieved

 

[MickThompson]

Deer have survived cwd for millennia…….we just know have named it and have to ability to detect it…..imagine id we never named or recognized covid 19- would we ever known the difference ?

If this is the case, then why haven't they developed resistance to it?

Perhaps because it's truly a domestic sheep disease and domestic sheep were a continent away until the last 500 years? And perhaps because deer and sheep naturally avoided each other until forced into the same facility?

 

[redblood]

Where do get that deer have survived it for millennia? Doesn't the evidence point to CWD showing up in penned deer exposed to other livestock in the 2nd have of the last century.....and that it first jumped from sheep to deer about 60 years ago...spreading from enclosure to enclosure as captive deer were bought and sold, before jumping the fence to the wild?

Lots of sources. Yes it was first officially in
Deer in the 1960s, but there are evidence of the disease dating back much further than that, including a strain that potentially affected bison back in the 1800s- safe to say its older than we are giving it credit for

 

[ROB]

CWD management, much like the management of many diseases, is a complex issue featuring significant disagreement. I certainly don't have the answer. My guess is that there's not a single answer. I do have a couple of comments.

First, with the current state of CWD, herd immunity isn't possible. Herd immunity occurs when a significant portion of the population is immune to a disease. This depends on the development of individual immunity within members of that population. Because there is no effective vaccine for CWD & CWD is uniformly fatal, no individual immunity can occur. In my mind, doing nothing, especially when CWD is first found in an area, is a poor option. I completely agree that bringing in snipers & killing every deer possible for a big area is not the right option. My vote would be for increasing hunter opportunity, not allowing baiting & minerals, providing hunters with proper ways to dispose deer that test positive, and limiting transport of deer in & out of the affected area to meat free of lymph nodes & brain/spinal cord. This would be inconvenient for hunters but not awful.

Second, Dr. James Kroll (Dr. Deer) does not have a very good reputation among wildlife biologists & wildlife disease experts that I have asked about him. I don't know if this is because they feel his findings lack scientific validity or they think he's a shill for the captive deer industry.

 

[knightrider]

Dudes a con, all you can do is nothing and let it be. You gonna catch every deer in the wild and give it a shot or a pill

 

[AT Hiker]

Deer have survived cwd for millennia…….we just know have named it and have to ability to detect it…..imagine id we never named or recognized covid 19- would we ever known the difference ?

Per Covid….I would have. I woke up with the chills, made some coffee and after the first sip I spit it out. It tasted like someone grounded up a rutting bucks pissed stained tarsal glands, mixed in a little sardines and poured it in my coffee cup.

Back to CWD…