CWD here

[wtnhunt]

Not something any hunter wants to hear about their state, looks like it has been here for a good while https://www.tn.gov/twra/hunting/cwd.html .  Been watching the states site closely for the past 5 weeks or so.  With confirmed cases in the counties below us, afraid it is just a matter of time before it is confirmed in our county as well.  

The response from our game commission has already put out that there is to be no more "feeding" in those counties, no minerals either.  Guessing we will see some reg changes for future seasons and guessing mineral sites are gonna be a thing of the past here as well.  We did have one "sickly" looking doe Allison and I watched the afternoon she killed her buck.  Deer was grinding her teeth in a weird sideways motion eating soybeans, kinda figured she may have been an older doe, but maybe not?

What kind of impact have you seen in your state from cwd?  

[Ravin R10 man]

pretty much confined to southern half of Wis.,

[Ravin R10 man]

2 hours ago, Mathews XT Man said:

pretty much confined to southern half of Wis.,

at least the hotbed is;

[Rhino]

The 1st confirmed case found in Mississippi was during the beginning of 2017 (~25 miles north of Vicksburg, MS).  Since then, 2 more cases have been found...1 within the containment area established after the 1st case...the 2nd was found recently in a county on the northern side of the state.

Like other states, when a cwd containment area is established supplemental feeding (including mineral licks) is illegal in the containment area.  At this point it's too early to tell what kind of impact cwd will have here.

[wtnhunt]

32 minutes ago, Rhino said:

The 1st confirmed case found in Mississippi was during the beginning of 2017 (~25 miles north of Vicksburg, MS).  Since then, 2 more cases have been found...1 within the containment area established after the 1st case...the 2nd was found recently in a county on the northern side of the state.

Like other states, when a cwd containment area is established supplemental feeding (including mineral licks) is illegal in the containment area.  At this point it's too early to tell what kind of impact cwd will have here.

Actually looks like the highest concentration of confirmed cases came from close to the MS line, may have made it's way here across the state line. 

Will have to look later but think we went from none to over 90. Seems likely to me with as many positive confirmed it has been here a while.

[wtnhunt]

1 hour ago, Rhino said:

The 1st confirmed case found in Mississippi was during the beginning of 2017 (~25 miles north of Vicksburg, MS).  Since then, 2 more cases have been found...1 within the containment area established after the 1st case...the 2nd was found recently in a county on the northern side of the state.

Like other states, when a cwd containment area is established supplemental feeding (including mineral licks) is illegal in the containment area.  At this point it's too early to tell what kind of impact cwd will have here.

Would seem MS and TN would have been working on this together or at the very least TN should have acted as though it was already here in the counties closest to the MS state line. Looks like Benton co MS was one of the higher concentration areas https://www.mdwfp.com/wildlife-hunting/chronic-wasting-disease/cwd-map/.  Likely the reason for the explosion of cases in Fayette and Hardeman TN.  Seems pretty likely that infected deer may have crossed state line into those counties and found their way to mineral sites or feeders/bait piles, which is illegal in TN during season but not out of season.  Why Tn had not already implemented their cwd plan in those areas prior to this season is beyond me.  I mean looking at the Mississippi map, there were some just about straddling the line. 

Oh well, not in a cwd zone yet.  My primary mineral site has been in use for probably 20 years, about the only way I see deer stopping coming to it will be to fill it in.  

 

[elkoholic]

Any state that is claiming to not have any documented cases of CWD will probably be changing their stance in the next couple of years.  Since the prions that cause CWD exist in soil and plant material contaminated by infected animals and are not destroyed by typical means there is little doubt that it will continue to spread.  The fact that the prions remain viable for several years makes proper disposal of infected animals a concern and not even possible for animals that die and decompose in the wild.  Another thought, although not yet documented in humans, it has been documented that monkeys fed infected meat ended up with CWD.  I would also suspect that, much like the "mad cow disease" and  Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease link, we will eventually see some human malady linked to the consumption of or interaction with infected animals.  If eliminating some of the things, such as feeders or mineral licks, helps to reduce the spread of CWD, then we should do it.  Unfortunately, there is no way to stop animals from concentrating at food, mineral, or water sources.

Here in Montana there has been little impact so far.  It is illegal to feed wildlife (an exception is bird feeders) based on the possibility of disease dissemination  and concentrating predators along with deer/elk.  There are laws restricting carcass transport from known contamination zones and in disposal of carcasses.  There are several areas that had CWD check stations and I believe there were several dozen deer that tested positive this past year.

There will be a gross amount of money spent on CWD, but it will not be contained and the best scenario would be to slow and limit it's affect.  The best thing to do is educate yourself on CWD and the proper handling of your harvested game animals.

One final thought, if you take your deer/elk/moose to a processor and they do batch processing, you may be bringing infected meat home.

[wtnhunt]

13 hours ago, elkoholic said:

There will be a gross amount of money spent on CWD, but it will not be contained and the best scenario would be to slow and limit it's affect.  The best thing to do is educate yourself on CWD and the proper handling of your harvested game animals.

Agreed.  Been one to not use gloves while processing.  Not sure how well that will go, but will try to keep some sort of gloves on hand.  We process in our kitchen as well, and according to what I have read, it is no good using your kitchen utensils that you use for other purposes.  Had always used the same cutting board and fillet knives I use for cutting other meats, suppose I will have to start keeping those separated.  Also read that a 50% solution of bleach was suggested for disinfecting knives and other utensils, dunno that I want to expose my stainless knives to that corrosive a mix, had been using dawn dish soap and vinegar in the past.  

I know that some places who do beef and pork and are usda approved also take deer, this will surely be a cause for concern, and would have to think there would be some sort of regulations to prevent possible contamination to other meats.  Even if they do a deer separately, they would have to clean everything after each deer they do, doubtful that that would take place.  

13 hours ago, elkoholic said:

One final thought, if you take your deer/elk/moose to a processor and they do batch processing, you may be bringing infected meat home.

Process our own, but yes this should be a concern for everyone using deer processors who take mass amounts of animals.  Way too many people we know using local processors have claimed they don't know who's deer they are getting nor do they know how that animal was taken care of post kill.  

Have also read that this will impact hunters for the hungry as well.  We had a couple families we donate meat to that I think are now afraid to take any venison.  

[MUDRUNNER]

CWD has been found in Illinois for quite a few years. It has been illegal to feed or supplement deer here for at least 10 years to combat the spread, but not sure if that has had any impact on the disease or not. They continue to find it every year. For every case they find, there has to be several more that go unnoticed. I'm sure some infected deer get harvested & eaten every year with out anyone even knowing. I feel like CWD has been around before anybody even knew what CWD was. I think it needs monitored & controlled as best as possible, but it's probably not something that will ever go away completely so I don't worry about it a whole lot. I would be interested in seeing more studies on the matter, especially as it relates to consumption.

[too_pointer]

CWD is in Michigan also. Starting Jan. 31 2019, baiting is now illegal in all the lower state, .  I guess the U.P. isn't in the area. It is going to be a complete mess. People, like myself, can't even feed squirrels, and birds, or deer, during the winter, to watch. It is 100%, no exceptions. Not even using scents, ( Nothing ). I imagine that the anterless permits will go threw the roof, the DNR will want to kill all the deer herd off !!  This is not good, or going to work !!!

too_

 

[Ravin R10 man]

This is why I got out of the Deer Corn Business,  limited feeding and baiting had already been implemented and the writing was on the wall. It's just a matter of time before it all gets banned. Fortunate to find a local seed farm that was expanding while corn & land prices were high . That Gold ring comes along you grab it.  Not looked back.

[wtnhunt]

With looking at how many cases and how large the area of positive animals, I am gonna guess it has been here a while, just had been missed being identified until a few months ago.  Maybe the state will become stricter at enforcing or even come down with stricter regs on baiting to help slow spreading of the disease to more of the herd.  

[Ravin R10 man]

cwd is like "climate change"  been going on forever

[Ravin R10 man]

6 years ago Lake Superior was at it's lowest level EVER!  Today, it's at it's "HIGEST" level ever!!  and it aint from melting icebergs!

[RangerClay]

We had CWD here in NY one year.  The DEC went in with snipers at night and shot every deer within a 1-2 mile radius.  Problem solved, no more cwd.  Seemed harsh at the time but almost 10 years later we are still cwd free.

[wtnhunt]

47 minutes ago, RangerClay said:

We had CWD here in NY one year.  The DEC went in with snipers at night and shot every deer within a 1-2 mile radius.  Problem solved, no more cwd.  Seemed harsh at the time but almost 10 years later we are still cwd free.

Yeah in a smaller contained area that would probably help, unfortunately this situation here is so widespread that it would be impossible to eliminate it and even in doing so there are still lasting potential.  Presently the cwd zone covers 7 west TN counties, potentially covering an area of about 100 miles by 30-50 miles.  

From all I have been able to learn about the disease, the prions that cause cwd may last in the soil indefinitely, as in for several years and be able to infect other deer as they encounter that contaminated soil.  

[Rhino]

We now have a 4th deer tested positive for CWD here in MS.  2 of the recent ones, including the new one, are just across the line from where the bulk of the TN deer are spotted on the TN CWD containment map William posted.  The CWD containment area on the MS side of the line bordering the TN area now covers 6 entire counties plus ~1/2 of 5 more counties.  The 2nd CWD containment covers about 5 counties bordering the Mississippi River N and S of Vicksburg.

[jonathand]

Does anyone know where to find how much money has been spent on CWD thus far? Either world wide, nationally or per state?

 

Thanks

[wtnhunt]

On 6/7/2019 at 12:30 PM, jonathand said:

Does anyone know where to find how much money has been spent on CWD thus far? Either world wide, nationally or per state?

 

Thanks

No idea how to go about getting that information since each state individually deals with their resources.

New update here came in today.  County we are in is now considered "high risk" for cwd.  Figured we wouldn't make it through this season without being added to the cwd zone. 

[Rhino]

Yep...no way to know that number.  The 1st case of CWD found here in Mississippi was in January 2017.  Since then, a lot...mainly closer to TN but the containment area is now a lot larger in the north side of the state.

[im your huckleberry]

We have had cases here since 2003, but it has been a small amount. They had a big DNR shoot of about 2500 deer in Saskatchewan and Alberta border area which there was less than 1% found with cwd. Since then we have had a mandatory skull testing in which you must turn the skull in at designated stations where you fill out info cards of where you shot it and wait until you get a green light to eat it. If it turns out it does they don't issue another tag they just say thanks for taking it out of that area.

[wtnhunt]

3 hours ago, Rhino said:

Since then, a lot...mainly closer to TN but the containment area is now a lot larger in the north side of the state.

Makes me think it was here much longer than our state wants to admit and was probably in all likelihood in TN before it was in MS.  Honestly think a doe Allison and I watched last year showed possible symptoms.  

 

[too_pointer]

Well, deer archery season started Oct. 1st, we will see how many license are not sold this year, as usual ? I talked to a DNR person just Wed. about it, and they don't have a clue how to stop it, just taking the easy way out by banning everything. Most of my family doesn't hunt, and I am done, so won't affect me much, just feel terrible for future generations.

too_

[too_pointer]

I forgot to say there are many lawsuits in the works right now about the food banning, and I'm sure many states are doing the same thing.

[elkoholic]

With all of the "new" cases of CWD, I believe that it will be coast to coast before long, and it may already be.  Both Montana and Wyoming have confirmed cases west of the Continental Divide.  There is one certainty, those prions did not move by themselves, and with that, humans are the most likely cause of the rapid spread of the disease.  Personally, I am not sure it is worth the resorces (money) that is going to be put into trying to stop it.  I think we should just let it all play out naturally and go into a complete panic when the first case of transmission to humans is confirmed.  There is nothing like a panic situation to get people's attention.  Truth is, it only really affects us hunters at this point and resources allotted to it are probably mainly from license revenue.  Transmission to humans would be another story.

Maybe.........

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse;  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death.  Think about that.

Edited October 3, 2019 by elkoholic