Is CWD the Imminent Doom for Hunting?

[Dirtbag]

No.
Same testing, increased positives.
Same story for many states.

CWD is spreading slowly, across the country.
It’s something that’s measured in decades, not years.

I dont follow you when you say there isnt an increase in testing.

I have been a native in Colorado for 32 years. They have been talking about CWD since I was 5 years old, and they used to only test a small sample of deer every year, largely those that just showed symptoms. A quick look at the regs shows there is some form of mandatory testing in 46 GMU's.

 

[spike camp]

I dont follow you when you say there isnt an increase in testing.

I have been a native in Colorado for 32 years. They have been talking about CWD since I was 5 years old, and they used to only test a small sample of deer every year, largely those that just showed symptoms. A quick look at the regs shows there is some form or mandatory testing in 46 GMU's.

I’m saying in, for example, the last ten years, the same amount of samples are taken in any given GMU, and the prevalence is increasing.

Not exclusive to CO, and in some states they’re testing less now and still getting more positive results.

Estes Park herd is a good CO example.
Said to be the Highest prevalence in any elk wild herd, if I recall correctly.
Sampling hasn’t changed in years, but the prevalence keeps increasing.

 

[Dos Perros]

Would CWD research be funded if CWD researchers were saying it's not a big deal?

 

[Fordguy]

A buddy and I just had this same discussion a few days ago. Many people here who say they will not eat a cwd+ deer happily consume chicken and beef loaded with hormones that are known to cause issues.

Potential issues with beef, pork, and chicken yes, but those issues are treatable. If CWD causes an issue it will be fatal.
Who thinks it's a good idea to knowingly eat a sick animal? The CDC has advised against that practice since the days when I trusted what the CDC had to say.

 

[Dos Perros]

Potential issues with beef, pork, and chicken yes, but those issues are treatable. If CWD causes an issue it will be fatal.
Who thinks it's a good idea to knowingly eat a sick animal? The CDC has advised against that practice since the days when I trusted what the CDC had to say.

Medical folks are inherently risk averse. My boy is currently in the rabies protocol despite there being only 2.5 rabies deaths in the US annually. The cat that bit him has been seen multiple times, appears healthy, a week and a half after the bite. Yet, they still advise for the vaccine, even though the risk is essentially zero.

 

[Sykes]

The state of Colorado will end it first

 

[spike camp]

Would CWD research be funded if CWD researchers were saying it's not a big deal?

Do you think the researchers working on CWD, would be jobless otherwise?

 

[Dos Perros]

Do you think the researchers working on CWD, would be jobless otherwise?

Do you think it's that absolute, and simple?

 

[Musky]

Potential issues with beef, pork, and chicken yes, but those issues are treatable. If CWD causes an issue it will be fatal.
Who thinks it's a good idea to knowingly eat a sick animal? The CDC has advised against that practice since the days when I trusted what the CDC had to say.

Potential isn't the proper terminology, because there are issues currently with beef, pork and chicken.

Treatable? Yes/no, can it be fixed, absolutely, I believe the Europeans have it figured out. The states most definitely do NOT. The FDA and the USDA don't regulate the farms so there will not be a change until that happens. So realistically no, it isn't treatable in its current state. Same goes for romaine and cantaloupe and anything else you can fathom. These issues also can be fatal as well.

Technically speaking, more people have died from salmonella and e. coli than CWD. Sure maybe because they don't test for CWD. That doesn't excuse the fact that we still have those issues with other products and KNOWINGLY still consume those products and KNOWINGLY do nothing to improve the quality of products.

 

[spike camp]

Do you think it's that absolute, and simple?

Yes
It’s not like states are raking in the cash for CWD research.
There are all kinds of universities doing research, too.
Money from all sorts of sources, to fund research.
If CWD didn’t exist, that same money would be put into other research.
Seems as though highly infectious disease research would keep people employed, CWD or no CWD.

 

[Fordguy]

Potential isn't the proper terminology, because there are issues currently with beef, pork and chicken.

Treatable? Yes/no, can it be fixed, absolutely, I believe the Europeans have it figured out. The states most definitely do NOT. The FDA and the USDA don't regulate the farms so there will not be a change until that happens. So realistically no, it isn't treatable in its current state. Same goes for romaine and cantaloupe and anything else you can fathom. These issues also can be fatal as well.

Technically speaking, more people have died from salmonella and e. coli than CWD. Sure maybe because they don't test for CWD. That doesn't excuse the fact that we still have those issues with other products and KNOWINGLY still consume those products and KNOWINGLY do nothing to improve the quality of products.

E-coli and salmonella are treatable. Can they be fatal? Yes. The mortality rates for E-coli and Salmonella are ess than 1% Prion diseases (TSEs) are invariably fatal. Read 100% fatal.

The fact of the matter is that you don't know if people have or haven't died as a result of consuming CWD positive venison. All you (or anyone else) can say is that they don't have definitive proof that anyone has died from a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy that was the result of eating CWD positive venison. That's not the same thing as saying that no one has died.

 

[Dos Perros]

Yes

Well I disagree.

Have a nice day!

 

[huntineveryday]

Anyone aware of an accurate "rapid field test " on the market ? Here in minnesota in some areas harvested adult deer are tested by either dropping head or lymph nodes off designated sites . Logistically the timing of everything is a pain to process or eat venision while you wait for results . It would be great to know right in the field. Used to not think too much about cwd until it shows up in your area

A rapid or in-field test would be great, but I haven't heard of one. I'm in Nebraska and I use K-State Vet lab for testing. They advertise a 3-4 business day turnaround, and since I'm not too far, UPS gets samples there quickly. On a normal year I can hang a deer or quarter and cooler it with ice and results are back before I need to process it further. Every previous year, I sent samples Monday and had results by the end of day Thursday. This year I got them the following Monday. I think having more regional testing centers that could get you results in a 3-4 day turnaround would even be helpful if a field test isn't workable.

 

[huntineveryday]

Medical folks are inherently risk averse. My boy is currently in the rabies protocol despite there being only 2.5 rabies deaths in the US annually. The cat that bit him has been seen multiple times, appears healthy, a week and a half after the bite. Yet, they still advise for the vaccine, even though the risk is essentially zero.

This is a pretty good analogy. The risk of your boy getting rabies is very low. However, if he were to get rabies, mortality rate is nearly 100% (per WHO). So treatment recommendations are to go through the rabies protocol if there was any chance someone could have been exposed to rabies.

Some of us are focusing the (seemingly) low risk of getting CWD, while others are focusing on the high probability of serious consequences if CWD is contracted.

(Also, I hope your boy is doing well)

 

[Fordguy]

Medical folks are inherently risk averse. My boy is currently in the rabies protocol despite there being only 2.5 rabies deaths in the US annually. The cat that bit him has been seen multiple times, appears healthy, a week and a half after the bite. Yet, they still advise for the vaccine, even though the risk is essentially zero.

Sorry to hear about your son. I've been there, and done that. Post exposure treatment after handling and treating a horse that had been bitten by a rabid skunk (vets thought the horse had EPM until it started drooling and staggering). Anyway. Post exposure treatment sucks. Hopefully if he has to have the HiG he's small since the quantity is based on body weight.

Rabies is nearly always fatal (I think i remember two recorded instances where people have survived rabies) unless treated in the short window after exposure.
When it comes to diseases with high mortality rates, Dr.s do tend to follow the "better safe than sorry" philosophy. Having watched an animal decline from rabies, I'd tend to agree with them. While it sucks, it would suck a lot more to lose a child (not that I think it's particularly likely if you've seen the cat in question running around and healthy 10 days later).
IF all they're advising is the rabies vaccine, it was a relatively quick, simple shot. Took 2 seconds when I had to have it.

CWD is part of a class of diseases that has been proven to cross species barriers. When contracted those diseases are always fatal, but they take longer to kill you, sometimes a lot longer.

 

[wind gypsy]

Don’t think for a second the anti-hunting crowd won’t use cwd as another tool to end hunting.

I can see the headlines now, “Hunters are throwing deer in the trash”. - Hunters who have killed a cwd+ deer are discarding those deer as potential cwd to human transmission a concern. Until we get a handle on cwd hunting should stop instead of just killing deer for the sake of killing them.

Something along those lines I can see hitting the media.

Absolutely.

So by that logic, one would think it would be best to limit the spread so the whole country isn't throwing 50% of their deer in the trash.

Unless the idea is just to eat them anyway.

"hunters scared of anti hunter retoric eat the equivalent of sheep with scrapies or beef with mad cow disease in the form of their claimed healthy wild protein so anti's cant use throwing away diseased meat against them"

 

[Musky]

E-coli and salmonella are treatable. Can they be fatal? Yes. The mortality rates for E-coli and Salmonella are ess than 1% Prion diseases (TSEs) are invariably fatal. Read 100% fatal.

The fact of the matter is that you don't know if people have or haven't died as a result of consuming CWD positive venison. All you (or anyone else) can say is that they don't have definitive proof that anyone has died from a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy that was the result of eating CWD positive venison. That's not the same thing as saying that no one has died.

You're not wrong. I too put treatable/preventable in the same category. They aren't preventable because the government won't make them preventable, yet we still knowingly consume them. The only prevention is to take precaution (much like CWD). And yes, I understand the contradiction in those two sentences.

However I wasn't aware of any treatments for E. Coli. Salmonella sure there is antibiotics being put to use.

You're also right on the second paragraph, however, I never said "no one has died" from CWD. We don't know what we don't know.

 

[wind gypsy]

a quick google search says the US consumes around 7 million deer annually. With CWD being around as long as it has, statically I think we would have seen a transmission if it was possible, by now.

I'm not real into the weeds on research on this deal but I'm not aware of there ever being a test for it. My understanding is complications from it, if they existed, could be diagnosed as alzheimer's.

Someone please tell me i'm way off base if so!

 

[wind gypsy]

To the OP.. I don't think CWD is effectively the end to hunting but it sure as hell isn't going to make hunting better whether due to more open regs associated with it or a less healthy herd. It damn sure doesn't help us promote hunting in the court of public opinion as a healthy source of meat if the meat is getting thrown away and it doesn't help with ungulate conservation efforts if they are viewed as a disease vector by the general public.

Hard to say what is to come but its a freaking problem much bigger than how the associated regs have hurt age class IMO.

 

[Laelkhunter]

Sure hope we don't have to start getting CWD vaccines and wear masks before we can hunt, but who knows?