Thoughts? On CWD

[stormthelab20]

I came across this video on CWD and the government overreach to keep panic in the hunting community to fund unnecessary research. I might be late to the game, just wanted to hear some opinions on the matter. I live and hunt in north Idaho where we have been affected by this.

 

[mulveymo]

The scientific community has established overwhelming evidence that cwd is 1) real, 2) impacts deer herds substantially and detrimentally and 3) has not demonstrated the ability to infect humans.

And then you've got Ted Nugent and the captive deer growers all claiming it's BS government scheming.

We can pretend it's still a debate but it's just a bunch of uneducated yokels bitching and moaning. I'm sure a few of em will bitch and moan at me for saying it. Bring it on. I'm bored

 

[mulveymo]

Couple points about the video. Comments are off. That's always telling. The guy who made it lists a pile of accolades and qualifications in the description, few of which actually hold any relevance to a discussion about cwd.

If 98 pretty smart people all generally agree, and then two people not only disagree, but claim the other 98 are working together to silence them while getting mysteriously rich at the benefit of some shadow financier, the burden of proof on those two is extremely high. And that's just not been reached by the cwd skeptics.

 

[Bobcat 33]

I can tell you here in southern Pennsylvania its real. It started in around 2013 my area ground zero for it. WE have lost a pile of deer to it. I dont care who disagrees but it is real in my area even on my own property.

 

[rogerdoger]

It is creeping into the area I live, I get the animal tested, mainly since I feed it to my kids. Test is free and easy.

 

[MuleyFever]

M

Thread 'The CWD scam'

Mar 22, 2025

I would just like to add that if you're a hunter who will have your meat tested
and throw it away if testing positive then for God's sake DON'T HUNT!
If you're too scared to eat it then have the decency to not kill it.

• mt terry d
• Replies: 174
• Forum: General Discussion Forum

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[Dave Thomas]

I'm sure it is real but don't agree with killing off of all the deer you can just to stop it from spreading.

 

[HailStateHunter]

Is there any evidence that killing more deer actually slows or stops the spread of CWD?

 

[kpk]

Is there any evidence that killing more deer actually slows or stops the spread of CWD?

It's not exactly scientific, but in my area they've (DNR and disease management tag hunters) been killing every deer they can in the CWD areas for years. They issue tons of disease management tags and if they don't meet their "quota" they dump piles of corn and bring in sharpshooters at night (after deer season is over).

Every year they find more deer with CWD than the previous. IMO, I think CWD has probably been around for a very long time. The more they test, the more they find.

 

[HailStateHunter]

That’s anecdotally what I’ve heard too. Once CWD is discovered in a given county, I’ve never heard that it was reduced or eradicated. I would agree that it’s likely been around much longer than we’ve known about it and tested for it.

 

[Pilsner]

That’s anecdotally what I’ve heard too. Once CWD is discovered in a given county, I’ve never heard that it was reduced or eradicated. I would agree that it’s likely been around much longer than we’ve known about it and tested for it.

Some success in NY state.
The MeatEater podcast this week is on this exact subject, specifically CWD decimating our deer herds here in NW Arkansas. They mention one or two places where they have been able to remove it from detectable level in a population. It's nearly a lost cause here though - one nearby WMA has had an average of 15% reduction in deer numbers EVERY YEAR since they started monitoring with some populations having a nearly 70% prevalence rate.

 

[Mr. October]

I'm sure it is real but don't agree with killing off of all the deer you can just to stop it from spreading.

I have been criticized for saying that when CWD becomes so prevalent that most deer killed test positive I will stop deer hunting. The criticism has been that I should continue to kill deer to help reduce the spread and manage the herd. Sorry, but I'm not out there just to kill stuff. I kill enough deer (usually 2/year) to provide meat for the year for my wife and myself. Fortunately, there are plenty of people out there for whom deer are just reactive targets who will have no qualms about killing every deer they see.

 

[iamthenick]

Just because people are making money off of it doesn't make it a scam or fake.

 

[alexnelon]

When I first heard about CWD and prions I had the same initial reaction that I'm sure most people did.

After reading up on it, I have zero concern about eating meat from a CWD-positive animal and I don't care to ever get one tested.

The affected protein in deer is not present in human anatomy. The probability that the prnp in deer could mutate in a way that facilitates deer-to-human transmission of malformed prion proteins is actually significantly lower than the chance that a human analog would develop on its own.

Being scared that eating deer will give you CWD is like being scared that eating chicken will make you crow at dawn. It's absurd.