Laramie CWD workshop tomorrow

[BuzzH]

The Wyoming Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers is partnering with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) to host a Chronic Wasting Disease Workshop on Thursday, August 29th in Laramie. Lee Knox, the Senior Wildlife Biologist at WGFD, will be present to discuss anything and everything wildlife disease related and to walk us through the process of removing lymph nodes from deer and elk. We, as hunters, have a unique opportunity to help actively support CWD management in Wyoming so let’s make it happen! This is an all-ages event. RSVP HERE Chronic Wasting Disease, or CWD, affects our deer and elk herds and has been spreading across Wyoming in recent years. CWD is fatal to deer and elk and there are currently no treatments. Why should hunters care? CWD is spread through body fluids, such as saliva or urine, and can be contracted by direct contact with an infected animal or environmental exposure. Elk and deer in Wyoming congregate, especially during winter months, which increases the likelihood of CWD spreading. The result of increased CWD spread is a decrease in deer and elk numbers, which should be of utmost concern to Wyoming hunters. Recent research has shown that both white-tailed and mule deer populations have decreased near Douglas due to CWD. Chronic Wasting Disease continues to expand across the state of Wyoming. A quick look at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s interactive CWD map shows positive CWD detection in most hunt areas around the state. A major knowledge gap related to CWD, and one that prevents effective management decision making, is the prevalence of CWD in areas that are under sampled. Under sampled hunt units typically have earlier season hunts, with most animals found in the backcountry, making it hard for personnel with WGFD to obtain samples from hunter-killed animals. This is where you, the hunter, can play a vital role in CWD management in the state of Wyoming! How? By taking and submitting samples from deer and elk you kill in the backcountry. WHEN August 29, 2019 at 6pm - 9pm WHERE Labonte Park 501-599 E Canby St #1 West Shelter Laramie, WY 82072 United States Google map and directions​ http://www.backcountryhunters.org/

 

[WapitiBob]

Sounds like a good opportunity to learn, it's just a cpl days too early.

 

[BuzzH]

I'll try to provide some feedback on what goes on.

 

[RockinU]

If they are going to demonstrate the procedure it would be awesome if there were a video.

 

[BuzzH]

If they are going to demonstrate the procedure it would be awesome if there were a video.

I think there may be some video's out there that show how to remove lymph nodes for CWD testing. Its also something that was discussed at a sportsmen's roundtable earlier this summer, putting together a video.

I'll have to follow up on that.

The main goal we all agreed to focus on was increased testing and being able to test animals that are not shot near a road. I'm not packing out the head/neck of an elk killed even a mile from a road, but I will pack out the lymph nodes if I know how to properly remove/store them for testing.

 

[RockinU]

Definitely something worth knowing how to do, effective monitoring seems paramount. I need to look around for videos.

 

[WapitiBob]

Wyoming game fish YouTube Channel shows how to do it.

 

[Lost Arra]

I think there may be some video's out there that show how to remove lymph nodes for CWD testing. Its also something that was discussed at a sportsmen's roundtable earlier this summer, putting together a video.

I'll have to follow up on that.

The main goal we all agreed to focus on was increased testing and being able to test animals that are not shot near a road. I'm not packing out the head/neck of an elk killed even a mile from a road, but I will pack out the lymph nodes if I know how to properly remove/store them for testing.

Thanks
Did you submit samples from your cow?

 

[BuzzH]

Thanks
Did you submit samples from your cow?

Nope.

 

[MattK]

if you submit samples voluntarily, do you have to pay to get them tested? I know in MT certain areas the FWP will pay for testing but if you are outside those areas, you have to pay the cost of testing.

 

[BuzzH]

if you submit samples voluntarily, do you have to pay to get them tested? I know in MT certain areas the FWP will pay for testing but if you are outside those areas, you have to pay the cost of testing.

No you don't have to pay for them.

 

[Irrelevant]

I don't mean to dog on WDGF but that video was not very useful. "it's very distinctive looking".... except it looked like everything else in that photo.

 

[Lost Arra]

I don't mean to dog on WDGF but that video was not very useful. "it's very distinctive looking".... except it looked like everything else in that photo.

Another demonstration

 

[3855WIN]

Does it get on the knife you remove it with? I would assume the fluids get on a saw that a hunter saws off the spine or skull plate with on an animal they plan to mount.
Sounds like a good opportunity to educate.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Does it get on the knife you remove it with? I would assume the fluids get on a saw that a hunter saws off the spine or skull plate with on an animal they plan to mount.
Sounds like a good opportunity to educate.

I’ve wondered the same thing, but haven’t really dug into it. If CWD prions are housed mainly in the brain/spinal tissue, and those prions remain active for years and are damn near impossible to destroy, then it seems to me that a knife or saw that comes into contact with that tissue could easily spread the prions into otherwise fine meat—or anything else it touches. Breaking down an animal is messy. If an animal I kill tests positive for CWD, it’ll be hard not to shake the feeling that everything I’ve touched since killing that animal has CWD all over it. I need to do some more reading.

 

[Hunting Wife]

That second video is pretty good. Keep in mind that a freshly killed animal in the field is going to be a lot bloodier and you aren’t going to be able to see that well. Most times you can cut down through trachea and esophagus as demonstrated, then feel for the lymph nodes under those. They’ll be smooth, relatively firm and semi-round, tucked tight against the neck. They will usually have a little fat attached to them like the video shows. If it feels squishy or has lots of little lobes, you’re probably in salivary gland or fat. If in doubt, cut it open. Should be light tan to gray, smooth and shiny, and kind of resembles a piece of cooked mushroom to me.

If you’ve already removed the head, I find it easier to start at the cut end of the neck and just cut forward towards the head, separating the trachea and esophagus from the spine. When you get to the first cervical joint, lymph nodes should be right there, tucked against the muscles on the dorsal (spine) side. If your head has frozen, the samples are still fine. It’s just that the tissue gets a lot softer and lymph nodes get more difficult to recognize.

For disinfection, we generally put non-disposable tools in 10% bleach solution for an hour. That works, but not all equipment can tolerate that kind of abuse.

 

[madtom]

Cooked mushroom looking is a good way to describe it. If you slice it in half, the grey/olive color stands out from all the other stuff in there. They retain that grey/olive color a lot better when they’re freshly dead. If they’ve been frozen or dead a couple days, they’re a lot harder to pick out (to me).

 

[Irrelevant]

For disinfection, we generally put non-disposable tools in 10% bleach solution for an hour. That works, but not all equipment can tolerate that kind of abuse.

Does it actually work? I thought prions were practically impossible to destroy?

 

[Hunting Wife]

Research says bleach denatures prions, but it takes a little time. Mostly it’s useful when you have things that are not autoclave-able. It just isn’t a method that is practical or compatible with a lot of different materials, and would be too toxic for environmental uses. Stainless steel, certain plastics, glass are what it’s typically used on. It destroys lots of other materials though, and long term it isn’t kind to steel either.