Wyoming Hunters- What are you doing about CWD?

Dougfirtree

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I was just doing some reading about CWD in Wyoming, where it sounds like the disease is quite common. I'm curious how it factors into your decision making if you hunt deer, or elk there. Do you always test? What's that process like? How common is it to get a positive result? How much do you trust the data on where the disease is/isn't? I haven't given it much thought in the past; it's here in NY, but only in a small area of central NY, pretty far from me. However, I'm thinking about taking my oldest son to Wyoming next Fall to chase either mule deer or elk and so it's got me thinking... I'd appreciate any input from those of you who spend a lot of time there. Thanks!
 
I have some tested if its convenient, but don't really worry about it. If you want to listen to lots of information one of Randy's podcasts has a couple leading cwd experts that spell it all out.

I have never had an animal test positive, but haven't had all of them tested either.
 
Dougfirtree this is a great question and one I think we will see more and more hunters starting to ask. While I don't hunt WY I do live in WI right in the hotbed of our CWD area and I have had deer test positive. Here are my thoughts for what its worth.

First I would say get informed. There is so much information out there on CWD compared to 10 years ago and there are lots of great podcast and videos so you don't have to read a science paper that you don't understand. As with all things know who you are getting your information from and are they giving you facts or opinion.

Do I always test? I didn't used to test in areas where CWD had not been found or where prevalence was low. Now I test everything no matter where it came from.

What is the process like? It is very easy. Bring in the head or lymph nodes and they give you a tracking number. Test results usually take one to two weeks. You can go online to check your results. If your deer tests positive then you get a phone call. Again this is WI not WY.

How common is a positive result? That's a hard one to answer as there are so many factors. You can talk to the biologist in the area you are planning to hunt to find out what prevalence rates are and that should give you an idea of your odds of shooting a positive animal. Old males tend to test positive more often and doe fawns tend to test positive less often.

How much do I trust the data on where the disease is or isn't? I guess that would depend on how much testing they had done for that area. No testing doesn't mean its not there.

I guess that in the end each hunter needs to make those decisions for themself. I would use this question as a test and the answer should point you in the right direction. Would you eat a deer that test positive? Would your wife be ok with feeding a positive deer to your kids or grandchildren? While no one has ever gotten CWD from deer I don't really want to be the first or my kids to be the first. That's just my opinion.

I would also take into consideration where you get your deer processed. If its in an area with CWD do you really think the butcher is sterilizing everything after each deer or elk they process? Are you getting only your deer or elk back when you have sausage made? Just something to think about.

If you don't care about CWD and would eat a positive deer then don't worry about it. If it is of concern then get educated and make an informed decision. Don't let CWD stop you from hunting just take precautions if your in a CWD area.
 
Don't eat the brains and spinal column and most of the threat is a non-issue anyway. I think most of this is a lot to do, over nothing. This only became an issue, when it got into captive herds and was given a name. I believe that it has always been around and animals that had it, were just written off as being sick.

I have eaten a lot of animals from CWD areas and to the disappointment of some, I am still here.
 
CWD is similar to Mad Cow disease. Folks got Mad Cow disease from cattle in Europe and croaked. CWD hasn't species jumped to humans (that we know of) but Wyoming G&F recommends not eating Moose/Elk/Deer that test positive.
 
Don't eat the brains and spinal column and most of the threat is a non-issue anyway. I think most of this is a lot to do, over nothing. This only became an issue, when it got into captive herds and was given a name. I believe that it has always been around and animals that had it, were just written off as being sick.

I have eaten a lot of animals from CWD areas and to the disappointment of some, I am still here.

As far as being around forever, there’s a lot of evidence to suggest it is in fact a new disease.

Mad Cow certainly gives us SOME insight, but Mad Cow didn’t transmit from cow to cow via casual contact or eating in the same area etc. Mad Cow was pretty much only contagious to other cows when a healthy cow ate feed made from a sick cow. With CWD the deer spread it to each other via saliva, feces, other bodily fluid etc. it would appear to be more contagious. While we haven’t documented a species jump yet, it may not require as much exposure to prions as Mad Cow, and it might be contagious from person to person. Kinda scary really. For me, I’m not eating an animal that tests positive, and I’m not hunting in a zone with high prevalence because I don’t want a high chance of throwing my meat away.

The science says we don’t really know much with certainty at this point. I choose not to risk it. The odds are probably pretty low, but so are the odds that I’ll ever draw a moose or a sheep tag.
 
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CWD was first identified when some scientists put a bunch of healthy mule deer in a pen full of scrapie infected sheep and the deer started getting sick too. That pen had been used on quite a few sheep and there was probably a lot more exposure to scrapie prions in there than in any other real circumstances. It probably mutated and made a species jump. Now scientist studying CWD are finding that most species that eat brains from CWD infected deer come down with CWD, but some do not. However, if you take a closely related species that can contract CWD and put it with the species that couldn’t contract it from the deer, that species can contract CWD from its close relative. Currently we have scientists in Canada giving CWD to some primates that are a lot closer to people than a deer is. In the macaques, it has a pretty long(many years) silent incubation period. Hopefully we don’t end up with a bunch of Canadian scientists running around with mutated CWD. Perhaps they’ve considered that and taken extreme precautions.

Diseases jump species barries occasionally. Most flus originate in birds. Hoof and mouth can be transmitted to humans if you have enough contact. There were quite a few infected cows eaten in Europe before someone got sick.
 
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