CWD in whitetails in Iowa

Sort of relatedly, here's a new somewhat-anti-hunting-biased article on EHD:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/natu...-herds-in-trouble-zbcz1409.aspx#axzz3G3aqgblW

Is this a "drive by" posting? What else do I need to say?

The article claims that the herds are poorly managed by the states these days (for the most part), in light of EHD and other problems, because wildlife managers have become "political", whereas wildlife departments used to be based soundly in science.

Blames the shift on insurance industry lobbying and "farm agency", whatever that is.

Claims Ohio is the best managed whitetail state in the country, and Illinois is probably the worst.

Blames EHD increase as possibly result of global warming since the little ice age, a several-hundred-year cold period ending about 1850.
 
The article is very much so slanted to his agenda. I have never before heard that white tails were endangered. They breed like rats and are as adaptable as cockroaches.
The points he comments on like "Blue Tongue" is correct. The other point regarding management using science mixed with politics is also true. Your legislative body makes the laws, and your fish and game deptments have to follow the law. Most politicians are not scientist but they do know how to please those individuals or groups who put large sums of money in their pockets. As a hunter from the old school I have witnessed this happen time and time again and again.
Sportsman need to band together and get involved I the political process. Join a organization that will support the game you like to pursue. And make it a year round interest, not a seasonal one. Work towards maintaining habitat, access issues, and the recruting of young or beginning hunters.
The major issue I have is that I fear that the sport of hunting is becoming a rich mans sport. There is a severe lack of access to public land. And unless you have deep pockets, or are lucky enough to be a member of a family that owns land where can you go. DIY hunts can be done but will require lots of careful planning with mediocre results Guided hunts are super expensive. Trespass fees seem to be out of this world.
The question of CWD was raised. Most of the CWD has been found in the high fence Trophy shooting preserves. They don't use proper, effective fences or enclosure and don't maintain there fences properly to contain them.
CWD is not a virus and it's not a bacteria. It a protein that mutates with age. It's called a Prion. From what I have it doesn't appear until the animal. Is about 3-1/2 years old. Most of the deer that are in these high fence preserves are in or above that age group before they are harvested. They are prime candidates to be tested positive for CWD. In the wild only a small # of animals get to that age.
What I am saying is we need be very careful about what practices we use. We need to become more educated in the needs and the care of the game we enjoy, and base decisions on sound science, such as our wild life departments, and not lobbyist loving politicians.
 
In Wisconsin the CDW originated at a DNR facility where a "scientist??" imported sick deer to study them. Gee, they got loose and spread the problem to the local deer.

I'm thinking double down on this and import WOLVES to eat the sick deer. Release them just outside the Madison city limits.

Maybe after 10 years the wolves will have eaten all the bad deer, and we can shoot the wolves.
 
From the article:

deer farm owners qualified for $1.4 million in federal assistance to cover costs associated with depopulation,
Click to expand...

My mind blurs with overwhelming thoughts of how this is wrong on so many levels...

We have knows for years if not decades that fenced herds are a major problem when it comes to Chronic Wasting Disease. So there is a voluntary reporting program. Awesome! If land owners want to dabble in effing with wild animals in the confines of their own private property, that is fine by me if they own an island fifty miles offshore of the continent.

Why the hell are they getting federal monies for producing sick animals?? I am totally not cool with that. That is rewarding failure any way you cut it. Shame on the morons producing them and shame on the goverment that rewards the behavior.

EHD...not sure how we got there but if it is a management issue, it is in the states that are so PC that when a drought hits there is an disproportionate amount of animals affected because they limit the number of animals harvested compared to other states. George Bush is responsible for the end of the little ice age. That doesn't even make sense. EHD is a drought associated disease and yet global warming would suggest that more water would be available (ice melts). Lol
 
venison farms are a breeding ground for disease, I don't rightly know why. years back there was a deer farm near my home in MT. farm developed blue tongue, fish and game thought they contained it by wiping out the entire herd but it still made it into the wild population and they ended up with a serious epidemic. it makes you wonder how the first food animals were domesticated without disease cropping up every time you turned your back.
 
But Blue Tongue, (EHD) Epizootic (sp?) Hemorrhagic Disease, is not spread among the herd, by the herd. The bite of a midge infects individuals that spend too much time near a water hole in certain conditions.
 
longspurr: Oh!! you don't want gray wolves in your State. Quickest way to resolve CWD deer in a area. "Have year round open hunting." Yes Sir let those deer lovers in that CWD infected area complain and be told its improving the State's herds over all with the removal of their infected deer. No need to pound sand. Just a simple reply is all that required. Year round anytime hunting: Quicker results and something that can be brought to a immediate ending by repealing the right too. Wolves of the other hand are not easy to eradicate once established. Just my practical thoughts on this subject.

Ok I'll change the wording a bit to please those who think a bit differently.
 
Last edited:
poaching is the illegal taking of game, not the unrestricted taking of game, BIG difference. texans going out with full autos and wiping out 15 hogs inside of an hour is not poaching because it is unrestricted and is therefore legal. Iowans going out and blasting anything that moves because they think it'll curb disease is poaching, unless the state were to open it up. in the latter situation, by all means, knock yourself out, in the former situation, we can not condone illegal behavior on TFL, under enough scrutiny as it is.
 
Originally posted by Sure Shot Mc Gee:

longspurr: Oh!! you don't want gray wolves in your State. Quickest way to resolve CWD deer in a area. "Have year round open hunting." Yes Sir let those deer lovers in that CWD infected area complain and be told its improving the State's herds over all with the removal of their infected deer. No need to pound sand. Just a simple reply is all that required. Year round anytime hunting: Quicker results and something that can be brought to a immediate ending by repealing the right too. Wolves of the other hand are not easy to eradicate once established. Just my practical thoughts on this subject.
Click to expand...

Actually, Wisconsin already tried that. Opened up gun hunting for deer in areas of the state where CWD was found so folks could shoot as many deer as they wanted from October thru January with the only stipulation that you had to shoot a antlerless deer for every legal buck you shot. Didn't work. Deer hunters and land owners didn't want all the deer shot off....they wanted high densities of deer to see and pick from when hunting, regardless if they got sick or not. So access to private land was limited resulting in little or no change in the overall annual harvest. Now the state just says not to eat certain parts of the animals and to dispose of the brain/CNS, certain internal organs and carcasses properly. As far as wolves, most Wisconsinites have gotten over that. The hunting seasons for them have been quite successful and the reimbursements for wolf damage to domestic animals are quite extensive.

Don't know where longspurr is getting his info, but the origin of CWD in Wisconsin has never been determined. I think he has that Experimental DNR station and scientists using captive sick deer for study confused with the origin of CWD in Colorado and the original discovery of the disease. It won't take ten years from now to shoot wolves as we already have had a legal season on them for two years.
 
The problem is that once the deer herd is irradicated the prions are still present in the area that the deer were and nothing short of napalm will denature the prions.
 
Prions are hard to denature......Washington state has an aggressive program. Deer spotted acting "not Right" it is put down by officers or certain select civilians of which I am one. So far no CWD just animals that have been struck by traffic and lived so they have other neurological damage that mimics CWD symptoms.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top