The thing hunters need to really ponder is if CWD jumps to livestock. Deer will get culled by the millions if it can be proven to infect cattle.
For sure.....and I would think that the crossover to another Bovine would be more probable than to a human.....at least at first. Just as scarey, would be if BSE(Mad Cow disease) would cross over to deer from cattle. Since it has been shown that BSE can migrate to humans from consumption of infected animals, it would be the end of deer and deer hunting as we know it. When CWD was first discovered in Wisconsin back in 2002, the DNR's goal was to kill every deer in the affected area. Deer season ran from August to March and you could shoot all you wanted to in the designated area. Still, deer kill was about the same as normal, because most of the area was private land where hunters dictated how many deer were shot. But, what you did see was hunters that were worried either quit hunting deer or gave the meat away to food pantries(wasn't that nice of them?
). As the scare wore off, deer hunting went back to normal in the area.
hunted in CWD containment zones and never killed an infected deer. I have also eaten plenty I haven’t got tested. I still think Lyme is the scariest thing in the woods.
I hunt in CWD areas also.....have for years. Some deer I kill get tested, some don't. Butcher my own and the carcasses get properly disposed of. Have had Lyme twice and it is scary. Ticks this Spring are terribly thick because of the record warmth in February. Be interesting to see how the deer fare with them this year. At 70, I don't really worry about myself, as for the future of CWD, but I do worry about my grandkids who eat a lot of venison.
Very interesting. They cite the Mayo clinic for already noting CJD crossing species from cattle to humans.
Iffin' I remember correctly, Classic CJD is a human prion disease and is not related to BSE. The Variant CJD is what it is called when the BSE crosses over. Like CWD all are always fatal and all are widely misunderstood. Problem with all, is the sometimes very long incubation period once infected. We are talking years in many cases. It was once thought that it took at least 16-18 months for the disease to advance in whitetail deer once infected. Testing of fawns has now suggested that fanws as early as 5-6 months have the Prion in their system although it has not developed. It is not known if the disease was transmitted normally or in-otero during pregnancy.
As deer hunters, we need to make a concerted effort to help our state agencies delegated to CWD studies. In the same sense, those same agencies to to help us hunters, both with easier, quicker and free testing, and with giving us the most up to date information they have on the disease and it's spread. While Wisconsin has done a great job of trtying to inform, not all hunters pay attention, nor do they give a crap. Some don't want to know. Some believe it's all a big lie or a conspriacy to get rid of deer hunting. Idiots do not reralize the economic impact it would have on our state. No way any state agengy would bring that about on purpose, unless it was absolutely neccesary. most of the info out there is not driven by anit-hunters, but by hunters themselves. What our state is lacking is a better system for testing deer shot, especially by early and late season archers. Last year I used one of these....but it is pricey. Can't believe the state cannot add a small charge to the deer license and provide these for free upon registration. It would be great to be able to test deer already processed when shot in weather that did not permit the hunter to wait for test results.
CWD TEST
I think that's a possibility.
