Hunters Express CWD Concerns

[Corey Graff]

With Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) being identified for the first time in Michigan, what are your thoughts on this recent discovery?

[ranwin33]

I'd say so long as it can be kept contained to a confinement then hopefully there won't be a great over reaction to the discovery.  Just thankful we haven't had a case reported yet in Missouri, although given the nature of the disease I would say that it is just a matter of time. 
 
I find it interesting though that it seems to rear its ugly head on game farms more often than in nature, perhaps thats because those animals are easier to test than wild ones, but it might also be the nature of the how the animals live in a more confined space with greater opportunity to spread the disease.  Maybe its time to do away with them.

[howhill1]

we have had some cases in norhtern illinois. fortunately there have'nt been any near us. ehd wreaked quite a bit of havoc last year. i agree that it seems as though this is going to be a monster we're all going to face sooner or later.

[DeerCamp]

As you can already tell from previous post's its made me sick! CWD is somthing that shouldnt be taken lightly, however I believe the DNR is over-reacting to this already.  They ban baiting in the whole lower part of Michigan because of one deer in a pen that has this. Thats a little extreme. Im very scared that they will get the message out as "KILL, KILL AND KILL SOME MORE", like they did with the deer in the TB area's. This really has hurt the deer in those area's. From talking to most hunters and locals, they say the dnr has made this a bigger deal than it should be. I really hope this doesnt happen to all of Michigan.. Or this could really reck this fine sport

[hunter480]

ORIGINAL: DeerCamp

As you can already tell from previous post's its made me sick! CWD is somthing that shouldnt be taken lightly, however I believe the DNR is over-reacting to this already.  They ban baiting in the whole lower part of Michigan because of one deer in a pen that has this. Thats a little extreme. Im very scared that they will get the message out as "KILL, KILL AND KILL SOME MORE", like they did with the deer in the TB area's. This really has hurt the deer in those area's. From talking to most hunters and locals, they say the dnr has made this a bigger deal than it should be. I really hope this doesnt happen to all of Michigan.. Or this could really reck this fine sport

 
I shudder to call hunting a sport.....but...
 
Is it possible to overreact to this? Even as the herd is threatened, you cling to your preferred hunting method, baiting, even though it`s been identified as a likely source for the spreading of this disease, that will make the herd extinct.
 
This says a ton about what the knowledge and priorities of the common hunter are....
 
"Most"hunters feel the DNR is overreacting....I didn`t realize "most" hunters had degrees in wildlife  biology and management.
 
You would curtail most hunters opportunities for the potential to grow bigger racked bucks, but you don`t want to sacrifice to possibly save the herd from this disease......
 
Absolutely incredible.

[Goose]

I live and hunt in WI but not the CWD zones. In my opinion the DNR tried to do the right thing but it was proved to be horribly wrong. From what Ive read it can stay in the soil upto 15 years or longer so it is pretty much impossible to get rid of. Why kill all the deer. its not going to work this way admit it and move on.....The local hunters are disqusted and I cant blame them. Ive seen some articles on studies done by respectable deer bioligists and they strongly disagree with the way it was handled. In fact I cant remember anybody but the DNR or gov. saying this is the right way to handle it.
When they discovered VHS in our water system last year they didnt kill all the fish in the Winnebago system! I dont know the right answer and Im no scientist but I think the problem will take care of itself and if its not causing illness to humans let nature take care of it. Should you take certain measures to reduce the risk of transferring it ? absolutely ! Should you kill all the deer and upset all the landowners and sportsman? absolutely not!
Just my 2 cents.

[DeerCamp]

.

[DeerCamp]

Im all for growing bigger deer. However this is different. This is in a pen! a high fenced pen! the dnr says that it is not out on free ranging deer.

You ask ANYONE who hunts in the TB zones and they will tell you they have NEVER shot a deer that has had it. Now there are hardly any deer in those areas. I use to hunt at my uncles ALL the time (TB ZONE), I would see tons of deer, now your lucky to see 2 a season. The dnr said it was a big problem, yet no one I have talked to has shot a deer with TB. I can see where they are coming from on the baiting part.... This is big, and they want to control it, but why stop somthing that hasnt even happend in the "wild" yet? Again DNR says this is not on "free ranging deer" I can see where they are coming from by playing it safe, but all of the lower?! And for good too! I dont like it. If you dont agree with me thats fine, I dont expect everyone to. The only way to get rid of this is to kill every deer that has everywalked in Michigan. Thats the only way to do it! Then what are you going to do?

When I said "Most" I ment everyhunter I have talked to in that area just to clear that up a bit.

I just know from living in the area's and hunting it that they have over reacted to it. Believe me, if they play it the way they did with the TB there will be NO deer here!

I dont like to bait, I only bait a few areas close to home where the deer are hunted heavy, And at the I pass on all young deer. As for calling hunting a sport, sorry if I offended you. I did not mean to. I dont go out there to kill as many deer as I can. I go out to enjoy it. Just trust me, when you go from seeing 20 deer a day to two a whole season you know somthing went wrong. All Im saying is they are going to apply the KILL KILL KILL SOME MORE method to this.  If they want to ban baiting and they are sure it will work then go ahead and do it. I just dont want them applying the kill every deer method.

Im happy that they are at least working on this and not letting it eat away at our deer.

[gunther89]

What made me mad about the WI dnr is that they wanted every deer shot in the core zone of where cwd was found.  Other states like Colorado and Alberta and Saskatchewan have had cwd and probably still do, but they have regular hunting seasons.  I don't get why we can't do the same.  CWD will most likely be around forever and we just need to go on and hunt the usual way we do.  What happens is that hunters hear about this and think that the deer is bad so they quit deer hunting all together.  

[Legnip]

I'm not going to weigh in on the eradication zones for either the TB zones or CWD zones. Right or wrong the DNR identified a problem and now they are trying to do something about it. I don't know if it is the right thing or not. The one bad thing about the eradication zones is the amount of hunters who give up hunting, since they don't see deer, or it just isn't like the good old days. It does make for a long day if you don't see deer.
 
The prion which is supposed to cause the CWD is has shown proven to be naturally occurring and hard to destroy. CWD has been in Colorado for years. It may just be part of nature, with little resolution. 200 years ago a wolf pack would have naturally take care of it.