Here’s my dilemma

[RyGuy]

Alright HT, I need advice.
So I’ve got a work friend here at my place of employment, and he knows I hunt but doesn’t hunt himself. He used to hunt in another state he lived in, but hasn’t hunted in years (not sure why all of this is important, but just trying to lay the backstory). He lives next to some difficult to access public land, which he spotted a nice muley buck on. He told me about this buck, since I had a tag for that unit, and he even was nice enough to invite me over to his place so I could access the public and hopefully harvest this buck.
Well, long story short I didn’t end up shooting that buck, or any buck near his house even after hunting there and seeing lots of deer. BUT I did shoot a buck in a different unit.
I felt that it was very nice of him to invite me out to hunt near his place, so I wanted to do something nice back and I gave him half of the deer I shot. He was extremely grateful and said over and over how this would help feed his family this winter (being that we have the same job, I know he’s not exactly rolling in the $$).
So now the dilemma: I told him that I planned on getting the deer CWD tested and asked if he’d like to know the results. He said yes, and we discussed how we both didn’t necessarily see CWD as an immediate threat, but I might as well get it tested.
So CPW informed me that itd be 3-6 weeks before I got the test results back and naturally I plan to wait until I have the results before eating the deer meat. BUT I was talking to my work buddy and he was telling me how good the deer was! He’s apparently eaten all of the backstrap, and a good bit of one of the quarters already. I’m not sure if I just didn’t do a good job communicating and he thinks The CWD test was immediate? Or if he’s forgotten about the testing? Or if he genuinely doesn’t care??
Full disclosure, I’d be eating this deer and not testing it if it was only feeding me. But I’m feeding my wife and family so I feel like I shouldn’t make that decision for them and I should at least get the test done.
So now what do I do HT? When I get these CWD results back do I tell my work friend? Do I keep the results to myself? Personally, if I’d already eaten the meat I’d rather not know…
Does he care? Is there some sort of big miscommunication happening? Will I ever hunt near his house again???

 

[Redman]

You did your part telling him you were going to test it. He chose to go ahead and eat it. I would tell him the results no matter if it was positive or negative. Personally I would eat a CWD positive animal...probably already have. If I knew it was I would mark the meat and let people know that it was positive before feeding it to them allowing them to make their own choice. I would eat a CWD wild animal before I would eat ground meat from Walmart that's forsure!

 

[LuketheDog]

Two years ago CPW told me my buck was 'suspect' for CWD, and gave no further info except that I should throw it away and there would be no followup from them. I did some digging about what 'suspect' means to them and found that it could mean it "looked like it might be infected" (the glands? The deer's head? You can't tell just by looking, right?), on down to "the animal has not been tested yet, and might not be" (cool, thanks for making me drive up there so you can take a sample you won't use!). I wasn't about to just throw it out without a positive test, so I made some breakfast sausage and we ate it, joined by a friend who told us she'd never eaten meat that was CWD positive (long story, she probably has but just didn't know it). Then 3 weeks later I got a letter from CPW saying they had finally tested it and gotten a positive result, so now I should throw it out. So they decided to follow up anyway after saying they wouldn't, cool again, thanks guys!

We told our friend, she was a little pissed at me even though I told her before she ate it that it had been called 'suspect', but nobody has died yet and we're still friends. I did chuck the meat after staring at it in the freezer for a while though, I just don't want my kids to eat it...

 

[SC Living Outdoors]

He said he wanted the results. When the results come back I'd give him the results.

 

[RyGuy]

Two years ago CPW told me my buck was 'suspect' for CWD, and gave no further info except that I should throw it away and there would be no followup from them. I did some digging about what 'suspect' means to them and found that it could mean it "looked like it might be infected" (the glands? The deer's head? You can't tell just by looking, right?), on down to "the animal has not been tested yet, and might not be" (cool, thanks for making me drive up there so you can take a sample you won't use!). I wasn't about to just throw it out without a positive test, so I made some breakfast sausage and we ate it, joined by a friend who told us she'd never eaten meat that was CWD positive (long story, she probably has but just didn't know it). Then 3 weeks later I got a letter from CPW saying they had finally tested it and gotten a positive result, so now I should throw it out. So they decided to follow up anyway after saying they wouldn't, cool again, thanks guys!

We told our friend, she was a little pissed at me even though I told her before she ate it that it had been called 'suspect', but nobody has died yet and we're still friends. I did chuck the meat after staring at it in the freezer for a while though, I just don't want my kids to eat it...

That’s so frustrating CPW gave you the run around like that. And yeah, that’s where I’m at. I don’t like the idea of throwing all that meat away, but I can’t knowingly feed it to my family.

 

[Bowhuntrben]

I would just mention in conversation that you're still waiting on the results. You'll let him know when you get them.

Personally, if I knew it had CWD, I would have no problems getting rid of the meat. Don't really like the idea of wasting an animal, but it's not worth any risk to me either if I know it has it. Easy enough to get more meat.
Easiest thing for me has been to not get it tested unless it's required. In my area, we're required to get it tested the first 2 days of firearm season. I try to avoid shooting a deer those days unless it's one I just can't pass up. CWD hasn't been overly prevalent in my area, though.

I am also the main person in my household who eats the deer. If I were to get an elk or something else where CWD is more prevalent, the rest of my family would likely eat more, and I might be more motivated to get it tested knowing they would be eating more of it.

 

[mountainlaurel3]

For those who would throw out positive meat - no heart the day of the kill, correct? That seemed like one of the best traditions, in my highly limited experience.

 

[mtmuley]

I wonder how many CWD deer have been eaten by people that just kill deer and eat them. mtmuley

 

[Hunting Wife]

Two years ago CPW told me my buck was 'suspect' for CWD, and gave no further info except that I should throw it away and there would be no followup from them. I did some digging about what 'suspect' means to them and found that it could mean it "looked like it might be infected" (the glands? The deer's head? You can't tell just by looking, right?), on down to "the animal has not been tested yet, and might not be" (cool, thanks for making me drive up there so you can take a sample you won't use!). I wasn't about to just throw it out without a positive test, so I made some breakfast sausage and we ate it, joined by a friend who told us she'd never eaten meat that was CWD positive (long story, she probably has but just didn't know it). Then 3 weeks later I got a letter from CPW saying they had finally tested it and gotten a positive result, so now I should throw it out. So they decided to follow up anyway after saying they wouldn't, cool again, thanks guys!

We told our friend, she was a little pissed at me even though I told her before she ate it that it had been called 'suspect', but nobody has died yet and we're still friends. I did chuck the meat after staring at it in the freezer for a while though, I just don't want my kids to eat it...

So just a little explanation that might be helpful…

When they take the samples, the lymph nodes are cut in half. Half of each node is tested, half is banked (kept in the freezer). If the first test comes back positive, or if it comes back with an inconclusive result, they will call it “suspect”. Basically, it means the test didn’t come back as negative. Usually they will then run the other halves of the lymph nodes they had banked to confirm. If the second test comes back positive, they will usually call if positive. If the second test also comes back inconclusive, they may just leave it at “suspect”, or “presumptive positive”. No test is 100%, but the test used for CWD is pretty good in the grand scheme of test accuracy.

As far as the OP, I would personally share the results. You can’t really control what he does with the meat you gave him. I would think he would have waited to learn results if he was really that worried about it.

 

[thomas89]

I'd still share the results. Maybe one day we'll all have a settlement like mesothelioma or something...."did you or someone you love eat venison between the years of 1990 and 2022? You might be entitled to compensation!"

I have an elk tag in a unit here in WY with a pretty high prevalence of CWD. My wife and I have eaten a couple elk out of here before, but now with a kid, and one on the way, it just seems like the right thing to get it tested. Already dreading if it's a positive result. It'd get tossed as I don't think I could bring myself to eat it.

@Hunting Wife , I'm sure information I could look up relatively easy on my own, just curious, what's the test accuracy these days? I don't think it was great when I was growing up in Wisconsin in the early 2000's, though I'm sure lots has changed.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I wonder how many CWD deer have been eaten by people that just kill deer and eat them. mtmuley

We just started getting bucks tested at my in-laws place as that unit became a “mandatory test” unit 3 years ago.

So far ~50% of our bucks have been positive.

Probably safe to assume that of the 8 deer I’ve killed there at least a couple had CWD.

 

[Hunting Wife]

@Hunting Wife , I'm sure information I could look up relatively easy on my own, just curious, what's the test accuracy these days? I don't think it was great when I was growing up in Wisconsin in the early 2000's, though I'm sure lots has changed.

Actually not that easy to look up Depends on the test. Recently, newer amplification type tests that are faster and more sensitive than older methods have been developed. But not everyone is using them yet. Under lab conditions, some of these have been better than 95%. But, under real-world conditions, it is likely somewhat lower than that. Depends on the quality of the sample (did Billy Bob collect the right tissue?), the way samples are handled, the individual lab and their adherence to protocol, etc etc.

 

[bobbydean]

I think I have most likely eaten animals with CWD. I hunt an area that warns it needs to be tested. Never had a problem.

But it has been a few years that I hunted deer.
May have eaten some of the early ones.

Never had a problem.

 

[LuketheDog]

So just a little explanation that might be helpful…

When they take the samples, the lymph nodes are cut in half. Half of each node is tested, half is banked (kept in the freezer). If the first test comes back positive, or if it comes back with an inconclusive result, they will call it “suspect”. Basically, it means the test didn’t come back as negative. Usually they will then run the other halves of the lymph nodes they had banked to confirm. If the second test comes back positive, they will usually call if positive. If the second test also comes back inconclusive, they may just leave it at “suspect”, or “presumptive positive”. No test is 100%, but the test used for CWD is pretty good in the grand scheme of test accuracy.

Yeah, I understand the procedures, but the fact that their definition of 'suspect' actually stated that the test may not have been performed at all was a little bothersome, along with the fact that the first notice came at 3 weeks and the second one was 3 weeks after that for a total of a 6 week delay in getting results. If they're going to have mandatory testing it should come with mandatory promptness of that testing as well...but I do realize it's a government organization we're dealing with.

 

[Flatbrimmer]

Bro they eat “bushmeat” in Africa, totally underprepared and undercooked, and even THEY don’t believe in Ebola….

I’d say don’t worry about it, remain honest, and eat it regardless. We all know pigs can carry trichonella like bears but we like a little chewy In our bacon?

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

Yeah, I understand the procedures, but the fact that their definition of 'suspect' actually stated that the test may not have been performed at all was a little bothersome, along with the fact that the first notice came at 3 weeks and the second one was 3 weeks after that for a total of a 6 week delay in getting results. If they're going to have mandatory testing it should come with mandatory promptness of that testing as well...but I do realize it's a government organization we're dealing with.

Yeah that would be frustrating. Wyomings lab will have results in just a couple days.

 

[COEngineer]

Bro they eat “bushmeat” in Africa, totally underprepared and undercooked, and even THEY don’t believe in Ebola….

I’d say don’t worry about it, remain honest, and eat it regardless. We all know pigs can carry trichonella like bears but we like a little chewy In our bacon?

I don't think comparing food-borne pathogens with CWD is helpful. You can cook and kill bacteria and viruses, but CWD is a prion that has to be incinerated (1,800 degF) to actually destroy it.

Personally, with the lack of any evidence that is transmissable to humans, I never look at the results (if mandatory testing).

 

[perma]

I think I remember Uncle Randy claiming he's ate some animals with CWD and never had an issue. I also read an article where they did an experiment where they fed willing people CWD infected deer. The only issues they reported after months was things they condemned with age (arthritis being one). Nothing about getting sick from it, or experiencing symptoms deer or elk have. *shrug*

 

[RyGuy]

Yeah. I’m sure I’ve eaten animals with CWD. Not especially worried about it myself, but there’s something different about knowing it’s positive and then cooking it up for my wife and I.

 

[MTGomer]

Personally, I don’t worry about dying of things that have never killed a single person

I feel like not experimenting with things like brains is caution enough.