The Future of Western Hunting and its Greatest Threat!

[88man]

Chicken Wing Dinner

$.50 every Thursday at the Indian casino down the road.
The chance I can eat 10 of every flavor is about as high as the chance FWP will contain a deer disease by killing the deer, but dogumnit we’re gonna try.

Yeah but the science says you can eat that many wings and thats the solution to deal with the CWD

 

[MTGomer]

Yeah but the science says you can eat that many wings and thats the solution to deal with the CWD

Thank you for believing in me, but without knowing how many different flavors of wings they have, I don’t think you realize what you’re saying.
I’m ambitious but also realistic.
May try again this week though.

 

[Oldhuntertoo]

CWD and its effects on the future of our western hunting.

To catch your attention:

CWD was detected in the Jackson Hole area of Wyoming this last November. Some Wyoming biologists have called for phasing out or eliminating elk feeding in northwestern Wyoming altogether. The biologists have stated that to continue the practice of feeding the elk in Wyoming with CWD on the landscape could be a big mistake. Why you ask? Because CWD could potentially be the beginning of the end of all deer/elk hunting as we know it! That’s why!

Take this study as an example:

In Wyoming’s Converse County, the mule deer herd that lives southwest of Douglas has been the subject of an extensive CDW study. In that study, the mule deer population that once numbered some 14,000+ in the early 2000s has dwindled to half that size in about a decade due to the effect of CWD. The study estimated that CWD is causing an estimated 19% annual reduction in the studied mule deer population per year and could potentially wipe out the herd completely in roughly the next 40 years! This should concern every last one of us!

“QUOTED” from Wyoming F&G page:

Recent research in Wyoming has demonstrated declines in both mule and white-tailed deer populations in deer hunt area 65 due to CWD. These declines are in the core endemic area where prevalence is highest. In areas with lower prevalence, effects of CWD are poorly understood but are considered additive along with other factors that can negatively affect deer populations in Wyoming (i.e. habitat loss, predation, and other diseases).
The distribution and prevalence of CWD in Wyoming elk is less than that of deer. Currently there are no documented direct population impacts in Wyoming elk from CWD; however, research from Rocky Mountain National park suggests that CWD could impact elk populations at higher prevalence (13%). While CWD has been found in free ranging moose, there have been little detection, and there is no evidence that CWD is currently having an impact on moose populations.

Some of Wyoming’s Biologists don’t agree with the above public statement presented on Wyoming’s website. Seems that there are more than a few units in Wyoming that have been struggling with CWD affected deer and elk herds. These biologists also stated CWD is spreading quicker than publicly stated. One of the results that these biologists are seeing in the CWD affected herds is that older age class bucks are almost nonexistent!

CWD info, for those of you that are unaware or have not been paying attention!

CWD is the most contagious of the three transmissible spongiform in animals. It can be easily transmitted from animal to animal via direct or indirect contact with secretions or excretions, such as saliva, urine, and feces.

The incubation period of CWD, in captive deer/elk, has been observed to be 16 to 36 months, with an average incubation period of 22 months. This is followed by a sick period of less than 12 months until death. CWD-infected deer/elk can be infectious to other deer/elk for up to 18 months prior to their death. CWD is a killer and makes bitching about our western predator population seem kind of a moot point!

The CWD prion protein can also persist in the environment for several years. The infected soil serves as a reservoir for infectivity. CWD prion proteins have been shown to extensively bind to certain soil minerals, remain infectious for a number of years, and even increase infectivity over time with the binding of soil minerals. So, the CWD disease can be transmitted to live animals by a CWD-contaminated area in the absence of any infected deer/elk. With this, I wonder how many infected areas that us hunters have caused with our “Gutless/Boned-Out/DIY” successful hunts? Also, might this environmental CWD soil contamination be the cause of this disease’s spread to states like WI, IA, MI, MN, etc.? How many hunters, in the past, have hauled their deer/elk back home from a successful western hunt and disposed of those critter’s bones in the back forty or nearby public lands?

As has been reported, Montana is now CWD positive. The disease is spreading both from the south, Wyoming, and from the north, Canada. Montana FWPs will be conducting CWD testing this year in our widely famous and extremely popular south eastern Montana. I have little doubt, and expect that, CWD will be discovered there also!

Montana FWPs is also leaning towards a bit of a different approach in dealing with this devastating disease.

“QUOTED” from Montana FWPs:


Montana CWD Management Plan, is aimed at maintaining low densities of deer and low buck:doe ratios in hunting districts with CWD and adjacent hunting districts to keep disease prevalence low and prevent disease spread. We are proposing to manage for lower buck:doe ratios because bucks are two to three times more likely to be infected with CWD and more likely to spread it through the population.

I’m wondering just how this management plan will be implemented in SE Montana once CWD is detected? Go back to (2) deer A-tags and unlimited OTC B-tags maybe? Seems that this would reach the CWD objectives on all the public accessible lands in a season or two! Then where would all the hunters ago?

It should be noted that I was mostly uneducated on everything CWD related until it hit closer to home here in Montana. I have been educating myself since! Seems that CWD does not hold the sportsman’s attention! I expected to see more reads and replies to a thread started by “Dieseldog” in the “Sportsman’s Issues” forum of this site. That thread contains some info and even a great “BigFin” PODCAST on the subject! But that thread has only received (9) posts and (450) or so reads since 12/16. Hell the recent thread on DRONES commanded over twice the interest in half of the time!

If for nothing else, I hope that this read has opened some eyes on probably the biggest threat to the hunting opportunities we’ll see in the decades to come. I’m thankful that I am now in my mid 50’s and have topped the ridge and started the slow slide down the backside of life. I don’t perceive the CWD progression to impact me much in my next decade or so. But if I was a younger hunter, I might take an interest in CWD as it could start to affect most hunting opportunities in the future. CWD could also start affecting those LE Trophy units that require a decade or two worth of points in order to draw the tag!! Just a thought!

Mtnhunter1

This may be much more simplified than it really is, but I wonder if there is a type of medicinal treatment that could be added to feed, where large herds are fed during the winter, to slow CWD?

 

[TheJason]

This may be much more simplified than it really is, but I wonder if there is a type of medicinal treatment that could be added to feed, where large herds are fed during the winter, to slow CWD?

No.

 

[antlerradar]

This may be much more simplified than it really is, but I wonder if there is a type of medicinal treatment that could be added to feed, where large herds are fed during the winter, to slow CWD?

So far we have tried a heavy dose of high speed lead. Results have not been that encouraging.

 

[matechakeric]

is there any realistic counter measures to the spread of CWD other than education and trying to slow it. is a vaccine possible?

 

[rwc101]

is a vaccine possible?

No. It's a prion disease not a virus/bacteria.

 

[matechakeric]

No. It's a prion disease not a virus/bacteria.

haha shows how much I know about the science. is there any hope for stopping the disease?

 

[rwc101]

haha shows how much I know about the science. is there any hope for stopping the disease?

Just containment/mitigation which leads to a lot of debates on how it should be handled. No prion disease currently has a cure.

 

[Elkmagnet]

My crazy uncle Ted says that if something inconveniences you. You should pretend it doesn't exist.
I can't find it but I'm pretty sure it is written in the RNP somewhere also.

 

[Elkmagnet]

haha shows how much I know about the science. is there any hope for stopping the disease?

Prions Are Forever

The lethal proteins are in the Hard-to-Kill Hall of Fame--and may be more common than we realize

blogs.scientificamerican.com

 

[SAJ-99]

haha shows how much I know about the science. is there any hope for stopping the disease?

Humic acid might bind to the protein and lock it up. Still early stages and much more testing required. This would be a chemical solution. So even if it worked, it changes the problem to a logistical application problem. All I know is that no pessimist has ever solved a problem, so I remain positive.

https://www.rmef.org/elk-network/researcher-humic-acid-may-break-down-cwd/