CWD and Deer Farming- Meeting moved to April 8th

I'll probably get crushed for this but I don't personally believe whitetail deer should ever be farmed like cattle. Doing so has quietly eroded some of the non hunting publics perceptions of hunters and how they go about pursuing deer. When I say non hunting, I'm referring to folks who at some point didn't really have an opinion about hunting, one way or the other. They didn't participate in it, nor were they card carrying members of PETA, set on stopping all hunting.

That's the most important demographic of Americans when it comes to maintaining our right to hunt. They represent the largest number of the three groups (hunters, non hunters, non hunting activist)

And while I'm sure a majority of deer breeders try and run their operations by the book, we know for a fact that many don't. We know that whitetail bucks are sold to be hunted in small high fence areas, across state lines, which is illegal.

We know there is an increased risk of disease in pen raised deer.

We know deer are difficult to handle in captivity, making them susceptible to injury.

We know that high density farming can hurt local ecosystems.

Lastly, here's a quote from a Texas farmer speaking about the growers association he belongs to....."Our members provide a service for hunters who may not have the time necessary to have a successful hunt or access to quality land. These ranches offer a quality hunt, which is what everyone wants, isn't it?"

That's not hunting, that's killing, and that's something we've recently lost sight of.

I want to see data showing the CWD state agency actions are having a positive affect

I see alot of state overreach and scare tactics, but I don’t see a lot of improvement and benefit

A lot of talking heads that make tons of money from the deer industry (Dr Deer, etc) bash all the agencies for what they do. However they never come out and give their suggestions on what needs to be done

nm

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I see alot of state overreach and scare tactics,

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this is the only goal

Why’d the baws allow deer farming to begin with?

My 2 cents.

I don't clam to be an expert but I do have some training at the college level in wildlife management. My major was forestry.

Anyway nobody seems to have an iron clad idea of exactly what is going on with CWD but I am very hopeful. Especially in the south and strange as it may seem deer farms might actually be part of the answer... especially if you live further north.

I adhere to the theory (not my theory, I didn't start this theory) that the deer in the southeast are much less susceptible to CWD than northern deer. The bad outbreaks do not seem to be in the south.

For instance. Mississippi has CWD and with very little action the percentage of infections doesn't seem to be increasing. They liberalized hunting regulations and banned baiting. But I personally do not believe those regulations are what is responsible for the frequency of infection staying mostly flat

There is research being done to identify genes that provide RESISTENCE to CWD. Resistance... NOT immunity.

Resistance is huge. Deer do not live for long periods of time. So you you just delay the average age of contracting the disease then you can significantly reduce the impact on the age structure of your deer herd (trophy potential).

Researchers have identified a number of genes that they think reduce the susceptibility to contracting CWD.

Long term if deer resistant to CWD can be identified then deer farms could play a huge role in getting those genes into the population of wild deer.

Current practices often work against this. For instance there was a deer farm that had a deer test positive for CWD. The entire herd was killed. The other deer IN A DEER FARM SETTING that had lived side by side with this infected deer all were killed and all were found to not come back with a positive test for CWD.

Think about it. All of those deer did NOT test positive after living with and infected deer for years. To me that sounds like the genotype of deer you would want to promote... not take out.

EHD outbreaks that kill over half of the deer population occur almost exclusively further north than the deep south. The researches suspect that resistance to EHD is an indicator of possible resistance to CWD.

Either way I am glad I don't hunt up north and have to deal with what they deal with. I have a buddy that lives in Saskatchewan and if it isn't record cold it is the wolves. If it isn't wolves it is EHD, if it isn't EHD it is CWD. Always something decimating their deer herd. No deer herd in the south has been decimated by CWD.

Fingers crossed. But it looks like our herd is somewhat immune from the horrible outcomes that happen in places like Ohio.

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No deer herd in the south has been decimated by CWD.

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Is there scientific evidence that any deer herd anywhere has been decimated by CWD? Any studies showing it? I’m asking because that is a question that doesn’t seem to get answered with any proof. The guy that runs rackjunkies has been asking this and he doesn’t seem to get any answers.

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Is there scientific evidence that any deer herd anywhere has been decimated by CWD? Any studies showing it? I’m asking because that is a question that doesn’t seem to get answered with any proof. The guy that runs rackjunkies has been asking this and he doesn’t seem to get any answers.

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That depends on what you consider decimated. I consider a deer herd that has 25% of their deer testing positive as decimated. Why? Because it is hard to detect in the early period of infection. So 25% means the number is higher.

To be clear I am just plucking 25% out of the air. What the concern is, the higher the infection rate the earlier the average age of infection will be. And the earlier the average age of infection the shorter the deers life span will be. If the average age of a deers life is shortened then the number of mature bucks can be significantly affected. And that doesn't even factor in the situation of people not wanting to eat deer meat if there is a real chance of it having CWD.

So my definition of decimated is a deer herd that is infected to the degree that the age structure is affected and the use of deer meat is affected.