re: CWD detections by Parish.

I just spoke to a warden in Colorado who patrols a unit that’s part of their mandatory testing protocol. He said 50% of the bucks tested were CWD positive last year. He also said this particular unit has seen a surge in the past 5 years, and the problem they have at the moment is they can’t seem to find the balance between creating opportunities for more hunters to draw a tag, mitigate CWD, and maintain a healthy herd quota. Private land consumes approximately 93% of this particular unit, and good habitat is confined to somewhere in between 10-20% of the total area. Of the remaining 7% (public land), that prime habitat is probably less than 5%, and naturally, the deer don’t like to hang around those areas once pressure ramps up.

It’s in an ag-rich landscape with river bottoms, so deer can and will congregate in big herds most of the year. The glyphosate spread over this area is probably substantial, so there could be something to it.

Banning supplemental feeding is a mitigation strategy with no real scientific evidence to support the notion of banning it equating to a reduction in the spread of CWD. Colorado doesn’t allow it, and look what happened in this case.

Nebraska allows you to bait, but you and the deer you kill have to be 200 yards from the bait. They tried to say they didn’t want CWD to spread, so they were creating this policy in an effort to curb transmission. It used to be that it had to be gone 60 days or more prior to you hunting that spot.

For whatever reason, NGPC thought making it difficult to hunt over bait would reduce its use entirely, but it really didn’t deter anyone. Now, Kansas on the other hand, has recorded cases every year, yet they allow baiting. Nebraska and Kansas don’t have near the problem in their deer herds that Colorado is experiencing, and all three have very different approaches in how they handle the practice of baiting.

At the end of the day, you’re never going to get rid of it, and no matter what you do, deer are still going to congregate in oak flats when acorns are dropping; winter wheat during this time of year; corn and bean fields from May through December; water sources wherever they’re found; as well as what’s already been mentioned (licking branches, scrapes, rubs, etc.).

I don’t bait deer, but I do run cameras at cattle mineral sites, and the deer hit them when the cattle aren’t there. I’m also primarily a bowhunter, and I can tell you this much, the loudest voices in opposition of baiting are coming from bowhunters. They’ve piggybacked on this “concern” for herd health and created a narrative that it’s irresponsible, when in all honesty, it’s jealousy of rifle hunters having any opportunity at all—and I hunt with a muzzleloader and rifle, just for the record. Hell, look at Wyoming. They have a supplemental feeding program for elk each winter that is managed by WGFD.