Chronic Wasting Disease

[outdooralex]

Hey, I'm just curious to know if anyone else out there is as worried as I am about this Chronic Wasting Disease. First its TB an now a possibility of this. I know there hasn't been any cases in Mi yet, but Wisconsin is a little to close for my comfort :(. I read about it first in an article in the Detroit Free Press last week, and now there is a huge article in this months Woods-n-Waters mag. It sound like a pretty horrible disease. Is this going to give the state a reason to ban baiting completely (not that it would break my heart). Just wondering what somebody else thought about this. Maybe I am getting worried for nothing, but after the "lets just get rid of as many deer as we can" attitude to solve the TB problem, I am afraid by the time my son gets old enough to hunt, there maybe only 10 deer left in the state.

[Bob S]

Outdooralex, Take a look under the TB furum.

[Catch&Keep]

I might be off here, but isnt the "kill all the deer in the area" attitude a good solution to the problem. Especially if this tactic is used when the problem is first discovered. I dont think that even if you killed all the deer in a 3 county radius that the population would not come back and strive. Especially in a situation like CRW or Mad Cow which is scarier than loosing a deer heard in a certain area for a few years. I think the problem should be dealt with asap instead of waiting untill it spreads. Also read something about the banning of all large game brought into Wisconsin from other states and that is allowed here in MI. If it is allowed here it should be stopped. The CRW out west is a major problem, and it is a scarie thought that it could be in our back yard.

[Fierkej]

From Catch and Keep's post: "Also read something about the banning of all large game brought into Wisconsin from other states and that is allowed here in MI. If it is allowed here it should be stopped. "


Michigan has banned the importation of cervids from all states, for one year, effective April 26, 2002. The following link contains the press release.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=17441

[NEMichsportsman]

Originally posted by Catch&Keep
I might be off here, but isnt the "kill all the deer in the area" attitude a good solution to the problem. Especially if this tactic is used when the problem is first discovered. I dont think that even if you killed all the deer in a 3 county radius that the population would not come back and strive.

Killing all the deer in the area would be a pretty impossible task. Deer do not maintain addresses, so county lines mean very little. I am not sure what the prevalence rate is or would be , but you could never be certain that you culled all of the infected deer. Emphasis needs to be on prevention not on actions after the fact!

TB Erradication has decimated the herd in my neck of the woods and the problem is not being solved...I agree with you that this is an issue that must be addressed, but the solution has to be worked out by the scientists not the politicians.

I am assuming by the tone of your post (forgive me if I am wrong)that you do not hunt or own a business in an area that has any of these issues. When your lifelong dream to own property and hunt is destroyed by such a radical policy with no guarantee of success, you tend to want a tangible, verifiable, and definitive result. Many local economies have been crippled and peoples livliehoods lost by a policy (tb) that may not be working. In other words the health of the herd is paramount, but I hope the powers that make such decisions dont just make another rash policy decision that might not be effective.


jp

[Catch&Keep]

Your right i dont hunt in a tb or cwd area.
Just my opinion. This is the way I see it after reading articles and posts, I am not a bioligist or cwd expert, these are only my opinions. It seems the long term goal would be to save the deer heard. By killing as many of the deer in the diseased area as possible would irradicate the disease. The deer are not going to disapear forever. Granted for several years and definatly a couple generations would feel and see the impact, but it would be far better than cwd getting the upper hand and slowly spreading which it seems to be doing. If the problem were in my area, I would rather have to travel 300 miles to hunt for the rest of my life than have my kids and there kids not be able to hunt even 300 miles away because cwd has spread and was never dealt with. I have family out west in CO and from what they say it just keeps getting worse there. Which would lead me to believe that you cannot just ignore it as a natural disease that nature will take care of.

[NEMichsportsman]

I understand your point completely. Perhaps you missed mine. The bottom line is that the TB erradication effort has not had a significant impact...the reasons are numerous. Wholesale slaughter of the deer is not a guarantee of success. I whole heartedly would support any efforts that a majority of SCIENTISTS would recommend! I do not support the special interests and political types who have made the tb program a joke. I dread to see what could happen if the same crowd would have to deal w/CWD.

Hopefully we will be able to keep this a hypothetical situation.


jp

[NEMichsportsman]

BTW Catch and Keep...


Welcome to the site!!!!! I look forward to having future conversations...


jp

[Catch&Keep]

i agree hopefully this will stay a hypothetical situation.
I do see your point, any and all decisions should be made through extensive research done by scientists. But time would be a factor.
thanks for the welcome, ditto on future conversations.

very cool site.