So far I haven't seen a sick deer yet. Hunt in pa and wv cwd areas. Just saw 1 dead deer yesterday without any visible holes in it. Big old buck, 1 horn busted off and blood out of its nose. Guessing hit by car. I see a couple dead decomposed deer a year, normally near roads.
I cover alot of ground. We also do drives in pa. Where do the infected deer go to die?

Into a coyote's belly.

Elk and pen deer first now only deer not elk? Were the money.

Its better when they go into a cat's belly. I read recently it was discovered that the digestive system of cats destroys the prions. The prions pass through a dog's digestive system intact.

Well I seen one deer with something. FWD recommends not to shoot them ?!! She hung around all summer fall Finally got some fat back. I wouldn’t shoot it because I didn’t want to handle the carcass

Neighbor went to Colorado and brought back over 100 meat goats. But of course I’m sure it’s never been spread like that. It’s always a reckless hunter moving a deer

Really? They eat the entire deer before anyone sees it, bones hide and all?

Funding:
APHIS provides millions of dollars each year to State and Tribal governments, universities, and others to control chronic wasting disease (CWD) in wild and farmed cervids, such as deer and elk.Sep 30, 2025

In addition: Wisconsin spends $3 to $3.6 million annually on CWD testing and surveillance. Of that figure, about $1.7 million is on testing. The state tests an average of 18,500 deer annually at a cost of $91.50/sample when all associated costs are considered. Currently, very little dedicated state or federal funding is available to offset these costs, meaning that over $3 million of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) budget is being pulled from other programs to cover the costs associated with CWD management.

Let's add a little history to this.

How many of you old farts remember "mad cow" disease. This is the cow form of CWD. Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.

How many of you have heard of Scrapie? This is the goat form of CWD. Goat Spongiform Encephalopathy. This disease was present first in the 1700s in Germany.

The human form, as mentioned earlier, is CJD. First found in humans in 1920s.

The human cannibalistic form of SE is called Kuru. Present in Papua New Guinea.

The Spongiform Encephalopathy diseases have been around for a long time and are resident now to many other counties. The super long incubation period (3-6 years) dictates we will hardly ever see an actual case due to most deer not making it past 2 years of life. It is deadly to deer eventually. It is why DNRs want to test to see if it is in the population because very few deer are symptomatic. It's like fishing to see if it is out there. Lot of money wasted if you ask me.

Here's the rub.

If it is out there, how do we stop it? Prions are immune to fire, literally. The only MAYBE effective way to stop SE diseases would be to bury all carcasses.

BUT WAIT!!!

Prions can also be taken up by plants. YES, plants can be a vector. Particularly corn, alfalfa and tomatoes. Look it up. So what do we do? Test corn and alfalfa? I would guess Monsanto and others would probably not be excited about their seeds being destroyed. So burying the carcass could actually feed prions into say an oak tree or green brier or autumn olives, etc. and transmit it that way to wild cervids.

To get rid of CWD would mean culling the entire herd, burning all plant life in the counties affected and having all hunters turn in all the meat they have in their freezers for disposal. It's a fool's errand and would never work.

SE type diseases have been around for centuries. I do not see massive numbers of people or animals dying because of it. If you want to be safe, don't eat brain or spinal cord and bury these body parts or not. Your call.

As far as causing great damage to a deer herd, I have seen the devastation caused by EHD. Took two years before I started seeing deer tracks again, much less deer.

Sadly, I agree with the taxidermist. DON'T SUBMIT FOR TESTING!! I don't and we have three CWD zones. Heck I was pulled over for a tag check by a fish cop with a deer on the back of my truck. I was transporting from a CWD border county to a non CWD county and TOLD HIM THIS. I was not prevented from taking it home to my county fully intact

The boogie man of CWD is very weak when you dig into it and the history of SE diseases. I don't buy it just based on this. Do as you wish, but it will only make life harder for hunters.

Sorry if I offend you Swamp. Seriously.

My final question on this is ok The test is positive. So what ? What is done?? Moment of silence? No hunting for a year. What exactly happened next. No treatment no cure. Just more money thrown at it

No offense taken.

I agree with nearly all of your post. Maybe Im in error to worry about this more that most folks. And when I say worry, what I mean is I worry what's gonna happen to eastern US whitetail populations in the distant future. Our populations are relatively high and not enough does are killed annually. Im not too concerned about deer-human transmission....yet, as all my deer that Im feeding my family, friends, and myself will be tested before consumption (I do my own processing and am now keeping it seperate until test results return.) A positive test here in Georgia doesn't mean widespread DNR deer killing is about to start.

Here in Georgia, testing is currently free and due to my home location next to the CWD zone, I was able to get a freezer drop off site here in my county for hunters to use. Plus, Im still assisting the state with sample collection across 3 county area.

Georgia is not conducting herd reduction using state personnel. They are leaving increased harvest up to the landowners/hunters in the positive areas. Georgia has not altered the deer feeding/baiting regs either.

I might have a different attitude toward this if Georgia DNR was sharpshooting deer in positive areas, outlawed bait, charged for tests, etc....

I don't worry because we've dealt with it for so long and nothing has come of it. Colorado too. If it's new to you and your area, I can see why you have the reaction you are having.

As I mentioned in this thread, the dynamics are different in the western states. Populations of cervids are lower and hunt quotas are mostly zone or unit managed, so the harvests can be better/more accurately managed.

Wisconsin is different than Colorado in this mess.

Wisconsin's response is currently the nation's example of what NOT to do when CWD is discovered. Missouri's government sharpshooters are a close 2nd.

This approach has lost public support and created negative attitudes.

I didn't read all of your posts, so how should WI DNR handle this situation?

CWD and Covid.

Two peas in a pod.

As simple as it gets.

So its spread by saliva and yet Georgia still allows baiting?

Deer communicate sometimes by touching noses. Should they ban that too? LOL. How bout no community licking branches?

Yes.....licking branches over scrapes, nose to nose, nose to butt contact, breeding, etc......common sense questions whether baiting/feeding adds much of a threat.

Hope ya'll are right...but how many people did Covid kill?