Read about CWD in NW Arkansas and then get back with us.....
Are you talking the 2025 study that basically said everything else kills more deer than CWD?
Something like 19% mortality attributed to CWD. And the protocols for that are somewhat liberal.
25% ADULT mortality attributed to predation (64% for fawns with coyotes accounting for over 30%).
CWD is ONE MORE THING that deer have to deal with to survive. Won't wipe deer out, but can reach a level (50% or more of positive adults) that the population will begin struggling to overcome CWD loss in addition to predation, hunter harvest, vehicle collisions, & other disease deaths, etc.
CWD just adds to adult mortality. Minimal prevalence = you likely won't even notice population differences. Agencies are not sure how to keep it at minimal prevalence. They have NO CLUE what to do about an area like NW Arkansas.
But, yes....the study your referencing is likely the same one. I've personally spoke (video conference) with one of the lead biologists from UGA that did that research. In a lot of that area of NW Arkansas deer numbers are no longer at a huntable level. ONE DEER per square mile over a large area. Used to be about 35 to 40 psm a few years ago. Hunting is still allowed in most of that area because AR G&F doesn’t want to anger folks by closing deer hunting. Did CWD do that alone? No, but it has slowly removed adults....that had survived predation and other mortality factors. CWD prevalence is over 50% in that area....believed to be much higher %.
Most people think CWD is made up junk. No worries?...No problem? Maybe so. It cannot be stopped anyway so why worry about it? There may not ever be a solution to this in our lifetimes.
At least stop playing "see no evil...hear no evil" and understand it is a deer mortality factor that can get out of hand and one that man currently cannot control.