I don't think that's a fact. Can you prove your statement?

Do your own research.....like I had to do.

Meh....start here and dig deeper....

https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nwhc/science/expanding-distribution-chronic-wasting-disease#overview

Ted would probably get better press if he would tone down his act...which is what it is, normal people react poorly to crazy talk....

The Nuge is spot on with most of what he says.

But, like the rest of us, he goes off in the wrong direction on some things sometimes.

Just remember some people nut job conspiracy theory guy may just be somone paying attention . I found this out with a guy I thought was a nut job I used to work with. Looked up a few things he was talking about I thought was nuts so I could shut him down. After a deep dive I discovered he was correct on at least 2 and the 3rd had enough merit it deserved considering not immediately dismissed. Not saying thats the case here just relaying one of my humbling experiences.

I didnt know who Ted was. Back when I was 12 or 13 I was renting every video and buying every book and magazines with anything to do with hunting. One video was Ted's down to earth video. I thought he was a bit out ther even at that young age but I was surprised my mom knew who the guy was and seemed to like him.
Never could get into his mystical flight of the arrow or self proclaimed name of the wack master.

Not saying he's wrong, just that he acts like a nut, lol

Glad he is pro-hunting and not anti-hunting. With that mouth he could cause some damage.

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%).

When did he do it??

As well as FWD. you think the elk brought into ky didn’t spread it. Funny it showed up in counties t hat first had an elk herd. If it’s such a sin to transport deer what about goats? Cattle? Nope too much money in it. Nothing but a way to steal funding to do testing

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.

Sadly, you are correct about elk relocation over the years. The NW Arkansas situation is a good example. But, will you get all wildlife agencies to admit that? Some are slowly letting it out. There is even some talk about deer restocking from the 50s, 60s and 70s being a culprit....and it has taken decades for it to show up as more testing occurs.

#1 reason to do so much testing is to learn prevalence. Prevalence tells a lot about the seriousness of the situation. Really need to know that to make any decisions...right or wrong.

It is difficult for a wildlife agency to make the right decision about CWD. Danged if you do...danged if you don't.

Call me crazy but I’d say 64% fawn predation is your culprit as for the population decline in that region. If that’s happening annually it’s no wonder the populations declining!


Much of this country has experienced record whitetail numbers at some point in the last 20-40 years. It stands to reason disease will become more prevalent in those conditions.

Personally, I think CWD in deer has been around a LONG time. We humans have this arrogant idea that just because we’ve only recently discovered something that makes it “new”.

And yes, I have a problem with some of the stuff that has been done in the name of CWD.

Add 15% to 20% more adults deer deaths in a high CWD prevalence area. Surely you can see the problem there.

We can thin the predators and shorten deer seasons. Agencies are struggling trying to figure out how to slow the prevalence of CWD.

Not sure if it can be done.

I heard it from him on a podcast. I think it was on Clay Newcomb's old bear hunting magazine podcast. He had a place in Michigan and said it was no different than hunting free range..."the animals either show up or they dont" were his words. And I remember it was less than 400 acres. That's even dumber than the places that are thousands of acres of high fence

Nugent owns Sunrize Ranch in MI, high fenced and he also is somehow connected to the OX Ranch in Texas- also high fenced. He hunts high fenced places all the time.

Went to college and studies under James Kroll, he was one of my major professors at SFA. I would not call him any kind of an authority on CWD.
As for goats and cattle, they don't get it.
A study was done at Sybille on cattle. They had them in their pens for 20+ years and no cwd infections.
CWD has affected mule deer and WT populations here, elk not so much as we have a ton too many right now right in the endemic area.

Hwy 78 is nicknamed gut shot alley, by trucks and cars that is.
Not guns at all , love it when out of stater's get road rage in the Elk zone.
No brains all throttle

CWD is not going to disappear. The infected deer and elk populations deposits the prions onto the soil via body fluids where depending on soil composition prions survive for a minimum of a decade. Anything that walks through the infected soil has the ability to disperse prions over a larger area whether or not they themselves are affected. This includes humans walking down a deer trail if an infected deer was there first.

More than enough state wildlife agencies have shown that population control or attempted population elimination of CWD infected herds has not been a viable disease elimination method.

Best we can do is leave it to nature to take care and heal itself!

Some deer and elk herds are showing signs of resistance via genetic traits, the 225F allele in mule deer.
Our herd, which shares a fence with Sybille where cwd originated in Wyoming, has lower infections rates than right across the road. G&F is thinking that maybe they are spreading the genetic traits to resist it. They have some elk and deer in their pens with the 225F allele that have lives a pretty long life negative for cwd.

You are probably correct to say it's best to let nature run its course. So far, nothing man has done has worked to satisfaction. Progression seems to have been slowed by heavy harvest/deer removal in a couple states, but that will not do anything to eradicate it.

CWD at low prevalence can be considered just another factor that kills deer....no big deal...predators kill more....But, those areas like NW Arkansas, where for some reason prevalence has increased rapidly to high percentage of population and adult deer loss is real....Well, I hope that dont happen in my neck of the woods.