I haven't kept up with this. How easy is it to detect and what are the repercussions of not seeing it and eating that deer?

No one knows is the short answer...

Don't eat a dead deer you didn't kill or see get killed. Don't eat a deer you killed that you watched for a while and said hey there is something wrong with that deer. Fully cook the meat, don't eat raw deer meat. When in doubt throw it out.

Don't eat a dead deer you didn't kill or see get killed. Don't eat a deer you killed that you watched for a while and said hey there is something wrong with that deer. Fully cook the meat, don't eat raw deer meat. When in doubt throw it out.

But it has never wiped out a herd, correct?? It has been discussed to lengths about the disease itself and it's affect on a single deer. What has been seen on the affects on the WHOLE herd, how large of an area, and the herd 5-10 years later??

It seems a little different everywhere. No state has seen it act in the exact same way. A few states are beginning to see 30-50% prevalence rates in bucks 2.5+ and 30+% in the antlerless population. This has taken those states several years to get there. AR on the other hand has not been positive all that long and have seen prevalence rates cross the 20% mark already.

The population concern comes in at those 30% plus numbers. That is typically the percent we as hunters remove from the population. It obviously varies all over but that's kinda the rule of thumb, that with a healthy herd you'll hover around a 30% surplus. When you no longer have a surplus on the landscape and you continue to add up all of the different mortalities plus hunting related mortalities, you start driving your deer herd into lower and lower numbers.

That said, these states that have reached this mark have just started seeing this so we don't have a great grasp on what's going to happen. They are watching it and the results will be interesting to follow.

Nighthunter, I read this on another site. You heard anything about it?



I heard yesterday from a reliable source that a 4th positive test for CWD has been found that has not been announced publicly yet. The sample has been sent to Iowa for confirmation. I sure hope it comes back a false positive cause this sample came from a county on the AL state line which means it has moved a long ways across our great state.

What county?

It didn't say. I copy/pasted it. Haven't read or heard anything besides that

Nighthunter, I read this on another site. You heard anything about it?



I heard yesterday from a reliable source that a 4th positive test for CWD has been found that has not been announced publicly yet. The sample has been sent to Iowa for confirmation. I sure hope it comes back a false positive cause this sample came from a county on the AL state line which means it has moved a long ways across our great state.

I heard that too but I have not seen validated by MS yet so I really don’t know. There is daily communication so if it is true, won’t be long before we all hear if it’s true.