MS and TN are both finding new cases, especially TN. Has Alabama found any cases. Hope it will not be kept on the down-low if they do discover any cases.

I believe unless it’s changed Alabama has to notify the public within 24 hours, or that’s what I remember from the response plan.

Oh it won't be kept on the down low

Yep...they'll make a big announcement shutting down baiting.

Funny thing will be when clubs are shut down due to bait being present inside of 10 days of removal...especially if it happened during the peak of the rut.

Be a chit storm for sure.

We have 3 Tn counties on the state line that are positive. I was thinking today I can’t believe we haven’t heard of a Bama deer yet.

The only way the disease can appear in Alabama is if it is brought here, knowingly or unknowingly, said Chuck Sykes, director of the state game department’s Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division.
“I am confident that the only way Chronic Wasting Disease will get to Alabama is it will be brought here,” Sykes said. “It will be that negligent, uncaring hunter who harvests a deer out of state and doesn’t take the time to properly handle the carcass. And once it gets here, we can never put that genie back in the bottle. It will have unforeseen impacts on a multibillion dollar industry, not only economically but culturally.

Doesn't matter that it's in 3 counties on the state line. A CWD infected deer won't cross the state line.

It's here, just hasn't been found yet.

What a tool. He’s already blaming it on the hunters. The closest case is 36 miles away from Alabama’s northwest corner. I am confident by the laws of science that CWD will get to Alabama via yearling buck dispersal sooner rather than later.

Not that many have been tested...

dumbest chitt he has said yet, and that is saying something.

The way it SHOULD read......

The only way the disease can appear in Alabama is if it is promoted/fostered here, Chuck Sykes, director of the state game department’s Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division SHOULD have said.
IF he were honest he WOULD have said "I am confident that the only way Chronic Wasting Disease will get to Alabama is through negligence on the part of my management and DCNR policies. It will be that negligent, uncaring government agency, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, that doesn’t take the steadily growing evidence in bordering states and make the right decisions to guard Alabama against CWD. And once it gets here, we can never put that genie back in the bottle. It will have unforeseen impacts on a multibillion dollar industry, not only economically but culturally. However, I believe that making money for DCNR via a Baiting License that brings matching Pittman-Robertson funds is more important than any plan to negate congregating deer and the likelihood of spreading the disease that accompanies baiting."

Doesn't matter that it's in 3 counties on the state line. A CWD infected deer won't cross the state line.

To me, this can be interpreted 1 of 2 ways.

1). Sykes is telling the people that CWD can not spread from area to area. It has to be carried by humans. Thus, " the only way the disease will appear in Alabama" comment
OR
2). He knows it will be here on his watch. He knows the CEO, head coach, or whoever is in charge gets the blame..Right or wrong doesn't matter. They take the check to take the blame. He is trying to put the blame on the hunters before it happens. Deflect, deflect, deflect. He also knows when it gets here, there will be no way to prove where it came from. So, he can say what he wants without anyone proving him wrong.

There are no counties touching Alabama with positive tests. They are all well west of Alabama and north.

Yep.

I still haven’t heard a coherent explanation of how a dead deer riding across the state line in a truck infects a living deer in the wild...

Dead deer with CWD infected with nonliving protein prions that are discarded into an environment without those prions. Those prions don’t have to be transferred from a living deer to another living deer. There are indirect modes of infection.

What's more plausible: CWD infected deer walking down here from Colorado or someone bringing one or parts of one from an infected area?

You have a point. I didn't realize the closest deer by walking distance was in Colorado with CWD. In that case, then yes, it will be brought in by a person. A deer is not walking that far. I could have sworn I heard is was closer to Alabama than Colorado though.

CWD ain't going to arrive via a dead deer carcass. Scientific evidence is that it may of been transferred by carcass ONE time MAYBE. Transfeeal by live deer brought into the state in a trailer is way the hell more likely...and Sykes knows it. Walking in from Ms or Tn is also way more likely than by dead carcass, but walking in or truck transfer don't help support Alabamas ban on deer carcass's coming in from out of state. Anything the state can do to prevent CWD from coming into Al is fine but don't piss on my leg and tell me it is raining.