I can assure you that 25% of the herd in those northern counties did not die off from CWD in the last 12 months. If that was the case, there would have had thousands of positives in the three county area where they were actively checking and there would have been additional cases showing up in all the testing being done in surrounding counties if it was that prevalent. People would've been reporting seeing sick deer left and right. So explain to me where all these positive tests are? .
What if the initial die off occurred during the spring and summer months?? There's a blatant pattern in the data.
Then people would have seen and reported sick deer all spring and summer that looked emaciated, walking/staggering around. They dont get CWD and immediately die. I've seen pics from other states of deer staggering around, that are nothing but skin and bones. CWD is a long drawn out illness and it might take years for prion buildup to get to the point where a deer is exhibiting actual symptoms. Once again, it would have shown up in all the extra testing going on in those counties. If something happened in the spring and early summer, turkey hunters would have reported finding an inordinate amount of dead deer as they chased pine chickens all over the woods. I cover way way more ground and landscape turkey hunting in one weekend than I do in a month of deer hunting as do all the good turkey hunters I know and Im sure there are more than a few serious turkey hunters in that part of the state. Face it. It simply has not happened.
