Does Your DEER Meat Have "ZOMBIE" CWD !!??

[shooterdon]

Our state wildlife departments really screwed up by allowing baiting of deer, in my opinion. Deer are wild animals, not our pets to feed. Allowing hunters to bait deer, with commercially produced products that may contain infected animal protein, is just stupid, not to mention unsportsmanlike. Having wild deer congregate at a feeding site is un-natural, and greatly increases the odds of deer passing disease to each other, or to be infected by contaminated feed. We should demand that all baiting of wild deer be banned. It’s unhealthy for the herd.

I felt the same way about baiting until recently. Baiting allows poor hunters to harvest deer that need to be thinned out. So far this winter, found 6 dead deer. We have over 24" of snow on the ground in most places right now. Deer are having a tough time. I know guys feeding them so the deer will have a better chance of surviving. They are not hunting or poaching...just trying to help them out even though it is illegal to do so.

I have never heard of the feed being infected and wonder how that happens.

I put food plots in. I suppose that is unsportsmanlike as well. Plan on planting some apple tress this year too. I suppose I should be tried for Bambi murder. Still believe it is better to harvest deer than see them starve. Some people are not good hunters or unable to hunt.

I have a neighbor who cannot walk more than 1/2 a mile and hunts on his 5 acres. He has no running water and is over 70 years old. Needs the meat and shoots his deer out of his one room 16x16 cabin window. Cannot fault him much for doing what he has to do. I would turn a blind eye even if he decided to poach but he has not so far. He has no car either and lives alone. It is not always black and white.

 

[Thomas]

I felt the same way about baiting until recently. Baiting allows poor hunters to harvest deer that need to be thinned out. So far this winter, found 6 dead deer. We have over 24" of snow on the ground in most places right now. Deer are having a tough time. I know guys feeding them so the deer will have a better chance of surviving. They are not hunting or poaching...just trying to help them out even though it is illegal to do so.

I have never heard of the feed being infected and wonder how that happens.

I put food plots in. I suppose that is unsportsmanlike as well. Plan on planting some apple tress this year too. I suppose I should be tried for Bambi murder. Still believe it is better to harvest deer than see them starve. Some people are not good hunters or unable to hunt.

I have a neighbor who cannot walk more than 1/2 a mile and hunts on his 5 acres. He has no running water and is over 70 years old. Needs the meat and shoots his deer out of his one room 16x16 cabin window. Cannot fault him much for doing what he has to do. I would turn a blind eye even if he decided to poach but he has not so far. He has no car either and lives alone. It is not always black and white.

…………………………….
:thumbsup:

 

[teejk]

Mad cow is generally transferred to humans through meat that has been tainted with brain matter or the spinal cord. This is also how CWD could potentially be transferred although it has never happened (as far as we know)

Time will tell if consuming meat that has zero central nervous system tissue contamination is safe. Since Great Britain changed their meat handling practices the disease is almost non-existent

Good article on it here
Mad Cow Disease Fast Facts - CNN

The first reports of CWD in Wisconsin involved a few counties where several landowners formed an alliance to create a "trophy" zone comprising thousands of acres. Was suspicion (never proven) at the time that they were using a protein supplement to promote antler growth that might have contained sheep bones/spinal cords. Since then the disease has found its way into several other counties. There are clear relationships to game farms with penned deer...e.g. concentrated populations that feed in concentrated areas (hence the bans on feeding in several counties and strict requirements on fencing). Truth of the matter IMHO? Our deer harvest is 300,000+ annually. A lot of people have been eating venison for years with no apparent health concerns (although there were 2 people that apparently died several years ago from what might have been related).

 

[Motorboatin]

A lot of people have been eating venison for years with no apparent health concerns (although there were 2 people that apparently died several years ago from what might have been related).

I usually drop my Deer off for processing and since the CWD scare I have had them bone it out instead of getting traditional cuts

And I stopped eating the brain :thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

We are currently participating in a CWD white tail deer study in cooperation with the Michigan DNR and Michigan State University. As a cooperative land owner we are allowing deer to be trapped, blood samples drawn and tagged with tracking collars allowing the resurchers to monitor the herd movement. The study is just getting underway and the goal is to monitor the spread of the disease and potentially figure out how to curb it痴 continual growth.
Every morning we have a cadry of students show up checking traps and putting out corn and on two occasions thus far have hit pay dirt and tagged two animals one of which showed up about a mile away on a neighbor痴 game camera.
Very interesting to rub shoulders with young people interested in game management.

B. John

Good for you on the participation. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[teejk]

I usually drop my Deer off for processing and since the CWD scare I have had them bone it out instead of getting traditional cuts

And I stopped eating the brain :thumbsup:

Boneless venison has been the rule around here for decades even before CWD (no saw required). I've read that if you are worried you should also forego the liver and heart.

 

[tjkubota93]

The twra has been testing them. You are supposed to de bone any deer and wait for test results. Not allowed to transport the rest of the animal out of the county.

 

[teejk]

The twra has been testing them. You are supposed to de bone any deer and wait for test results. Not allowed to transport the rest of the animal out of the county.

Our DNR thinks the carcass is part of the problem also. They tried that prohibition last season but it didn't play well so the rule was suspended. Deer hunting is big business in Wisconsin and also big tradition with long established "camps" where people come from miles away to play cards and "socialize" with old friends every year. A few of them actually go out in the woods and shoot a deer that they take home to be processed. I think what will happen here is the DNR will supply dumpsters throughout the state for the bones.

 

[FTG-05]

The twra has been testing them. You are supposed to de bone any deer and wait for test results. Not allowed to transport the rest of the animal out of the county.

Note that this is just in three counties in TN where CWD has been confirmed found, not the whole state: Carcass Importation Restrictions

Note that they have also banned supplemental feeding (i.e. baiting) within the CWD zone (Fayette, Hardiman and McNairy counties).

 

[dmccarty]

Our DNR thinks the carcass is part of the problem also. They tried that prohibition last season but it didn't play well so the rule was suspended. Deer hunting is big business in Wisconsin and also big tradition with long established "camps" where people come from miles away to play cards and "socialize" with old friends every year. A few of them actually go out in the woods and shoot a deer that they take home to be processed. I think what will happen here is the DNR will supply dumpsters throughout the state for the bones.

How would the carcass be a problem? Never heard, or should I say, herd, of a deer eating dead dear. Is DNR going to go pick up all of the dead deer hit by vehicles?

Later,
Dan