CWD you eating them?
Whitetail Deer
I spoke with one of the guys who lets me hunt his small 40 after his kids shoot their bucks, or at least hunt. He told me last night 2023 makes 5 years in a row that the deer tested all came back positive.
Anyone seen tests come back so high? WTH
So far no proof that CWD transfers to Human or pets, but they do recommend that you don't eat infected meat. 5 out of 5 bucks all positive, wow, I thought Illinois was bad. I know guys who will eat it regardless, but that's a individual choice.
I’m eating them, and if anybody doesn’t they can store them in my freezer!
Sounds to me like CWD infected populations are still healthy if there’s been atleast 10 bucks taken in 5 years with a 100% (tested) infection rate.
I just did a presentation in one of my business classes on CWD in whitetails for a final project, cool coincidence this just got posted. As far as the last question, I haven’t heard of a 100% infection rate but nobody I know gets them tested, so I’m not much help there.
In the epicenter of WV CWD zone there’s right at a 50% rate of CWD infection and that includes bucks AND does . It’s been about 18 years since first discovered in a road kill deer .
“ So far no proof that CWD transfers to Human or pets”
These are the same people who said “the covid vax was safe, there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and Anna Nicole married for love”
Sorry, nobody I know is eating it, including someone’s dog.
I've never had one tested, and don't worry about it. People were eating CWD infected deer for decades before it was even discovered.
Matt
I would be very careful and thoughtful about eating CWD + meat. There is a long incubation period as well as years before it physically manifests itself, leaving multiple breeding seasons to pass. Covid vaccine is safe to the same statistical level that all vaccines are expected to be. Argue as you wish, I don’t care: the facts speak for themselves. The number of people including “your siblings, friends and children “ who have led full lives because of the diseases prevented by vaccines speaks for itself. If you don’t wish to take advantage of modern medicine that is fine with me. Just stay away from me and my kids
Never heard of it being that high. But, it does make you realize there’s a great potential that everyone who’s eaten wild game, has likely consumed it. For years. It also makes you realize that it’s likely not the devastating dilemma hunters are being fed.
It’s like any other transmittable disease. When it affects so many, some aren’t going to survive. Some are.
Think about this. For the last 15-20 years hunters across this country have stated less deer is something they are seeing. All complain the numbers aren’t what they used to be. Etc…. And, most blame game departments due to doe harvests.
Yet, Everything I’ve read, studied, researched, and came to implement on a professional level, says in good habitat, doe mortality has to reach or exceed 60% yearly in order to hold a whitetail population at the same numbers. Does anyone believe their state is permitting the harvest of 60% of the doe herd? Anyone?
Personally, I believe cwd has been present in a lot of herds, has worked through those that will die from it, and is being spread to new hosts that haven’t yet to be exposed to it. And, that’s why areas get hit so hard. But, 20 years later, the herd is back, cwd is present in high numbers, and everything else is back to normal. Because in those areas, the animals have built up immunity to it.
That’s my opinion. And, until I see a reason to change it, I’m not changing my mind. I’ve yet to see a more reasonable alternative.
If it were me, I likely wouldn’t test any animal. And, as long as it looked healthy when I shot it, smelled and looked normal when I butchered it, I’m eating it. That’s just me.
Back in my day, we didn't have safety standards. We got rusty nails and big bags of broken glass for Christmas. That's the way it was, and we liked it! We loved it!
Relating a politically motivated, and fast tracked vaccine, to CWD is not exactly a scientific comparison.
CWD has been around longer than we know…China joes vaccine, on the other hand, is only a couple of years old. Not to mention the questions surrounding the vaccine, are legitimate, yet they get no attention, and we don’t get the whole story from the “experts” when someone experiences heart and respiratory issues. I have yet to meet or hear about anyone being directly affected by consuming potential CWD tainted meat.
In this case, I’ll trust what I see, rather than fear what I’m told.
70LB, ditto what you said for me.
I live in a state next door to the CWD epicenter that was first identified almost 60 years ago. I've been eating deer for 50yrs. I've probably eaten an infected deer. I wouldn't choose to though, I'd rather play with my bag of broken glass and rusty nails.
Do hunters for the hungry or any other organization that accepts venison test for CWD or care? Are states shutting them down or requiring testing? That may tell you something...or not.
I don’t test anymore, I’m sure I’ve consumed some over the years, but obviously not eating anything that looks or acts sick.
I used to test back in the day, I actually thought it was mandatory but maybe not. The real eye open to me is the ratio.
The last thing I had tested was a moose,
I don’t test them and not concerned. Probably worse stuff we buy off the shelves every day. In a way, I view it as wasting game. If it’s a game animal and I shoot it, I believe it’s my obligation to process the meat. Looking forward to making jerky with season now closed here.
I've never had one tested, but I wouldn't be eating those deer from that area.
I don't test or worry but I understand those who do.
For those that are worried, prions aren't easy to eradicate. Your clothes, pack, knives, truck bed, tarp could hold them and anything porous requires sustained temperatures so high it destroys whatever you are treating. Bleach soak may work on some non-porous surfaces. If you had your deer processed commercially before finding out, might as well toss it whether it's positive or not because their tables, knives, saws, grinders, etc have all likely been exposed plenty of times.
Completely unconcerned about it. Never had a animal tested and would still eat it if it came back positive. When there's a actual case of it transferring or being harmful to humans who are consuming cwd deer I'll start to worry. Until then I'll leave the fear mongering for other's.
So many bad biological decisions have been made in the name of cwd it's ridiculous. More herds have been willfully destroyed by wildlife departments in the name of "saving" them then have been decimated by the actual disease.
Odds of killing a 200" deer are way higher than CWD jumping to humans so I figure I'll start to think about starting to worry after I have a dozen or so of those on the wall :^)
Nearly 60 years of intense study. In the late 90s I worked with the Colorado DOW in the necropsy lab at CSU where all the heads were tested from thousands and thousands of animals. The majority of samples were taken with even using gloves. We were not in any special suites, no mask etc. There were a couple dozen people doing the work etc. If anyone would have shown up it would/should have been one of us.
Then to another point, The disease has not been known to jump the species divide to other animals that are similar to deer, elk and moose... If the CWD was going to jump it would more than likely jump to something like Pronghorn, Big Horn Sheep etc. No evidence of that occurring despite the fact that infected mule deer have shared and overlapped the same habitat with pronghorns for over 60 years...
Lastly predators that eat the raw meat are not getting CWD. They carry and spread it but wolves, coyotes, lions, bears, birds etc. Are surely eating way more infected venision than humans, none have came back positive. I know the a large carnivore researcher with CPW has at least one lion she is mass feeding CWD meat to and has for several years, no infection yet.
Ultimately, if the animal looks sick and unhealthy I will not eat it. If the animal looks healthy then game on...
I read peer reviewed research that determined humans have a different amino acid sequence than deer. This difference is what prevents the CWD prions from infecting humans. The monkeys that were infected by eating CWD infected meat have the same amino acid sequence as deer, which is why they were infected.
Matt
"Lastly predators that eat the raw meat are not getting CWD. They carry and spread it but wolves, coyotes, lions, bears, birds etc. Are surely eating way more infected venision than humans, none have came back positive. I know the a large carnivore researcher with CPW has at least one lion she is mass feeding CWD meat to and has for several years, no infection yet." Never thought of that or heard if anyone has documented anything on carnivores. Good point.
Do you plan on eating the brain, nervous cord, eyes and nasal cavity tissue? Well I don't. Prions were spread to other animals when some dummies likely 1) Ate sheep brains, raw 2) Fed brain tissue to cattle as a cheap source of protein 3) Inhaled biomist from ground brains, nerve cords, etc. 4) All the above.
The COVID vaccine was not a fresh start from scratch project, it came after studying H1N1, SARs-2005 and other similar diseases. Which by the way are still here and haven't seriously affected the human population. I agree it shouldn't be compared to CWD.
Lead in deer studies, oh it was going to cause all kinds of issues. Hmmm then they found out there was more lead in the general population that those who consume venison.
Fish Consumption advisories, mercury, PCBs, etc. in WHOLE fish often used in the analysis cause some ethnic groups eat them that way. Sorry I don't concentrate on eating the innards or fatty flesh.
The THEY in these scenarios are hardly the same people. Each scenario, published study, advisory, etc. must be looked at individually. Scientists and health professionals as a group are not morons and spend years in training to study the situation. However, there are those politically motivated hacks and folks as dumb as rocks. Peer reviewed studies and the scientific theories on causation are still pretty sound, but you can't have a hidden agenda. If the casual observer can blow holes in the study and its conclusions pretty much tells you all you need to know. The truth stands the test of time as folks attempt to disprove it. Science can and should always be questioned, there is literally no end to the debate (sorry Obama you are an idiot for saying so).
Never have tested and never will test. Eat all we harvest.
Tested at first, but have been eating them all my Life, 75 yrs. old! I've eaten 12 or 13 positive and I haven't turned "GREEN" or anything yet, and I'll keep eating them! It's ALL POLITICAL!!! If you believe ALL the BS the GOV. passes on, your missing OUT on the BEST MEAT Out there!!!!!!!!
WYOelker I trust you on this. Sounds like you have "boots on the ground " knowledge and I believe in that.
Yup I eat em. Tested + or - not tested at all. We’ve hunted the epicenter near Fort Collins most of my life, I refuse to spend my money or license fee money on testing anymore seems 50% were “detected” 50% were “not detected” so I figure every other one has it and just eat em.
Oh great great grandparents drank from lead pipes and ate infected deer 100%….before it was a “thing”… I’m not worried about it. I don’t test. I shoot, cut, package, eat.
""He told me last night 2023 makes 5 years in a row that the deer tested all came back positive. To clarify, five bucks shot, all came back positive over the last five years.""
MO 's MDC says it is always fatal, how many dead deer has he found? Just curious...
Of all the people, I’m in there the most, land owner never really walks around. I’ve never found one.
Coyotes make quick work of everything as well.
Probably eaten at least a few by now based on where I hunt. Don’t test though.
Do the guys willing to throw the meat away still gut, quarter, cape, skull cap, boil skulls, etc? How many prions are you exposed to in those processes? Are you guys handling them in a hazmat suit? It’s been proven they can be ingested via aerosol/nasally. Some studies say that’s more effective than fluid contact and certainly is vs eating flesh where it doesn’t hardly concentrate.
Never understood why folks willing to trash a processed critter would even hunt where it’s prevalent.
KB, I guarantee the guys who trash their CWD positive deer don’t trash the antlers. Which means they expose themselves to CWD, anyway.
Absolutely. And potentially a much higher load than if they simply took the edible portions and let the head lay. Obviously that wouldn’t be legal everywhere though.
Would be interesting to see a study on if/how many prions remain on a boiled/beetled skull. Pretty reasonable to think some folks who toss meat go ahead and bring it into their homes anyway.
So again, why even hunt if you’re scared of it?
I’ve hunted in CWD zones for a long time, far longer than the little sporadic outbursts that they’re seeing back east. It didn’t bother me.
Are there any states who offer a refund or a portion of a refund on a tag when you harvest a CWD + animal? Seems like if the product was inedible on a 50%+ rate then that would take a drastic part of the value of tags away and who wants to spend thousands of dollars, burn vacation, drive days putting thousands of miles on a vehicle to kill an inedible animal? Takes alot of it out of it for me if you can't eat them.
Caz, I used to do that fishing steelhead. Man, not a smart thing to do.
"Are there any states who offer a refund or a portion of a refund on a tag when you harvest a CWD + animal?"
Wisconsin gives you a replacement tag at no charge if you harvest a deer that tests positive for CWD. If it is a buck you get a replacement buck tag. If a doe a replacement doe tag. I know a guy that currently is on his 3rd buck tag as his 1st 2 bucks tested positive.
CWD has been in WI for a long time now. I have killed and eaten a lot of deer here in that time. I haven't test a single one, nor will I ever. The WDNR does not want CWD to go away. They spend very little on researching a cure or if resistance is possible.
Damn, when I think about the hundreds of deer my father and I have used his old meat saw on to cut the antlers off and split the deer down the spinal cord, that thing must be loaded with CWD prions. I should probably just throw it away. LOL!
Matt
So, let me get this straight. We have every state wildlife agency where CWD is present, the MDF, RMEF, B&C, P&Y, Meateater...and the list is endless, recommending testing and not eating a "positive" cervid on one hand.
We have some from the Bowsite community saying the opposite, on the other.
You get to choose for yourself I reckon.
RutnStrut, CWD was first "discovered" where I live in Northern CO. That was in the mid-60s. Since then, unbelievable amounts of research have taken place, hundreds of studies, all sorts of "solutions" have been tried. CO is currently trying to kill all the mature muley bucks to supposedly slow the spread, as the latest disastrous attempt. Prior to that, they just killed all the deer indiscriminately.
Complicating this is the phenomenon called "spontaneous folding" of prions, which is suspected of causing CWD outbreaks in places like Norway and S. Korea, which have absolutely no connection to infected ungulates in the U.S. Norway slaughtered all of the reindeer in that remote, isolated herd. Except....prions remain in the soil indefinitely, so if the reindeer return, so will CWD.
Prions have been found in brains soaking in formaldehyde for years that were still transmissable. You can try but probably no way to avoid coming into contact at some level. They aren't like a living bacteria or virus.
So far, the only thing about CWD that has significantly impacted or changed hunting is that we discovered it exists and the misguided management decisions shaped by that discovery.
I agree with all of WV Mountaineer's posts. I have had elk tested for CWD, luck tests were negative. It is something to take seriously, just like COVID vacations.
Correction, I agree with Scndwfstlhntng posts. I have had elk tested for CWD, luck tests were negative. It is something to take seriously, just like COVID vacations.
" It is something to take seriously, just like COVID vacations."
I prefer tropical vacations, personally. ;-)
Matt
I thought “they” determined that corn piles were responsible for the spread of CWD? Haven’t most states banned the practice of using corn piles to attract deer?
Any sort of attractant serves as a transmission site because it concentrates animals. Studies found much higher percentages of CWD in places where people were illegally feeding them in Boulder County.
So someone has an elk all butchered, packaged and frozen, couple hundred pounds of prime meat. And three weeks later the test results come back positive. Knowing CWD has never made the jump to humans, do you take all that beautiful vacuum sealed venison to the landfill? I don't test so don't have to deal with that dilemma. But it would make me sick to do that.
CWD was identified in 1967. It most likely occurred in the wild long before that. It's safe to assume tens of thousands of people, more likely hundreds of thousands, have eaten infected meat over the past 60 years (at least) and no instance of transmission to humans has ever been documented. That 60 year "clinical trial" is good enough for me.
70, as of 2021, 22 states allowed baiting of deer. A handful of them only allow it in specific areas, not statewide. I don't know how those numbers have changed since then. I'm glad it's been banned in Colorado for a few decades.
Matt
I wouldn’t start processing anything If I was worried until it was proven CWD free.
Saw this same discussion on a state Facebook group recently. The overwhelming majority didn’t test/didn’t care. It led to someone coming forward with 80lbs of processed deer that was positive. All sausage I believe. It was taken to a sporting goods store and they were giving it away on a first come first serve basis. Believe there were plenty of takers. Might ask around before you toss it…
Kyle, any thoughts on why the agencies/biologists recommend not eating but no mention of handling?
Several do Kaleb, I know KS certainly does as well as the MDF, B&C, and the Meateater website's.
I think you remember my Mule Deer encounter two years ago. After seeing that buck stand in the same spot(plowed dirt field) for 15min, and another guy said it had been there for over an hour. I literally walked up to it, and though it was an arrow, conducted nothing more than a mercy killing...not a hunt by any means.
There was no way I was going to eat that thing, and I did toss my Havalon blade after taking the head. I still touched the deer, and it rode in my Suburban to Wichita, and I did have a guy do a European on him, it's in my office which I never use.
I don't think we really know what CWD can do to humans(see link), and like I said we each get to choose whether to test or eat...I know what I choose.
Kyle, they injected prions into mouse brains amd spinal cords, which led to their hypothesis. If someone asks to inject prions into my brain, I'll politely decline the offer.
Yeah, I read it Lou, and it's not definitive proof that the prions can transfer by any means. I guess I'm just not convinced that there's no possibility. I choose to trust the folks with scientific backgrounds, and their advice. Not telling you or anyone else what to do bud.
As long as the deer you got wasn't baited ;?)
Interesting thought on this subject.
You have a positive deer, you end up tossing it. In the big picture did you really waste anything?
"You have a positive deer, you end up tossing it. In the big picture did you really waste anything?
IMO, yes you did. I view CWD as a natural biological thing. Those deer don't go to waste when they die in the wild. Scavengers need to eat too.
Matt
So, you start a thread to validate your opinion, then get frustrated when the vast majority don't agree. OK. End of story.
Matt
I don't test as there is NO evidence of transmission to humans, I eat all my venison. And those I give venison to I let them know the facts about CWD if they don't already have some sort of knowledge, I haven't had ANYONE turn down free venison (these are all non-hunters).
Actually, I had to have one deer tested due to mandatory testing in 1997, when turning in the head at CSU I asked the head specialist his take on CWD, he stated currently that it was a 1/1billion chance for it to transfer to humans and only if the genetic markers were perfect, and that alone was a 1/3billion chance of that happening, I quit worrying about CWD and focus my concerns on more relevant issues concerning hunting and biggame.
40 years ago when CWD was still a media scare, before "global warming" became the OH MY GOD WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! panic du jour, it was common for people to ask if my animal had been tested before accepting meat.
Now, nobody ever asks. One nonhunting woman said to me last year, "Oh, I thought that was over". I told her the disease was still there, but the drive-by media has moved on.
I don’t get anything tested and eat it all.
It doesn't transmit to humans. End of story. Funny some of the guys worried about nonexistent human CWD probably smoke, drink, have high cholesterol, diabetes, or coronary artery disease and will be dead before 70. Think about how many hundreds of thousands of deer and elk from CWD rich Colorado have been eaten in the last few decades, and nobody got CWD, including myself. In fact, I was required to get my last mulie tested in Colorado and I didn't even bother to log in to see the results. Immediately ate his backstraps and loins. I feel too many city guys will use this an excuse to just kill game and throw away the meat. Stop hunting if you do that.
In your case, I’d be more worried about lead poisoning from the meat vs CWD as we know 100% of your animals will test positive for gunshot wounds.
It’s a dangerous world out there.
You couldn't be more wrong Cazador. I've been killing deer since I was 14 with a bow. I'm 42 now and I just shot a fine buck a few days ago during rifle season using a bow. If in doubt how much I archery hunt, check my thread on the KS site.
Funny how all this stuff blows up about hunted game meat and fish. We had a big news thing here in WI that they said don't eat any fish from any lake in WI because of some chemical used in teflon I believe. This hit the news media just before our open water season started, Timing? Well, you look deeper into this and found that there were only certain lakes they were concerned about in populated areas. Did the news media recant? No.
Lol, does the news media EVER recant?
I'm more worried about poison ivy than CWD as far as my personal health.
"Since 1997, the World Health Organization has recommended that it is important to keep the agents of all known prion diseases from entering the human food chain."
This will be how they begin to outlaw deer hunting. Timing is everything.
May have eaten some last night. I don't test, don't know, don't care.
Think about how many people eagerly lined up for the jab, with virtually no testing for long term effects. Meanwhile, over 60 years of intense study of CWD has been unable to produce any evidence of a jump to humans.
"...over 60 years of intense study of CWD has been unable to produce any evidence of a jump to humans."
based on some of the posts on bowsite...i think it might have already made the jump.
:)
Here's what we're having for dinner tonight, untested.
Matt
christmas eve tradition for us...salmon fresh off the smoker.
mercury maybe...but probably no cwd. worth the risk. :)
That looks delicious RCG! Yum.
After a lot of researching, and talking to biologists, I've decided that I'm going to bite the bullet and pay the fee to have all of my deer tested before I let me family consume the meat. I'll just debone, freeze the meat, and wait for the results. My county had a 38% positive rate with their random testing done last year. it's worth the piece of mind to me.
Sivart I don't blame you, there are definitely people that have shared your thoughts on CWD from the beginning, and I notice that in recent years more and more people are changing their tune and testing their deer and not eating them if positive.
HunterR, the people "changing their tune" are doing so because of media hysteria, not science. Almost 60 years of intense research has produced zero evidence.
Meanwhile, those same people eagerly lined up for jabs that were unleashed on the public with minimal testing over a few months.
“ Almost 60 years of intense research has produced zero evidence.”
I guarantee you that a hungry man would be happy with those odds!!
A lot of people being convinced to dispose of the meat…that’s a lot of wasted resources.
If you care about CWD, don’t hunt deer where it’s prevalent. Plenty of other hunters will. It’s not going away. Worry about something important.
"HunterR, the people "changing their tune" are doing so because of media hysteria, not science. Almost 60 years of intense research has produced zero evidence.
Meanwhile, those same people eagerly lined up for jabs that were unleashed on the public with minimal testing over a few months"
Jaquomo I don't think we're necessarily talking about the same people, in fact I know we're not because not everyone that I'm referring to that changed their tune on cwd also "lined up for jabs", that I know for sure. I'm sure some of them did, but not all, that's a pesky little fact. Personally I can't find fault in someone who chooses to not eat diseased meat, even if the disease has not been proven to transfer to humans, as of today.
“ ….as of today” or as of the last 60 years. LOL.
It's a personal decision. Just remember to toss your knives, saws, etc if tossing the meat due to a positive test. I get it. Eventhough the odds are zero at the moment, getting holes in the brain would be a rough way to go.
Grey Ghost you're right I should have just said 'so far' instead of as of today. You don't have to agree with my opinion I'm fine with that, and there's no mistaking your opinion as I think you've posted it nearly 10 times in this thread. Bottom line is eat whatever you want to eat, others will do the same, life will likely go on for most.
Glunt, If I was to have a last meal that plate of yours would work just fine. Simply beautiful... I can smell it and taste it just looking at it. Wow!
The prions are spread all over, in the soil, airborne with wind storms, taken up by plants, and eaten by nearly everything and everyone.
