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As much as I hate driving in Nashville, I reckon I'll go. Should be quite a show

I sniff another award winning article coming out of this.

This is the first year of a statewide allowance of baiting,hoping that is nipped in the bud for starters

Maybe if they keep trying long enough eventually they will run out of wrong solutions.

-Mitch

Geezzsus

I have to admit. I was prepared to go to war. What they did, in most instances, makes pretty good sense. There is nothing that can be done to cure or eliminate CWD. It cannot be stopped. But the measures the commission has taken so far, at least, does no harm. It may, in fact, have laid the groundwork from actual beneficial changes. There was a slight recognition of a few factors some of us have been preaching for several years and that is huge progress. Unfortunately, the major impact here is going to be on the donation of meat to the Hunters for the Hungry project and quite possibly, a decrease in the sale of hunting licenses, next year. I am already hearing talk along those lines.

Stop worrying about the damn deer population and start thinking about the potential for disease mutation and jumping the species barrier

Thank you for getting the CWD information put to us.

Which countys are impacted by CWD thus far?

Will the extended season be statewide or just the affected countys?

Thank you again

JL- No it addresses the other side of the equation. Note that one buck has been added. That is an increase of 1/3 the normal season limit. I realize, it is hard for hunters in states where there are strict bag limits to understand how we can kill three does a day for over 110-days. The truth is, we could have an open season on does for 365-days and still have a problem with population. As of a few days ago, 12-19, statewide, we had killed 68,252 antlered bucks; 45, 065 does and 3,438 antlerless bucks (buttons). Hunters simply will not shoot does for whatever reason. So far, the statewide total kill is down 3,106 animals from last year. That is due to weather and I firmly believe a serious drop in juvenile hunters in particular and a smaller drop in total hunter numbers.

After speaking with two of the state biologists, I have come to believe they may have a better grasp on not just CWD but on some of the problems TN faces in general. It is, or hopefully was, the wildlife commission that was clouding the issues. I took them to task...quite strongly for caving in to a "trophyist" lobby, three years ago. Last year, they reversed two of their absolute worst changes in the regulations that angered many hunters. Unfortunately, I believe the harm was already done.

Make no mistake, I was not alone in this public attack on the commission. Others outdoor writers spoke out openly against what was happening. I personally met with the then, chairperson of the commission and quite plainly told her exactly what I thought and what I was going to do in the open press. That person is no longer on the commission and the new chair has given me some reason to hope.

When politics and biology meet, biology always loses. And there is no doubt, this CWD vehicle is potentially a cash cow. BUT...and it is a big but, I, to my great surprise, am encouraged by what the commission did and did not do, yesterday. I appears the commission may be finally forced to listen to the biologists instead of threatening to fire them if they do not provide the data to support the wishes of the commission. This state, lost two of the best minds in game management due to just exactly that. When I made that fact public, the cacada hit the fan. Since we went to the on-line check-in system, the data collected is flawed and leaves an open door for "adjusting". For that reason, I along with several others, have lobbied hard for a return of physical check-in on weekends. I realize it is costly. However, I do not believe it is as costly as management under flawed data.

I state again my position: CWD has always been there in every appreciable population of cervidae. In the wild, it was 99% undetectable. We humans, to some degree, made it worse due to a variety of reasons I have previously stated. I am convinced, as of right now, there is no cure and very little in the way of containment. It is a way to both above and below public scrutiny, generate money and manipulate bag limits and population. Some of this has been proven. I believe CWD will NOT decimate the population if humans do not screw it up. It kills far less animals than EHD and vehicle collisions. Good and accurate management can offset population declines in high-density areas, just as it has with EHD. I am hopeful, the "panic" scare tactics do not permanently reduce our number of hunters even further. We are, right now, in a more than serious decline of young hunters. Nationwide, cervid managers in the public sector, have shown a remarkable propensity to do unbelievably stupid things in regard to CWD. Hopefully, that is changing.

Merry Christmas, everyone. In a few hours, I will do my final radio show of the year and my final column, #2288, has been sent in. Next week, I go to AL for my annual three-day, hunt/reunion and then, my 64th deer season will be over. I hope we can all look back on this year as a learning year and make better decisions in the coming year. I would be remiss if I did not leave you with this: I now have go buy some new Rage Mechs. for my crossbow. :) Have a good one, Stick and String.

I keep hearing that the state(s) are wanting to kill deer to sell more tags to generate more money. Governments are money hungry, no doubt. But that seems to be very short term gain; as in killing the Golden Goose. When the deer are gone or so decimated that nobody wants to hunt, then that cash cow has dried up, been butchered and crapped out.

Is there a long term plan or just smash, grab and run, to heck with future revenues?

As it appears, if we are convinced it must be strictly managed, then the only solution is to kill all wild cervids, wait ten years then reintroduce. Slowing it with stop gap measures seems like very slowly pulling the band-aid off. Why not just leave it till it falls off by it's self.

NEWS SIDE-Special Report

CWD Found in TN-What is it?

In the late 1960’s Chronic Wasting Disease-CWD, was found in a small herd of penned elk at the University of Wyoming. The elk came from pens at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins. They had been live-trapped in the Colorado Mountains. That marked the discovery of CWD. CWD is a prion borne disease, similar to Mad Cow Disease in cattle and Scrapies in sheep. At present, if affects only cervidae-members of the deer family including whitetail deer, mule deer, elk, moose, reindeer and others. There is no evidence it can be transmitted to humans or any other species. Recently it was discovered in seven deer in Fayette and Hardeman Counties. Three other cases are suspect. In response to this discovery, the TFWC-the governing body of the TWRA, activated their emergency response plan. This plan include expanding the deer season in three counties-Fayette, Hardeman and McNairy. This will allow deer hunting through January 31, 2019. The goal is to gather more deer for testing. Also put in place was the prohibition of all feeding of wildlife except for bird feeders within 100-feet of any home and other normal agricultural practices. In other words, it is now illegal to feed wildlife. Symptoms may be delayed for some time before being manifest. They include apparent confusion in the animal and severe emaciation. It is almost 100% fatal to deer. To date, there is no evidence it can be spread to humans or any other animals. Obviously, common sense dictates some precautions should be taken. Do not eat or handle any deer that appears sick. I suggest you kill it if possible-regardless of sex-and immediately call a game warden. Do not handle the animal. If you cannot kill it, notify a game warden immediately and report the animal. TWRA Director, Ed Carter said, “…finding that many infected deer at once is unprecedented. Finding such a large number of infected deer in indicative that CWD has likely been present in the area for a long time, perhaps years.” It is my opinion, one I have made public for years, that CWD has always been present in significant populations of cervids. I do not believe we discovered CWD. I believe we discovered the test for it. There is no cause for panic, no reason to stop hunting, no reason to stop eating deer meat. Simply apply some common sense and immediately, stop all supplemental feeding of wildlife. I have killed five deer this year. All appeared healthy, all went into freezers. However, for many years, I have worn shoulder-length gloves in field dressing deer. I also do all my own meat processing and know what I am eating. I eat a lot of deer meat, have for years. Just use some common sense. CWD has been officially found in TN. In all probability, it has always been here. Our TFWC is taking some logical and appropriate action. In the future, I would hope to see a tightening of supplemental feeding laws and a return of check stations on weekends in all counties. That will not eliminate CWD from our wild deer population. It may have some limited impact on the spread. But it will provide more accurate data. Yes, CWD is in TN. Probably, it always has been. It is not a cause for panic or to stop hunting and eating deer meat. ###

Since you basically say it is not always 100% fatal, are the deer that survive immune after? Thinking possibly there is no way to know, yet. But what might scientists predict?

If we are slaughtering deer we may be slaughtering ones that have built an immunity to it. Would this not be an argument to let nature take its own course?

Have they continued to test at Ground Zero in Colorado? Are infection rates steadily climbing?

A little further south, in the Boulder foothills, they found some herds with higher infection rates, which they attribute to people feeding them (and mineral blocks) and which concentrates them where more are exposed. But even there, the herd numbers are doing pretty well considering all the other non-CWD factors (winter range degradation due to fire suppression, high saturation of unhunted coyotes and cats).

Listening to the biologist in JTV's link, I got the definite impression that the man was campaigning rather than educating. And no answer was suggested, just some nibbling around the edges. There was not a course of action laid out to achieve a certain effect. Kill all the deer? Reduce numbers to the extreme and if that, then when do you let them rebound. I got the impression that something had to done whether it was good, bad or indifferent. Just anything! The opening the door to wolves as a disease management tool struck me as odd and the biologist skirted around the rationale for it.

It all seemed to boil down to, the landscape needs way less deer. Not a popular option for hunters. And maybe that's where the wolves come in. You don't have to manage them with seasons or encourage them to thin out the herds.

Ummm... or not. Kip Adams needs to get a clue. Perhaps look to the 50 years of experience in CO. But he's a QDMA guy, so he may have a different agenda.

"OMG, WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING DRASTIC, EVEN IF IT DIDNT WORK ELSEWHERE!!"

There has never been any kind of study to show that the prions in the soil or bound in plants has infected a deer. There is research going on at LSU that is linking a wall less bacteria with TSE’s and prions are not the cause but the result of infection. Here is a link with a lot of good info http://tseresearchcenter.org

Brilliant.

I'm glad you find CWD humorous. I'm in Hawaii working for uncle Sam, you're welcome. Our property is in NC and I fully support research on CWD regardless of its history on earth.

The only thing I find funny is that "hunters" have this whole CWD thing figured out while biologist freely admit they don't have all the answers.

As for me, I'm headed for Al in three-days. Y'all have good'un. (Oh, heard any reports about CWD, in AL...LOL-You can't find it if you don't test for it.)

There may be an upside to CWD. It may, at least here in TN, tighten the laws on supplemental feeding and hopefully cause a return to mandatory, physical check-in, at least on weekends. I realize that is a burden on hunters. The telecheck was so handy, but it is also the best way to gather accurate data and to some degree, reduce violations. I am preparing a proposal for our commission and now that I know I have their ear, I am hopeful they will at least listen. The greatest problem facing us here in TN is a growing deer herd and a shrinking number of hunters. There is no other explanation for the decline in the kill numbers and the increase in the population. Perhaps, CWD is the answer. I realize, it is hard for hunters in some states to understand a daily limit of three-does per day for well over 100-days. I know that is impossible to do but it is indicative of our problem. We simply are not killing enough deer. A few years ago, when I was stronger and healthier, I routinely killed 10-12 deer a year, most years, all does. Today, I am just not physically able and the younger hunters, just won't kill that many does.

There was a doe and fawn standing in the corn an hour after I put it out, I had no idea how much deer liked corn. All the neighbors hunt and at least 3 of them bait, probably more. The deer in our area are obviously accustomed to corn but I underestimated the attraction.

The problem, as it is in many areas, is shrinking habitat. Much of the once available land is now in subdivisions. Landowners are quite open to hunting...if they know you. Each year, I get asked to come hunt. But large tracts of land are a different story. We are starting to see a lot of leasing. However, we do have over one-million acres of public land and much of it holds good populations. Within minutes of my house are many acres of public land and I have killed a lot of deer on it in the past. We don't get a lot of out of state hunting because our trophy potential is so low.