Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer - CWD?

I see in the new Idaho Regs that it is mandatory to check any deer taken in a unit bordering Montana. It seem that it is here and spreading. How have you been dealing with game taken in area that have CWD? Is it the beginning of the end or is there hope?

centershot;
Good afternoon, I hope the day down in southern Idaho is as mild as it is up here in the Okanagan today and that you're well.

Obviously I'm not Mule Deer and not in Montana, but as an FYI on CWD, we had our first two deer in BC test positive last season.

https://bcwf.bc.ca/chronic-wasting-disease-detected-in-b-c-deer-for-the-first-time/

The news release from BCWF said they were south of Cranbrook so depending on exactly where, they could be within spitting distance of the medicine line, closer to Bonner's Ferry or Libby so either state.

We've been turning in heads for a couple years now here in BC to see if we can at least know where it is.

Also there's pretty strict regulations about bringing game meat in from out of province. Here's a copy of what's in the BC Hunting synopsis now.

50. To possess any part of a Cervidae (caribou, deer,
elk, moose), that was killed outside of British
Columbia, other than (1) the edible meat of the
four quarters, loins, neck, and ribs, or (2) the hide,
antlers, and skull plate if, before being brought into
British Columbia, the part is cleaned in a manner
that removes all tissue.

Again, that's just how the neighbors to the north are dealing with it and nothing more.

Hope that was helpful to you or someone out there.

Dwayne

A perusal of the IDFG website and regulations shows it's recommended for any unit that borders MT, UT, or WY, not mandatory. It's mandatory in units 14, 18, 23, 24, and 32A, none of which border those three states.

There are a few small areas in Montana where CWD is pretty common--which is why our game department has been holding special hunts to reduce deer populations in those areas, mostly whitetails, since they tend to test positive more often than mule deer, elk, and moose. Our local area isn't one of the hotspots, but we've had a couple tested, which turned up negative.

Last fall killed a cow elk in an area around 150 miles east of here, where so far no animal has tested positive within around 100 miles. Didn't get it tested, both because of the present results, and the were none of the indicators of possible infection.

One of the good things about CWD is evidently only "deer" can get it. Pronghorns can't, and usually get at least two every year....

CWD is said to have originated in Colorado decades ago just south of where I hunt, and most people around here don't get their deer or elk tested. If people in other places think that people in Wyoming are crazy, maybe that explains it.

Here is the link to the MT FWP map showing the distribution in MT of positive CWD results and sampling location: MT CWD Distribution Map
Here is the link to the MT FWP CWD management program: https://fwp.mt.gov/cwd
Here in MT, CWD continues to spread among Cervids, although it appears that deer are the most susceptible, especially whitetails.

Here is the link to the USGS's National Wildlife Health Center map showing the distribution in North America of positive CWD results by location:
https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/distribution-chronic-wasting-disease-north-america-0
Note: using different shading highlights, the USGS map shows the locations of CWD positive areas prior to 2000 and today. It appears to me that the disease is either spreading rapidly, or there has been more testing, or both.

I bet that Idaho F&G is actively testing they will find CWD in the Panhandle counties, and sooner rather than later.

There is speculation that non-cervid ungulates, including pronghorn, are susceptible. I've not heard of any positives outside of cervids and the testing of them is likely next to nil. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7009333/

From memory, I think it was detected in Idaho's west side as well.

Whttail in MT;
Good evening sir, I hope you and yours are well tonight.

As mentioned, we're trying to get ahead of CWD coming here, which according to the bios I've spoken to is only a matter of time.

I've not heard of it going outside of cervids either, but strange things happen.

A couple years back when we had a heat dome hit here in June, we got a really bad case of Blue Tongue blow up all the way from New Mexico or Utah - south of us by several states anyways.

When it did, we were informed at a recent wild sheep disease symposium that for the first time in everyone's collective knowledge, it caught onto our California Bighorn herd and killed a bunch of them.

Now they are and already were suffering from M. Ovi which the bio and provincial vet described as an immune compromising disease so that likely was a corresponding cause or surely might not have helped them.

Also one of the younger bios mentioned that he's not keen on becoming "Patient Zero" as far as catching CWD from an ungulate he's killed and he's studied it a fair bit more than I have.

I appreciate all the input and information as it's all new to me, though some family do live in the CWD zones in southern Saskatchewan and hunt there as well.

Thanks and all the best.

Dwayne

I'm a bit north of the ID CWD zone, but have no illusions it won't eventually find it's way here. Might be here already? The last 3 years I've sent in lymph nodes from every deer and elk I've killed. No positives yet. Worst thing about the whole deal is waiting 4-6 weeks for the results.

The IDFG has been heavily culling deer and elk in the CWD zone and from what I've read, 10% of the deer culled have it. CWD is on the move and now is south and west of the first finding of it.

From BS-ing with others on the campfire, in states that have CWD going back 20 plus years, those guys don't seem to worry about it much anymore and don't bother testing.

I wouldn’t eat a deer if I knew that it had CWD, which means I would test every deer harvested in a known CWD zone. Convention wisdom said it cannot infect humans, but there have been some studies indicating that that may not be entirely true.

I saw an article (can't remember where) last week that said there were two deer hunters that apparently contracted CWD from a deer they had killed and have subsequently died from it.
The article suggested that CWD appears to have made the jump to being transmissible to humans, though it did say test were, as yet, conclusive.