Deer Hunting | Whitetail Deer Hunting | The Dunn Deal Hunting Lodge | Iowa Hunting | Turkey Hunting | Coyote Hunting | White Tail Deer Hunting | Iowa Hunting Lodge | Hunting Lodge

Chronic Wasting Disease

Article by

The big game hunting season is underway nationwide and judging by the dozens of e-mails I have received about Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), hunters are worried about consuming the wild game meat they harvest, especially elk and deer, living in Colorado and Wyoming.

I, too, must admit that I have my fears about eating elk and deer from the two states mentioned above. There is no easy answer to this question. In fact, it's a difficult question to address. What I try to do is not let my legitimate concerns overcome my common sense, however.

The strongest evidence that CWD has not infected game animals comes from numerous studies from the Center for Disease Control (CDC). The research indicates that there is a very low correlation between game animals infected with CWD and humans. The transfer of CWD from domestic or wild animals to humans is at this time, ALMOST nonexistent -- for now anyway. And although to date I have not stopped eating wild elk or deer, I'm keeping a very close vigil on the situation. I try to keep myself abreast by reading anything and everything I can get my hands on about this subject. It's too serious of a matter to become complacent about and I wouldn't want to get caught off guard. The best defense is an informed offense.

Remember this, though, CWD is not a new threat. It has been around for over thirty years. During this time, only a handful of suspected wild game cases have emerged. The first documented wild game case was discovered in the late sixties in a deer research facility (a captive deer), outside of Fort Collins, Colorado. Therefore, to what ever extent we've all been exposed to this virus in wild game over the last three decades, the lack of documented cases in game animals in the wild demonstrates just how low the odds really are to come in contact with CWD.

I don't plan to cancel any of my western big game hunts, nor do I plan to stop eating wild game of any sort. After all, the facts support that people run a higher risk of contacting CWD from domestic meats rather than from wild game. With that said, however, it's worth repeating that I try to take as many precautions as possible. There are ways to lower the very low risk that does exist at the present time even further. Keep these facts in mind:

In most cases, whatever CWD cases are confirmed in wild game are found in confined elk and deer. Only a couple of cases (the most recent was a case of a wild deer in Saskatchewan), were confirmed to have CWD. This was the first wild game animal to be found positive in Canada. Northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming are the specific areas of each state where CWD seems to be most prevalent. Avoiding hunting deer and elk in these areas, lowers the already low risk factor. Don't shoot an animal that looks abnormal or acts out of the ordinary. Be especially cautious of game that looks or behaves like it is sick. If you do decide to hunt in these areas or even in the two states mentioned, and you shoot a deer or elk, immediately bring it to a check station (available in both Colorado and Wyoming) and have it checked for the CWD virus by the attending biologists. As an extra precautionary measure, when hunting in these areas and you take an elk or deer, don't consume any meat in camp or at home until you have brought the head of the game taken to the Colorado State University's Diagnostic Lab or Wyoming's State's Veterinary Laboratory. Once the head is tested and proved to be negative, you'll feel much better about consuming the meat from your animal.

In researching CWD, I did find out some interesting news. If a hunter does shoot an animal that is tested and proves to be positive, Colorado will refund your license fee. Also, Colorado officials say there will be a lot of check-station areas in the state that you can bring your game into to have them looked at. Call the Colorado Game Commission for all the details. As far as I'm concerned, the jury is still out on just how much of a threat CWD actually poses to humans from wild game. Any more than domestic meat? The evidence strongly suggests not. But eating wild game from suspect areas carrying CWD -- is strictly a decision that has to be made on a case by case basis by each hunter. No one person should make up any other hunter's mind for them. Each person must make this decision on his own.

For me, well, I plan to keep listening to what's happening with domestic meats and with wild game. Hopefully, the threat of CWD in wild game will not get any worse or pose any more of a health threat than it has over the last 35 years. The percentages of becoming infected seem extremely low to me. I don't plan to curtail my hunting, but I do intend to hunt more informed on this subject.

If any hunter is really afraid to consume wild game meat from these areas, maybe the answer is to consider going elk hunting in Montana or some other area. Or, how about a new hunting adventure. Maybe a whitetail deer hunt in Texas, Michigan, Iowa, Kansas or Ohio. These are trophy areas that have the potential of yielding some of the nation's largest B&C heads. You'll hunt more relaxed and you'll feel a lot better about eating the meat. So far, there have not been any reported or documented cases of CWD in wild deer in the eastern part of the nation. Have a good hunting season.