Alberta deer diseased?

[bosch]

Friend of mine's Dad goes to Alberta and Saskatchewan every year for his deer, says the yearly bag limit is 25 due to the deer having a disease. Apparently it's take all you want because there is going to be a helicopter shoot when season is closed. has anyone heard if this is fact and if so is the disease effecting the meat at all?

[Mulie_Hunter]

Yeah, Sask and Alberta both have infected herds of deer. The disease is called chronic wasting disease, I believe its a neurlogical disease, that has come from the deer and elk farms on the praires. Lucky so far BC's deer herds haven't come into contact with the disease due to the geographical isolation.

[Steeleco]

Who cares about a bag limit, do you really want to eat the flesh of an animal with holes in it's brain????

[RMG]

A simple CWD and humans google turns up this from Ontario's Natural Resources Website

"There is currently no scientific evidence that Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has, or can, spread to humans either through contact with infected animals or by eating meat of infected animals.
The World Health Organization has said, as part of their recommendations regarding BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or "mad cow disease"), that:


It is advised that any tissue which may come from deer or elk with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD, a transmissible spongiform disease of North American mule deer and elk) is not used in animal or human food; however there is no evidence at this time to suggest that CWD in deer and elk can be transmitted to humans.The Canadian Food Inspection Agency states on its web site:


There is currently no scientific evidence that CWD affects humans, but we must exercise caution since there is evidence to suggest that BSE can affect humans, which is another TSE
also known as mad cow disease.*TSE - Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy
Public health officials advise caution and recommend that human exposure to the CWD infectious agent be avoided as they continue to evaluate any potential health risk.
Although there is no evidence to date that CWD is a health risk to humans, all precautions should be taken to safeguard human health. Hunters are encouraged not to consume meat from animals known to be infected with CWD or that have evidence of CWD. "

[WoodOx]

Really depends where you hunt, as even in those provinces the infected herds are in only very small portions of the province.

We likely wont ever have the CWD issue to the extent that they do, due to our geography in BC and the dispersion of deer. (as someone mentioned above)

Is quite unfortunate, but yes they do perform mass terminations of infected populations.

[Steeleco]

Better a few now than all in the future!

[milroy]

CWD has now been found in Montana, so southern deer herds are not isolated.

[WoodOx]

CWD was in Montana and various other states long before Sask, then Alt.

[ruger#1]

wow its like the pine beetle, if it was delt with back then we wouldnt have the devastation we have today.

[Browningmirage]

People attempted to control it back in the day...didnt you ever hear about the mass shootings of deer south of the border...didnt work cuz you cant ever shoot every deer

[Chuck]

Personally I think that we are not doing a good job of managing some of our wildlife including the fish. I can only see problems by trying to domesticate
(keep penned) salmon and some ungulates.

[BCJunior]

This sounds like a pinebeetle but inside a deer!

[Hilgy]

I dont think that the bag limit of 25 is correct but there are some areas where you can get a few extra tags if you want them.

I just got back from a hunt in one of the CWD zones just south east of Oyen about 15 klm from the Sask boarder. Three tags for 9$. Two doe tags and a buck tag. Good for either whitetail or mulies.

It is great country to hunt and lots of deer. They did some helicopter culling if Feb in the zone I was hunting and it really shows. I think the number I heard was 1800 deer taken.

The only thing you need to do is drop off your deer heads a check point to have them tested for CWD. If you are concerned about it wait to get your test results back before you eat any.

I just wish that more people would have taken advantage of the tags in the years past so that they wouldnt have had to do the big cull. I guess it is for the best though.

By the way they have found 13 cases of CWD in the zone I was hunting in the last three years.

[25hunter]

13 deer in 3 years - out of how many tested?

[hunter1947]

I myself don't think they are going to get rid of all deer with this disease ,how are they going to fine and put down every deer ??????.:roll:.

[oscar makonka]

CWD has been around for a long long time, it has been found just about everywhere in North America that deer and elk are found. If you test for it it will eventually turn up some cases. If you shot 1800 deer in an area in BC , tested them all you would very likely find a handful of cases just like they do when they test most any other area that has deer or elk. BC dosen't test for it, they don't 'want' to find it.

[WoodOx]

Did you see/kill any crankers Hildy, or do you figure the culling affected the herd too much to produce a good number of trophies still...?



I dont think that the bag limit of 25 is correct but there are some areas where you can get a few extra tags if you want them.

I just got back from a hunt in one of the CWD zones just south east of Oyen about 15 klm from the Sask boarder. Three tags for 9$. Two doe tags and a buck tag. Good for either whitetail or mulies.

It is great country to hunt and lots of deer. They did some helicopter culling if Feb in the zone I was hunting and it really shows. I think the number I heard was 1800 deer taken.

The only thing you need to do is drop off your deer heads a check point to have them tested for CWD. If you are concerned about it wait to get your test results back before you eat any.

I just wish that more people would have taken advantage of the tags in the years past so that they wouldnt have had to do the big cull. I guess it is for the best though.

By the way they have found 13 cases of CWD in the zone I was hunting in the last three years.

[p&p]

I HAVE A FREIND WHO WORKS IN THE sASK.GAME DEPT.LASTSEASON THEY TESTED 7,800. WHITETAILS & 1500 MULIES FOR C. W. D. THEY FOUND A TOTAL OF 3 ANIMALS INFECTED WITH THE DESEASE. FOR MORE INFO. GET A COPY OF BIG BUCK MAGAZINE,FALL 2007 & CHECK OUT THE EDITORIAL BY GARY DONALD FOR MORE FACTS. HERE IS A CASE OF CRONIC (THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING.) KILL THEM ALL MENTALITY

[Ltbullken]

As a general rule, the farther east you go, the greater one's mistrust should increase! :wink:

[Hilgy]

agaucher,

The culling has had an effect but there are still piles of deer out in the place we hunt. It is basicaly about 18 miles of coulies along the Red Deer river and is all private land.

We saw a couple of nice 180 class mulies but we hadnt shot our does yet so our buck tags we no good.

Man that is one hard thing to do, watch a 180 class buck at about 50 yards with a tag in your pocket that you cant use.


Hilgy

[GoatGuy]

We likely wont ever have the CWD issue to the extent that they do, due to our geography in BC and the dispersion of deer. (as someone mentioned above)


Don't be so sure. No link to geographic barriers - deer don't know they're crossing the bc/alb border.

There's an apparent correlation with animal density but we still don't know enough.

My guess is if it shows it'll be in the Peace. With the high density of deer that they seem to accumulate that's my best guess, close prox to alb and game farms.

[GoatGuy]

CWD has been around for a long long time, it has been found just about everywhere in North America that deer and elk are found. If you test for it it will eventually turn up some cases. If you shot 1800 deer in an area in BC , tested them all you would very likely find a handful of cases just like they do when they test most any other area that has deer or elk. BC dosen't test for it, they don't 'want' to find it.


Testing has been going on for the past couple years in BC.

No positive cases


States/Provinces with it usually have native game farming (cervids) of some sort which often spreads into wild populations. Also linked to high densities and possibility through baiting and or use of 'natural' attractants which may come from an infected population.

Still don't know exactly how transmision occurs - could possibly be left in the soil.

You'll probably see more about it in the future - it's certainly on the radar.