CWD Areas - What to do??

[tyreguy]

They include all Deer, Moose and Elk from these areas in the Koots - mandatory. Its in Libby Montana which is only about 50miles from the border and looking at the US maps it appears to have "jumped" into that area. Agreed - Hunter education is definitely essential for containment "in case" it shows up.

Here's a link to a CWD site. http://cwd-info.org/
I think it is a time to get educated so we can identify infected animals. If it is required, in WMU 4-1 to 4-7 inclusive, to submit heads of mules, whitetails, then I would be quite wary and cautious of adjoining WMUs. What about elk? Why exclude them?

[Walking Buffalo]

Not accepting is one answer but knowing that the prion doesn't exist in the meat and only in certain places (organ/glands/body fluid), and how you handle your meat in field dressing can prevent any contamination of the meat. i was fully willing to take the uncut deer back to my own freezer until i had a clean negative result and i gave the option to the butcher to decline if he wasn't comfortable but not having any of the parts that carry the prion on the deer.

Hold on...

This is NOT CORRECT.

The CWD prion exists everywhere in infected animals. and yes, in the meat too.

The prion is found in greater concentrations in nervous tissue, but is found throughout the animal.

[Arctic Lake]

Good Post Jager ! Makes me think should we be concerned about deer from anywhere in the province at this time ?

And some advice and instruction for safe handling of your game, infected or not. We should learn to do this in preparation in anticipation of the we will really need to do it.
Simple Precautions Advised

• Public health and wildlife officials advise hunters to take the following precautions when pursuing or handling deer and elk that may have been exposed to CWD:
  
  • 
    
    • Do not shoot, handle or consume any animal that is acting abnormally or appears to be sick. Contact your state game and fish department if you see or harvest an animal that appears sick.
    • Wear latex or rubber gloves when field dressing your deer or elk.
    • Bone out the meat from your animal. Don’t saw through bone, and avoid cutting through the brain or spinal cord (backbone).
    • Minimize the handling of brain and spinal tissues.
    • Wash hands and instruments thoroughly after field dressing is completed.
    • Avoid consuming brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils and lymph nodes of harvested animals. (Normal field dressing coupled with boning out a carcass will remove most, if not all, of these body parts. Cutting away all fatty tissue will remove remaining lymph nodes.)
    • Avoid consuming the meat from any animal that tests positive for the disease.
    • If you have your deer or elk commercially processed, request that your animal is processed individually, without meat from other animals being added to meat from your animal.

[Arctic Lake]

Should we be concerned about this in all deer we harvest in the province ? Would you cut through the spine of any deer taken in the province ? I have not thought about this until now .
Arctic Lake

[J_T]

Should we be concerned about this in all deer we harvest in the province ? Would you cut through the spine of any deer taken in the province ? I have not thought about this until now .
Arctic Lake

No, and to be clear, there is no occurrence of CWD in BC. This is a precautionary action. There were (I believe) 6 cases found in Montana, and I believe (from Cait Nelson) those 6 cases were from the same farm. But, to be cautious, they have requested mandatory inspections on ungulates harvested in said MU's.

To comply with the request, if you are hunting in R4, you should use a local butcher shop, as they have been directed on how to take the sample (brain stem).

Keeping in mind, BC shipped 90 samples to the lab last year. And they have no idea how the lab (in Sask) will handle the volume of samples from all of the ungulate harvests in R4 (not including R7). You will need to have your meat butchered, but they recommend you don't eat it until you are notified.

We've made recommendations on how to manage public/hunter awareness of the results of tests.

And there are lots of questions that stem from this.

[Jordan f.]

Nice to see BC getting out ahead of this. Hope we can keep it at a distance.

It's creeping closer to me and my buddies Alberta hunting spots. Tough to stop once it gets going.

[tyreguy]

Thanks - i stand corrected.

Hold on...

This is NOT CORRECT.

The CWD prion exists everywhere in infected animals. and yes, in the meat too.

The prion is found in greater concentrations in nervous tissue, but is found throughout the animal.

[Arctic Lake]

Thanks for posting this JT !

No, and to be clear, there is no occurrence of CWD in BC. This is a precautionary action. There were (I believe) 6 cases found in Montana, and I believe (from Cait Nelson) those 6 cases were from the same farm. But, to be cautious, they have requested mandatory inspections on ungulates harvested in said MU's.

To comply with the request, if you are hunting in R4, you should use a local butcher shop, as they have been directed on how to take the sample (brain stem).

Keeping in mind, BC shipped 90 samples to the lab last year. And they have no idea how the lab (in Sask) will handle the volume of samples from all of the ungulate harvests in R4 (not including R7). You will need to have your meat butchered, but they recommend you don't eat it until you are notified.

We've made recommendations on how to manage public/hunter awareness of the results of tests.

And there are lots of questions that stem from this.

[J_T]

I would also like to add, IF CWD is encountered in BC, leaving any part of the animal in the bush only increases the risk and advances the disease exponentially. Leave the infected animal alive, and notify the authorities. Complete incineration of all parts, is the only method to ensure the disease does not spread.

[tyreguy]

Thanks JT and others for your input.
I started this to bring some awareness to BC & CWD but as i'm reading more and seeing feedback i see i myself need to learn more as well as my interpretation may be differing from facts. My initial inquires into what i should be doing were so vague i figured some others were probably in the same situation as well i found that many within the government weren't completely clear on what should be going on.