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