Printable View
Lots of people, me included, check their deer online. The check stations are far and few between nowadays. To better test the deer and elk, the online checking should be suspended until we get better data.
CWD is here for sure. No getting rid of it now unless a cure is found. Gonna be hard or impossible to eradicate it.
I don't think there had been a check station in years. I agree, people got out of the habit of taking their deer some where other than the processor. These stations that were set up in the CWD zone were CWD testing stations. Hunters still had to check their deer on their own. It will be interesting to see what the Wildlife Management does in the future for sampling.
Short drive out of my way but thought if it was important enough for them to set it up then it was worth my time .Quote:
Originally Posted by D10
Sounds like the game and fish should have set up their CWD check stations in conjunction with the processors. They could have check a ton more deer that way.Quote:
Originally Posted by D10
I believe they tried that but the processors wouldn't go along with the idea. Apparently they lose business when a few AGFC trucks are sitting out front.Quote:
Originally Posted by BigRiverMarine
Thats a shame. I understand their business is very seasonal tho. Any lost revenue could cause them financial problems. Mandatory manual check stations might help instead of the online senario for a few seasons.Quote:
Originally Posted by D10
If CWD is here, and it apparently is, checking is just a way to find out the severity of it. I doubt there is a feasible solution for it.
The hard truth is allot of deer are going to die off in Arkansas from this disease. You can place limits on it and this will only slow down the spread somewhat. It will be nature in the end that will knock the population down to the point that the deer are spread out so thin.. then the disease it's self too will die off by not having the numbers of deer to effect, and the ones that survive it will start a new healthy herd.
I believe also feeding deer should stop for awhile. Feeding will only help the spread of this disease, when you put out an easy meal that brings healthy and non healthy deer together much more on a regular basis... If they were forced to eat naturally making the spread of the disease harder to effect the population..
My best friend's dad has been trying to help the AGFC with the CWD issue (he is a deer breeder that sells bucks to Tecomate and other big name ranches). He has told me that the AGFC has been little to no help and it's because they aren't wanting to admit the disease is here because of the elk that were transplanted from CO several years ago. Maybe if they accept that fact the process of fixing the issue can move faster.
The elk heard in Ark has been here for 34 years with no problems they were brought here from Co or WY i dont remember which as part of a trade for fish I think that original herd has been managed within the state. I could be wrong tho. My best guess is the Disease has just naturally traveled here or a hunter brought in a CWD infected carcus and dumped it somewhere in the state
We do know this:
This disease has no cure and is contiguous...The AGFC has some tough decisions to make that will not be popular to deer hunters. I really do think they should put a stop to artificial feeding for a few years to help stop the spread. I will bet my best shinny nickle that if they stop artificial feeding, the cases of CWD will drop drastically. But hey tha'ts my 2cents
I don't think the stopping of artificial feeding will slow down the CWD. The deer this year have a massive acorn crop, but in the lean years, they congregate near the best trees that are producing. Feeding stations just attract the deer that are feeding that area naturally. When the acorn crop is heavy, the feed stations don't get hit nearly as hard. The ones using them are resident deer, mostly does and fawns and they just hit them while browsing. The Bucks don't really use them during the rut much unless a hot doe is visiting them. Feeding stations aren't much different that soybean fields or corn fields. The food is mostly made available by hunters AFTER the crops are harvested.
In pine country in south AR, the supplemental feeding is a bit different than it is in agri areas tho. May have a different effect, but I doubt it. The deer live together and come in constant contact with each other year round. Feeding is usually only done in the fall.
Even if you stop the feeding stations, the deer will concentrate near other preferred food sources with the same results as the feed.