I hope this CWD mess requires their full attention so they will leave the turkey regulations alone

At this point it has taken the focus off of Game Check. Which as of this morning it looks like it's quite possible the numbers will decline again for a 3rd consecutive year...in 3 years of its mandatory existence.

What steps would Alabama take if they find confirmed cases of CWD? would they try to decrease the deer population in that area?

Here is their protocol

Realizing that it is a fluid situation and I am sure they will be making adjustments.

When the Brits began to get mad cow from prion-infected beef, it took up to 15 years for the symptoms to show. Since I am 70, I'll take my chances. If I reach 85 and get spongiform encephalopathy, who gives a rat's rump? Maybe "Hunters Feeding the Hungry" should donate all their venison to senior centers and nursing homes.

I can understand a bill like this giving state congressmen the warm and fuzzies but anybody that knows anything about whitetail deer knows better. I have cameras over licking branches that show up to 30 deer using the same branch. This is a direct swap of spit. If you thing outlawing feeding deer will make any difference, you know nothing about what you are speaking. It's all about the feel good, just like global warming. CWD is in the soil, always had been and always will be. This is just a talking point for those against feeding. I say we need to outlaw licking branches. Let the flaming begin.

Yup,
Licking branches, scrapes, mineral licks, signpost rubs, social interaction/grooming...all obviously generate as much or more deer to deer contact as a herd eating off the same corn pile. I’ve recently seen studies indicating that supplemental feeding might actually inhibit disease transmission by keeping local herds localized; ie. cutting down on potentially infected deer venturing into outlying areas where they can interact with larger social groups.

The response to CWD is absurd. Nobody has a clue. All of the aforementioned spreading vectors are just guesses. Nobody can show that any of this crap even has the potential to transmit the disease. It is still very possible that the prions are simply “in the soil”, and nothing that has been done to this point is even reasonable, much less effective. I am certainly not an expert, but I can spot a goofy knee jerk reaction with the best of them.

Working construction, I often heard people joke about overzealous/dumbazz bosses ranting something like,”We got to do something even if it’s wrong!” That’s a lot like organized CWD response. Politicians and “experts” so afraid to get accused of doing nothing that they’re willing to do anything, even if it makes no sense

I don't know that it is knee jerk. I am fairly confident it has been studied quite extensively and planned for years. Doesn't mean everyone will agree with the response plan.

That said, there is definitely going to be a difference in the biological reasonable response and what politicians might do with it. Add in the public perception of arm chair biologists and it is going to get sticky quickly.

The bottom line is, if we knew how to stop the spread of CWD, we would've already done it.

You don’t think banning feeding deer is knee jerk when there is zero evidence that it’ll have any impact...positive or negative? It has been studied extensively...it has been strategized about extensively. The places where it has been found-it remains...usually having grown more virulent through time. Feeding deer is just a hot button issue that folks will immediately point to when something happens they don’t like.

I wonder if a prion can live on a momma does tit?

I didn't say I agreed with their response or the evidence or the political rationalization. I said, if a plan has been in place for years and they are working the plan it isn't a knee jerk response. That has nothing to do with my view on feeding, etc. I personally think it is going to spread if every kernel of corn in the US was stopped from being fed to deer tomorrow.

can I still feed the racoons under a pole light?

For a broader view outside of Mississippi, Michigan is considering or has already stopped baiting in areas impacted by CWD.

https://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/08/state_oks_new_deer-hunting_rul.html

Until we know the routes of exposure, and the direct cause of the spread, we don’t need to be throwing darts in the dark and just hoping to hit it. Pointless regulations are a government overreach and a Democratic Party principle. EHD will kill many more deer than CWD and no one cares about it.

People aren't worried that they may come down with EHD if they eat the meat. To put it in perspective, most people in Great Britain were probably exposed to mad cow, but less than 200 have shown symptoms so far. Even knowing that, I still would not eat an animal that came from an area with CWD. I know all about bad luck--my first wife was a red-headed ridge runner from Tennessee.

Are there any studies that show it can be transferred to humans? The CDC is just being conservative at this point. There’s no data that shows it can be transferred to humans.

"If you pile it up, the game wardens will come...."

How many game wardens does it take to police everyone’s yard that feeds just to watch deer?

Does baiting or supplemental feeding (whatever you want to call it) contribute to CWD...who knows. Unfortunately, it really doesn't matter if it's banned or not. People will still put it out. "Hunters" have become lazy and want to put forth little to no effort to kill a deer.