CWD is not the only disease of concern and being behind a high fence doesn't keep a disease from escaping the enclosure. As for sympathy for a high fence deer breeding or hunting operation, I have little. The risk of disease and loss from that disease are part of the game and one that each owner/operator must evaluate and accept. Cattle ranchers, chicken house operators and other livestock operations all face the same burden so why should a captive deer operator be any different? Removing oversight, regulations and enforcement does nothing but put the rest of us at risk.

I have a high fence operator less than half a mile from my property. Those deer walk the fence line constantly and no doubt come in contact with wild deer nose to nose. They also share the same water sources which flow under the fence. Add to it the possibility of a falling tree tree, hurricanes and tornados taking out a section of fence and allowing a deer to escape and you could easily have a problem. Remember about five years ago when a hurricane rolled through South Alabama and knocked down a bunch of high fences? There were a bunch of really nice bucks killed during bow season that year that had escaped high fence enclosures.

If given the choice between removing regulations and oversight for high fence breeder/hunting operations or putting in safeguards to protect the greater deer herd of Alabama, I'll choose protecting the deer herd but that's just my opinion.

Understand this passed. Good Grief.
I have to look up the folks who voted in favor of this. Make sure I never vote for them again if they are on my ballot.

It was basically everyone. It overwhelmingly passed.

I believe it has only passed the house and still must be voted on by the senate and signed by the governor? Although with 84/12 in the house it will likely pass.

Yep

The Ainsworth family sold Dream Ranch 5 years ago.

Did they sell the breeder buck they had in Pennsylvania with it?

I have no idea about the buck but Dream Ranch was sold to a Mississippi family.

Mad cow can be passed to humans, and it’s similar to CWD. It might just be that nothing has passed YET. I know some people just hate any and all forms of regulation, but prions are a super scary thing straight out of a science fiction novel. Even an autoclave has trouble killing them.

If you got prions it is an immediate sentence to a slow and miserable death.

It’s not worth the risk, plus deer hunting is commercialized enough as it is. Deer should stay wild.