Is CWD a Real Threat? The Debate Rages After Louisiana’s 49th Case

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries recent announcement that Chronic Wasting Disease, CWD, has been confirmed in a hunter-harvested white tail buck in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, has doused more fuel onto one of the most controversial hunting issues in decades.

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In the announcement, LDWF writes that this buck was taken at the Richard K. Yancey Wildlife Management Area (WMA) just south of Ferriday, Louisiana, and is the first CWD detection in a wild deer in Concordia Parish.

After this discovery, LDWF writes they are in the process of implementing the LDWF CWD response plan and that intended mitigation efforts for this area will be forthcoming.  “We will continue to count on our hunters, property owners, deer processors and taxidermists for their assistance in monitoring CWD as their continued partnership with our department will help manage the expanse of CWD in the state keeping our deer population healthy,’’ LDWF Secretary Tyler Bosworth said.

While no one is debating the existence of CWD, it's the implied severity of its existence that brings the rub.  It's those "intended mitigation efforts" that Secretary Bosworth highlights.  It's the root of the debate in regards to CWD.  There is a growing number of hunters who feel that CWD is being used to promote additional bureaucratic hoops to further restrict rights of hunters.

One of the most outspoken of these hunting enthusiasts is world-renown rocker/hunter, Ted Nugent.  In scores of videos, Nugent calls on wildlife and fisheries experts to show the need for these restrictions brought on by CWD.

Of those "mitigation efforts", which normally includes supplemental feeding bans, Nugent appeared before the Michigan House Government Operations Committee, to slam Michigan's deer baiting ban.

Another reputable opponent of the current standard "mitigation" efforts implemented by most states is one of the most renown deer experts in America. Dr. James Kroll, aka Dr. Deer, says that these practices just don't work.

@wearehuntr The hard truth about CWD. Check out our latest podcast w/ Dr. Deer if you haven’t already. . . . #WeAreHUNTR #HUNTRPodcast #whitetaildeer #whitetails #deertiktok #deerhunting #huntingtiktok #huntingseason #huntingpodcasts #whitetailhunter #whitetailseason #podcastclips #whitetailbuck #bowhunting #bowhunter #deerhunter #bigbucks #maturebucks ♬ original sound - HUNTR

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Wildlife & Fisheries gives an in-depth look into the origins of CWD in North America, writing that "the condition was first noted in 1967 in research mule deer herds in Colorado, but not confirmed as a TSE until the 1970s. By the late 1970s, CWD was recognized in captive facilities in Colorado and Wyoming in mule deer, black-tailed deer, and elk. In 1981, the disease was identified first in the wild in elk in Colorado, followed shortly by mule deer in 1985 in both Colorado and Wyoming. It was not until 2001 that CWD was identified in white-tailed deer, in South Dakota wild herds, and in a captive herd in Nebraska. In the following years, CWD spread to Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Utah, Illinois, Kansas, Virginia, North Dakota, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Texas in 2012, and finally Ohio in 2014.

LDWF writes that Louisiana's first confirmed case of CWD didn't occur until 2022 and with the addition of this most recent case in Concordia Parish, the total number of CWD detections for Louisiana now stands at 49.

Some would argue that more deer are killed by automobiles in a single year in Louisiana than CWD has killed in the past 3 years, so why are "mitigation efforts" required?  Even the Missouri Department of Conservation has paused their CWD efforts due to hunter pushback.

In some states, massive herds of white tailed deer have been slaughtered to prevent further spread of CWD.

While I'm certainly no expert, I just can't see where that's an acceptable response to CWD, and I'm finding myself leaning more to the thinking that there's certainly more to this discussion than many of us might know. Course, I'm just a disc jockey with a deer rifle, so what could I know.