I see on the Telus news page F&W completed their deer cull, with 1500 deer colected near wainwright and 450 near empress, both along the Sask border. This year they used a helicopter to shoot from, allowing them to collect over 200 deer a day. This certainly will impact the trophy quality of those zones, but if needed to stop the spread of CWD then it must be worth it. One does have to wonder why Sask does not do the same, but may come down to budgets and the amount it has spread by now. Its to bad it has come to this to manage a disease allowed in to the area by moving the deer and elk around just to allow farming of a wild resource.

How bad is the CWD situation? Is it a serious threat to the deer populations?
good shooting

quote:

This year they used a helicopter to shoot from, allowing them to collect over 200 deer a day.

I know the pilot. A few weeks ago he was killing wolves in northern Alberta...and collaring some too. Has a great pic of him holding a huge 174 lb male that they collared...up the Narraway River. Most days I wish I could trade jobs with him.

Cheers,
Canuck

Thats a sweet wolf, collared in some awesome country that Narraway / Kakwa River area

It states that they have had 17 test positive in the last 2 years, with 4 from that area last fall. With the amount they killed they should be able to figure out the percentage and how fast it is migrating west. Be a huge shame to let this disease get wide spread, which is why they are spending a lot of money on the cull. Yes being the pilot would a cool job, as would being the shooter. It would be an experience few people get to do. I'll have to see if I can get any details as to what they were using to shoot with etc. Wonder how big the scream would be from the wolf lovers if they knew a wolf cull had gone on, they did not make that public, for good reason.

See lots of wolf kills while sledding in the narraway area. On the rivers there are lots.

I own 1 1/2 miles of the red deer river valley in the heart of the CWD cull zone. To say this is an issue near and dear to my is understatement. I ask anyone out there to demonstrate to me how killing "most" of the deer in these cull zones is going to stop the spread of CWD. Is there anyone naive enough to believe that there arent cases of CWD outside of these zones? Were it possible to kill "all" of the deer along the Sask border in something like a 10 k strip I suppose it might be stop the disease. That is not what is happening. Look at Colorado and Wyoming where CWD has been documented since the sixty's. They have quit trying to stop it and are counting on prion researchers to deal with the problem. When the first cases of CWD were found in Alberta the government had six plans or contingencies to deal with the problem. These ranged from doing nothing to eradication in a 10k radius around each positive site. They elected to go with the most extreme scenario and eradicate.
I dont know how to deal with prion disease. I can only tell you its a shame to watch what was once a land teeming with deer become one devoid of them. I dont believe this approach is the one to take. The day before the cull this spring I put the run on the whitetails eating in my rye field. I hope some of them are left.

It is good to hear from someone involved in this and seeing the results. My qeustion as well, so far the culling of the infected areas has not stopped the spread, so time will tell as far as this area goes. But my understanding is the disease can be picked up from the soil for years after, it will be impoosible to keep the areas clean of any deer until it dies out. On the other hand F&W don't do these projects that cost alot of budget money without having done research etc. I will try and get more from some of the officers I know when I see them and see what the scoop is. It really is scary what the long term results of these diseases could be. Imagine Alberta or BC with no deer.

Trusting the government to do the proper research and carry out an effective strategy is something that only happens in Neverland. Open your eyes. This is a political ploy.