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Alabama CWD

swampbuck

swampbuck

Active Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2015
Messages
157
Location
GA
I live on the GA coast but always hunt the first week of archery in North Alabama, near, but not in the CWD zone. Just wondering what precautions folks are taking, or plan to take this year in terms of testing, processing, etc? Also, if anyone from a more prevalent CWD state could chime in on practices there, much appreciated.

Hot button issue with so many questions, for sure, so sorry if this ignites a firestorm.
 
I live within 100 miles or so of CWD zone in Tennessee. So im interested too. I mean, most people up there are killing their deer, processing it and freezing it but not consuming any meat till they get the test back. Then if positive they just throw all the meat away. For me right now, I am still not testing any of my deer even though Im sure its over here, just hasn't been detected yet.
 
If your not in a CWD area then I wouldn't be overly concerned with precautionary tactics. The prevalence rate is still reasonably low in most (not all) areas that have it, so if you kill one 100 miles from where there's a known one I think your chances of killing one is very low and the chances of contracting CWD are even lower. I do most of my hunting in the CWD woods of PA and probably don't take as many precautions as I should. The game commission offers free testing so I do get my heads tested and I generally won't eat the deer until I get the results back. Everything is labeled so I don't have to ditched everything, just the infected deer. For grinder meat I cube it and freeze it in single layers and won't grind anything until I've got all the results back at the end of the year. That way I'm only grinding once and again I could remove any infected meat prior to grinding. Where I'm not cautious enough is during processing. I truly have very little fear of eating the meat, I won't because I don't want to feed it to my kids, but I do have some fears of contracting it during processing. Specifically, in order to get it tested you've got to cut the head off which exposes you to spinal fluid, which is much more dangerous than blood or meat. I should probably wear gloves during that step, at a minimum, but I don't.
 
THill202 said:
For grinder meat I cube it and freeze it in single layers and won't grind anything until I've got all the results back at the end of the year.
Click to expand...

That's a good idea. Does it usually take until the end of the year to get results back in PA?
 
Hunt one county over from the CWD zone here and have not and will not be testing any deer. Until there is legitimate evidence of human contraction from processing and/or consumption, I am not going to waste a single second worrying about it. If it was some new phenomenon then I might be a little more cautious but CWD has been around and studied since back in what the early 80's? You will die faster eating big macs than you will cwd deer, at least based on 40+ years of research.
 
swampbuck said:
That's a good idea. Does it usually take until the end of the year to get results back in PA?
Click to expand...

It varies by season but not usually too bad. I've gotten them back in two weeks or so during archery season but rifle season usually takes a bit longer, 4-6 or so based on my experience.

I'll also add the reason why I care. Back around 2010 one of my parents' friends died from CJD. He lived in the UK during the mad cow outbreak and liked his steaks red. Coincidence? Maybe, but it's jumped the species before. The chances are astronomically low by my math but with kids involved I'll take the free testing.
 
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An estimated 7000 - 15000 deer effected with CWD are consumed every year and there hasn't been a documented case of CWD being spread to humans through consumption. Not something I worry about. If you are concerned about it I know there is free testing sites, as well as safe meat handling / butchering instructions online.
 
The regulations are a pain in the butt now. Try to figure out what processors you’re going to use or where you can go and not go concerning the CWD zones. You ha e to debone and clean out all the brain and that stuff if you’re going to cross the lines. It sucks.


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