Quote:
Originally Posted by Fly Rod  Flint,
I have only one comment about your supposition that the high fences are a benefit when CWD is present. There have been documented cases of high fence elk that were carrying CWD being sold for wild release or escaping. Just this year an Idaho ranch had its herd escape. I have not heard of any CWD being found amongst them but they did escape and mix with the wild population. If I remember correctly the governor declared open season on the escaped elk. I have also watched motivated elk make big holes in "elk proof" fences in our orchards.
My position against high fence elk is based on the risk of spread of CWD to the wild population. Bow hunting for elk is more than just a passion for me; it is a part of living. I am not willing to support an activity that can potentially propagate CWD.
I also see the effects of concentrating animals in an area daily and not behind high fences. What I see, and it pisses me off, is local people feeding the blacktails. There is a very noticeable spread of chronic hair loss syndrome in these animals. It is so bad that ODFW will not allow any live "town" deer to be relocated into a wild population. I would be hesitant to even eat a town deer they look so bad.
I hunt and scout in wilderness areas as well as in some of the winter range. I can not say I have seen one case of CHL in the areas I hunt. Of course that is only my experience and not a true measure of its spread.  |
Do I understand you to mean that "high fencing" causes CWD? Are you saying that a large high fenced private ranch consisting of tens of thousands of acres is the same thing as an Elk Farm?
You seem to be saying that CWD doesn't exist in the "wild" population...and that high fenced animals are responsible for the cases noted.
ANY situation that concentrates Elk or Deer herds (wild or otherwise) increases the chance that CWD (if it exists in the herd) can be spread. CWD is not new, it has been documented for over 40 years. The problem is that the incubation period 16-30 months just doesn't let us recognize/respond to the problem in time to be of much help.
Currently, there are no live animal tests that can be conducted among a herd (free ranging or otherwise) to forewarn us.
How do you propose to keep free ranging elk from all browsing the same area? What about using the same wallow? We can't really stop bulls from fighting (close physical contact) either, now can we. All these things and more could spread the disease among free ranging herds.
Now, an Elk or Deer "farm" where animals are raised and fed in small area is a completely different matter.
Conditions such as that... provide the perfect opportunity for animals to infect one another. But, I don't see how that applies to a large private ranch.
In the end, we'll probably find that CWD ( transmissible spongiform encephalopathies TSEs) is basically something like Scrapies in sheep that we've been studying for 200 years...and that its the damn sheep who are responsible.
I just don't subscribe to the thought that "high fence" necessarily equals CWD or a giant bull elk tethered to a stake.