"Should chronic wasting disease been a factor in deciding whether or not to feed? Chronic wasting disease can be considered a “wild card” in this situation. The disease is 100 percent fatal with deer and kills them at a relatively young age. It has had detrimental effects on deer herds. Presumably it would be spread more rapidly if deer are in close contact with each other. This could be the situation if the deer were fed in a manner that put them in close contact with each other. However, given the terrain of much of the deer winter range, deer could be fed in a manner where they are scattered, perhaps even greater than when feeding normally on winter ranges.
The bottom line is the disease is working its way across Wyoming and will be here, if not already in the Wyoming Range deer herd. Given, I am not a disease expert and can only use a layman’s approach to assessing the situation.
Using the most recent information as presented in Cowboy State Daily, less than 3,800 survived last winter from the 28,000 head that entered the winter. CWD will likely be present and will affect the herd’s ability to recover its former numbers. It seems to me that had feeding begun early enough to save most lives, the herd would have had a better chance to recover. Given the buck/doe ratio as presented in the 2021 Annual Report and the reported adult survival rate for last winter, less than 2,700 does are left to rebuild the herd. This deer herd may never recover given the presence of predators, the potential effects of CWD, and the possibility of more harsh winters."
Given the amount of predators we have we can only assume the same... and that some folks would like to have a much smaller herd... reducing hunter numbers. We have heard that some Commissioners fee we have no need for Recruitment Retention and Reactivation (R3) and their motives should bee easily seen through.
