Wyoming feed stations are a breeding ground for disease/CWD. Thoughts?

[hoytxl2009]

https://wyofile.com/fewer-elk-sicker-elk-thats-what-the-experts-expect-if-wyoming-keeps-on-feeding/

Thoughts on this article? Makes sense, but I didn't know cwd was a big threat for elk in Wyoming currently. Seemed like those feed stations were crucial in some areas this year that had bad snowfall and late grass. This is first article of this sort that I have read concerning feed stations. Interesting read open for interpretation.

[Chesapeake]

Many states have curtailed baiting of deer for the same reason that congregating animals spreads disease.

Pretty well all of Wyoming has shown positive CWD results in deer, and more than half the state for elk.


https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Wildlife-in-Wyoming/More-Wildlife/Wildlife-Disease/Chronic-Wasting-Disease

[hunter399]

Kind of dang it if you feed.
Dang it if you don't.

Not sure what is worse,then always the chance you quit feeding.
Bad winter, starvation,and they get CWD anyway.
No right answer really.

[Hilltop123]

This will be a ballet measure in less than 10 years. Puget Sounders, will vote to quit the practice out of fear of spreading disease. This will help in driving down the number of ungulates. Hunting will have to be extremely limited, if not outright outlawed. So we have enough ungulates to feed the growing wolf and predator populations. JMTCW

[bearpaw]

There is a huge push to stop feeding elk and deer and to have more predators, it seems to go hand in hand with these new biologists the liberal colleges are turning out. Here's what I have observed.

In NE WA they used to feed deer when I was young, we had mule deer herds wintering out with hundreds of mule deer that could be counted every winter, they fed whitetails up at higher elevations to keep them off the valley floor where they get hit on the highway. The comment about the whitetail feeding is directly from the mouth of the WDFW employee who ran those whitetail feed stations! Today you will be lucky to see m0re than a couple dozen mule deer in the same areas even if you cover a lot more ground looking. Every time we lose whitetails to hard winter or blue tongue they never recover to their previous high most likely due to the high number of predators, dogs chasing them, and traffic losses.

Last winter where I live in Idaho, IDFG paid the next door farmer to feed elk all winter, to keep them from  raiding farmer haystacks, the elk literally laid in the field all winter in a herd, why would they leave when the snow is three feet deep? I did not see one single elk that died in that field from eating alfalfa. IDFG had 23 deer feeding stations in our area, and this fall when we hunted, the units with the most feeding stations had the best deer hunting. The unit that had the fewest feeding stations last winter had the fewest deer this fall.

At least the deer and elk that got fed survived! I can't say that for a good portion of the herds that weren't fed! We had a lot better fall season than I ever expected and I feel 100% it's because IDFG has a feeding program!

[baldopepper]

Seems to be kind of caught between a hard spot and a rock situation.  No doubt feeding is a good thing during a hard winter, but if it contributes to the spread of cwd its a bad thing. As I think someone else said, it's damned if you do and damned if you dont. I do know that cwd is a wicked thing, an outbreak of it can wipe out a herd over the course of a few short years.  Hard decision, do you not feed and they winter kill or do you feed and risk a cwd outbreak. Don't know which way I lean.
 

[bearpaw]

I don't think its too complicated unless you know you have cwd in a local herd, if there is no known cases of cwd in a local herd I really don't see how that is a concern? The herd of elk I watched in the neighbor's field all winter here in Idaho is a prime example. Jackson hole is another great example, the elk number in the thousands, all herded up, I've taken the horse sled ride out through those elk, those elk have been herding up for decades just north of town. Another good example is Hardware Ranch in Utah, I've done that sleigh ride too, it's pretty cool, a few hundred elk all being fed in one big herd!

https://wildlife.utah.gov/hardware-visit.html

[bearpaw]

Now that we know there is CWD in Unit 11 or whichever unit in Idaho, it would make sense to not have a large scale feeding operation there. I understand there is cwd in areas of WY, and can further understand not wanting to feed in those areas. But honestly, I think some bio's are using the cwd argument to push their personal belief to stop all feeding. And even more importantly we all need to understand that a lot of these biologists do not even believe in hunting, they will use whatever means to push various goals (more predators, stop winter feeding, eliminate hunting seasons, etc)  to achieve their anti-hunting agenda, they will push these goals down the throats of the "well meaning but unsuspecting" hunting public if you allow them to!

[BeerBugler]

This is an incredibly stupid argument. Feeding or no feeding, during a severe winter, animals congregate. If they are not fed, they congregate and most die and a few survive. If they are fed, they congregate and most live and some die (mostly due to predation). IDFG did not feed in my area, all the deer were at the bottom of a canyon and 70-80% of them died there.I completely understand not feeding during a “normal “ winter but during severe winters or even “rough” winters the short term and long term populations benefit from feeding. Like all things there are pros and cons but feeding makes more sense than not feeding.

[hoytxl2009]

I definitely favor the side of the feed station. I'm yet to read a article where elk die in masses due to disease at one of these loactions. The Jackson refuge was established in 1912 and I'm yet to read a single bad thing about it as well.

[baldopepper]

I definitely favor the side of the feed station. I'm yet to read a article where elk die in masses due to disease at one of these loactions. The Jackson refuge was established in 1912 and I'm yet to read a single bad thing about it as well.

Not necessarily disputing the need for feeding, but with cwd animals don't disappear in masses like you'll see in a winter kill.area.  it's very insidious,  you just start seeing a sick one here and there, often with others that look healthy, and then after a a couple years you just don't see any in that area.  As I've stated in other posts, it pretty much wiped out the area we hunted for years in Utah. It's kind of a silent killer and would be devastating if it broke out in our already stressed herds.

[hoytxl2009]

I definitely favor the side of the feed station. I'm yet to read a article where elk die in masses due to disease at one of these loactions. The Jackson refuge was established in 1912 and I'm yet to read a single bad thing about it as well.

Not necessarily disputing the need for feeding, but with cwd animals don't disappear in masses like you'll see in a winter kill.area.  it's very insidious,  you just start seeing a sick one here and there, often with others that look healthy, and then after a a couple years you just don't see any in that area.  As I've stated in other posts, it pretty much wiped out the area we hunted for years in Utah. It's kind of a silent killer and would be devastating if it broke out in our already stressed herds.

What area of Utah did that happen? I happened to draw the Manti tag this last September and had a blast down there.

[baldopepper]

I definitely favor the side of the feed station. I'm yet to read a article where elk die in masses due to disease at one of these loactions. The Jackson refuge was established in 1912 and I'm yet to read a single bad thing about it as well.

Not necessarily disputing the need for feeding, but with cwd animals don't disappear in masses like you'll see in a winter kill.area.  it's very insidious,  you just start seeing a sick one here and there, often with others that look healthy, and then after a a couple years you just don't see any in that area.  As I've stated in other posts, it pretty much wiped out the area we hunted for years in Utah. It's kind of a silent killer and would be devastating if it broke out in our already stressed herds.

What area of Utah did that happen? I happened to draw the Manti tag this last September and had a blast down there.
 

We were further.south in the LaSalles.  Was a big checking.station just south of price, they didn't really make a huge deal of it but last time we went thru the bio there said the had a very high percentage of positives the previous year and very much lower hunter success rate for this year..We literally saw no.deer in the area where we used to see100+ a day.

[bearpaw]

I definitely favor the side of the feed station. I'm yet to read a article where elk die in masses due to disease at one of these loactions. The Jackson refuge was established in 1912 and I'm yet to read a single bad thing about it as well.

Not necessarily disputing the need for feeding, but with cwd animals don't disappear in masses like you'll see in a winter kill.area.  it's very insidious,  you just start seeing a sick one here and there, often with others that look healthy, and then after a a couple years you just don't see any in that area.  As I've stated in other posts, it pretty much wiped out the area we hunted for years in Utah. It's kind of a silent killer and would be devastating if it broke out in our already stressed herds.

What area of Utah did that happen? I happened to draw the Manti tag this last September and had a blast down there.
 

We were further.south in the LaSalles.  Was a big checking.station just south of price, they didn't really make a huge deal of it but last time we went thru the bio there said the had a very high percentage of positives the previous year and very much lower hunter success rate for this year..We literally saw no.deer in the area where we used to see100+ a day.

Did this occur due to winter feeding? Do they do any winter feeding in that area? I'm asking because I've never heard of winter feeding in that area and suspect the disease spread by other means?

Wisconsin had a lot of CWD but they still have lots of deer as compared to most states. I can't say if they do winter feeding or if the disease spread by other means. I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't think there is an conclusive data linking winter feeding to big cwd infections? I think some biologists are using the cwd argument to stop winter feeding because they don't agree with winter feeding.

[baldopepper]

No. There is no winter feeding in that area. I'm  not aware of any winter feeding.in the state specifically aimed at deer.  Nothing like the Hardware Ranch in the area I'm aware of.Dont get me wrong, I'm not against winter feeding, but would like further research to see if their is a correlation to higher incidences of cwd.  Not sure many really realize how nasty that stuff is. We didn't until we saw the effect.