Did you know this??!!

Sharkey,

What are they finding CWD in, in Korea? Elk? I think the disease can just happen naturally since it's a mutated protein cell. We had a case show up last year in Minnesota on a two year old cow that had been in a closed herd for over 12 years and had been testing 100% for close to 15 years. We had another case show up in Iowa this year from a herd that had been a closed herd for over 10 years and been 100% testing for as long. When the incubation period they say is around 24 months, how do they explain these cases? The BAH refuses to admit or talk about that theory, they can't explain how these cases happened. It is pretty much accepted in cattle that "mad cow", BSE, can occur naturally. The last case that happened in California this past spring they said was a naturally occurring case. An Atypical case. I have read they feel it occurs in 1 in a million animals naturally. I remember in the early 1990's, this theory was laughed at, now it has been accepted as fact. If "mad cow" can do this, why can't CWD? They are both TSE diseases.

I remember in the 1990's that the world was going to fall in when the mad cow outbreaks were happening. Now, that disease is pretty much ignored. Will the same happen to CWD? Remember when we all where going to die from AIDS? It does't even make the news today. The problem we are having over here is the news-media. They are printing stories really not checking the facts. They are also being fed a lot of false information by various hunting groups and some of the DNRs. Most of these groups have hidden agendas. I think 10 years from now, this will be a nothing disease, a non-issue. History proves it.

Our duty now, as deer farmers, is to confront the media with the facts we have on CWD. When we hear these groups spreading lies or false information we have to stand up and confront this or the readers will believe what they read. I have found that the media groups will listen to us when we have hard facts we can show them. They have a duty to print the truth, but if the only facts they have are false, they will print them. It is our duty to present the real facts whenever we see this happening.



Gary Olson

The elk guys don't mind the CWD testing because elk don't die when handled or run into fences when handled. In thirty years I've only had three elk die, one from handling and two just died from infection in lungs. The chance of the velvet market opening up because of our CWD testing is remote. The people in control of the velvet market just use CWD as a tool to reduce the price of velvet in the US.

It's a lot easier to do CWD testing on a elk which was harvested and money returned from that harvest to help pay for CWD testing than it is to add money for testing on a deer which died or killed itself while handling which now has no value at that point. Also the fact is a deer weighs less than an elk so the meat market prices are also different but the CWD cost are the same on these animals. It's no wonder the deer people can't afford the costs of CWD testing with no relief in sight from this requirement. When the government gets a law on the books it seems it never goes away as it made more jobs for the government. Bottom line is the CWD requirement for elk and deer are absurd when you see the same problem in cattle mad cow which will infect people and see how differently they are handled by the health people. Can you say discrimation?

If these rules are going to get this far out of hand, I will just simply drop my status....no need to TB, all my deer go to a ranch in PA anyway, in fact i have no idea why i even do any testing what so ever, its just not feasible to me. I have only ever sold a couple animals out of state, and did not make any better money than i would get for shooting them in PA. I guess that one way I can get around it, by dropping out of the rediculous certification program, I refuse to put all my animals down so they can read the tags....I mean come on that is just absolutely insane. I think that they want people to drop the program, why else would they make these rules this rediculous, they probably sit around a board meeting and laugh while conjouring up these rules, knowing its more expense for the deer farmer.

antlershed I don't know if people will buy from you if you drop your status....are you talking about your cwd and everything? I agree this all ridiculous....I would make sure everything goes through before dropping your status......there is still a lot of gray area that needs to be all figured out .....at least it sure seems that way......nobody seems to know for sure what the heck the changes are........although Gary seems to have studied the new regulations and to date seems to be the most knowledgable one I have talked to yet......

Dennis I meant I would go from cerified to monitered herd. I would still be able to sell to just hunting ranches in PA, that is all I sell to anyway, believe me with all the good deer around today and my lack of advertising, i don't have anyone knocking down my door to buy any deer from me (i am speaking on behalf of my breeder stock), LOL, but I like what i have going on, so do the couple ranches i have been selling to, and i am happily sticking to my program.

I dont have to TB test for another year, and as long as things stay they way they are I will gladly stay in the certification program, just incase a preserve from outside of PA is ever interested in my bucks.

I was basically stating I am just happy to have the buyers and the option to back out and step down to a monitered herd if things get out of hand with the certification program. If things get bad for you finacially with all the testing requirements(or anyone in the certification program), and you have several shooter buyers in PA, dropping to a monitered staus is a cheaper, more relaxed and less stressful option(less rules), if you are in this for selling shooters straight to the ranch. A couple of buddies of mine have dropped to monitered and are happier for doing so, no more testing fee's and losing deer to testing, granted these guys are not anyone chasing the breeder market, just making bucks for the ranches that need them. and getting it done.

You are right Jack. We are at a huge disadvantage in the meat market, compared to elk. We are getting $2 a pound, and I heard they are getting $4 a pound. That and the larger body size make CWD testing costs less relevant.

You are right on this mad cow/ vs./ CWD difference. The way they are handling it is strange!! They are testing 1/10th of 1% of the slaughter cattle in this country. In the EU they test 100% of slaughter animals. In 2002, when we had our first case of mad cow in the US., Korea and Japan banned the import of US. beef. How many dollars of sales do you think that cost us? I don't think USDA is looking very hard to find it, because they know what the outcome will be. They have tried to make mad cow a non-issue. You don't hear it talked about at all anymore.

The bottom line is this will have to come down to a federal lawsuit. It won't be corrected any other way.

Gary

Yeah Gary that makes sense......they know where their bread is buttered.....so they lay low where it counts and put the hammer down on us to make it look like their doing their jobs.......pitiful!!! pretty much how the Government works as a whole!!

I talked to Mary Martin today The head of are ag department. She says if you miss a dead deer you have to test two more in its place before your anniversary date. If two more die before your anniverary date all is good. If only one dies you need to kill one more. I no more die you have to kill two. So if you lose one early and miss it you have all year for two more to die. She said if you lose one close to your anniversery date and miss it you will have to kill two more before your date is up. This means its better to miss one early than late.



Also for those who own a preserve and a breeding operation. All deer transfered to their hunting preserve from their breeding operation must be tested for cwd when harvested.

Not sure I understood the ending of your post Virgil......got the first part loud and clear.....pretty insane!! The second part ok so when I transfer a deer to a preserve........when they are harvested...what do they need to be tested for.....CWD?

HIV what did you think Denny boy!!!

The preserve I just took this years shooters to, said he is required to test a minimum 10% of all harvest, not every deer harvested, thats what he said, I did not look in the rules to see if that is how it is written up.

He will have to test ten percent as normal plus ALL of his OWN deer he brings from his OWN breeding operation..

Only your deer Virgy are requested to be tested for HIV.........this is what I was told by Mary Martin........for obvious reasons........quit abusing those animals virg........

Ok I'll stop before it gets to x rated.......we all know how much you love your Whitetails Virgy.......sometimes a little too much.......

You mean the one you xxxx@@@@$)(' with....well I had to do something with her she was taken advantage of with you.....poor thing....