CWD – Rochester Area’ Elk Herd

This isn’t good. I heard this on the radio on Thursday and then seen it in outdoor news as well. I guess I don’t understand the point of raising these animals anymore. The horns aren’t worth what they used to be and now it’s reported this heard is well over 1000 animals. The photo’s in the paper make it look like a cattle ranch where the animals over populated in some of the smaller pens.

Now the DNR is talking about the possibility of culling the deer population around the immediate area. How about we start by killing all the Elk and then ban the raising of elk or deer in pens.

You get a my vote to eliminate it.

I swear they have caribou in there too!

NOT good news at all…
side note- do you think there has been any accidents on the freeway there cause guys are staring at the elk and not the road??? i’ve caught myself doing that at times.

You know guys, I can’t help but believe that CWD has been around all along and we just didn’t know what it was until one of those “strange behaving” animals was put to the modern microscopes. Stories told by many an old hunter suggest that CWD has been around a long time.

Does it have any relation to overpopulation or in-breeding? I have no idea but looking at the circumstances there in Rochester, it seems worthy of speculation.

As for killing them all, I don’t know. Again……..if CWD actually has been around a long time, what difference does it make. WI’s struggle with CWD in whitetails seems fruitless. The range just keeps spreading in spite of “kill ’em all” tactics used in the early going. I’m just not convinced CWD is worth freaking out over.

As for farmed animals, I know you can’t just select between healthy and sick animals but killing all of them seems such a waste. Since WI already has CWD, why not move the herd over to our infected areas and put a season on the elk? The healthy animals will continue to live out their lives and WI can start selling elk licenses on schedule (anticipated 1st elk season in WI is 2010).

And yeah Tuck, I’ve seen the “Reindeer” inside those fences as well. I just learned a couple years ago that a domesticated caribou is called a reindeer so you’re right…..there’s caribou in there.

makes sense Kid.