If you were traveling through Big Sandy you would have seen six FWP’s, a US Fish and Wildlife Service officer and a Chouteau Sheriff Deputy who had set up a hunter’s game stop at Big Sandy’s Rest stop. When I asked who was in charge they all laughed and pointed their fingers to everyone standing around. I wanted to know how many samples they had taken looking for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). “All we can do here is take samples and send them off. We try to have a number of officers, because if one of these have to take off after someone who doesn’t stop then well have enough.” They do have dogs that are service dogs, but the dog that was there was just a pet of one of the officers. The game wardens came from Great Falls, Fort Benton, and Havre. He recommended I call Bozeman for the exact numbers. I called Fish, Wildlife & Parks Wildlife Veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Ramsey from Bozeman who told me there was a total of 568 to date sampled along the central highline. A total of 792 samples to date taken along the total highline. There were 4 positives, 3 of them new, within the Transportation Restrictive zone in Liberty and Blaine Counties. She sent me the following news release:
“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—Nov. 16, 2018
Deer in Blaine County test positive for CWD
Test results from three deer harvested in Blaine County have tested positive for chronic wasting disease.
The deer were harvested within the 2018 priority surveillance area, which includes the northern half of Blaine County.
As a result, the northern part of Blaine County — north of U.S. Highway 2 — has been designated a CWD-positive area. A previously existing CWD-positive area includes all of Liberty County.
FWP has notified the hunters who submitted the samples.
To prevent the spread of CWD to other portions of Montana, the brain and spinal column of deer, elk
or moose harvested within either CWD-positive area cannot be transported outside of the associated transport restriction zone, or TRZ, which includes Toole, Liberty and Hill counties, and with this latest detection has been expanded to include Blaine and Phillips counties. Hunters are reminded not to leave this expanded TRZ with whole deer, elk or moose carcasses from either CWD-positive area but should consider processing the animal within the TRZ or only removing quarters and deboned meat with no spinal column or head attached.
Hunters also need to be aware that because of this new detection of CWD, FWP is relying on collecting more samples from the area to determine disease prevalence among the deer population and its potential distribution. This information is critical for FWP in developing a plan for managing the disease.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that hunters who harvest deer, elk and moose in CWD-positive areas have the meat tested before consumption. Although there is no known transmission of CWD to humans, the World Health Organization and the CDC recommend not consuming meat from an animal known to be infected with CWD.
FWP would like hunters who harvest deer, elk or moose within the priority surveillance area, which includes the Hi-Line from the Blackfeet Reservation to the North Dakota border and HDs 210, 212 and 217 in western Montana, to submit the animals for CWD testing. This can be done by visiting surveillance area check stations
As a reminder, the head of the animal is needed for testing. The standard test is to look at an animal’s retropharyngeal lymph nodes or brainstem for evidence of CWD.”
While I was there two young hunters stopped who had been hunting in the Glasgow area. They had harvested two young bucks and had saved the horns, but left the carcass in the
hunting area. They had harvest the meat they wanted, put the meat in a plastic bag and into a cooler. Following protocol.
The hunting season is over, but the concern of CWD continues as to date there is no known cure.
