CWD found in Olmsted county elk herd!!! Time to eliminate game farms!!

[BLACKJACK]

An elk on a farm north of Rochester -- the largest elk farm in the state with about 1,000 head -- has been found to have chronic wasting disease.

It's the first time the fatal brain disease -- known as CWD -- has been found in Minnesota since 2006 and the first time it has been found in southeastern Minnesota.

Find the rest of the article in the Star Trib.

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We sit and argue on this site about deer management in MN, trophy bucks vs. shooting small bucks but if something isn't done about game farms, its going to ruin our deer hunting!!! To me one of two things need to be done:

1) Require all game farms with deer and elk to have double fences to eliminate any chance of any escapees and to eliminate any chance of nose to nose contact with local deer.

2) A better option would be to buy out all game farms and make a rule - No More Game farms with elk, deer, etc.

What’s more important to MN, the dollars from a small number of game farm 'ranchers' or the deer hunting industry with 400,000 deer hunters in MN??? Yes it would be expensive but in the long run it would prevent a catastrophe to our deer hunting!! And the precedent has been set, remember a few years back when all the commercial netters were bought out up on Lake of the Woods?? It was done for the good of the sport fishing industry. Lets do the same for the good of our deer hunting!!

Something needs to be done or sooner or later we'll have CWD in our deer here in MN. Ask the Wisconsin hunters how much fun that is!!

[picksbigwagon]

I agree about securing these animals better in theory, but if you have never seen this elk ranch, they have an 8foot chain link fence around all of their pastures. Not just one little section, I believe the section along highway 52 is at least 2 miles of 8 foot chain link fence. But I agree, the game farms need a lot close scrutiny. Look at the bovine tb section up in NW MN.

Olmsted county is not a great county for cwd, too many deer. But of course there isn't truly a great or even good county for cwd in the first place.

[Bear55]

There certainly seems to be a large number of these game farms that end up with CWD all across the country, far too many for it to be coincidence. I agree that at the very least some stricter rules need to be in place.

[mrklean]

scary stuff, just when we hadnt heard about it for awhile now, gotta lock them down, i dont want to end them just make them like they said closed down so they cant have contact with deer or anything

[CrappiesNCats]

I agree about securing these animals better in theory, but if you have never seen this elk ranch, they have an 8foot chain link fence around all of their pastures. Not just one little section, I believe the section along highway 52 is at least 2 miles of 8 foot chain link fence. But I agree, the game farms need a lot close scrutiny. Look at the bovine tb section up in NW MN.

Olmsted county is not a great county for cwd, too many deer. But of course there isn't truly a great or even good county for cwd in the first place.

its higher than 8 foot. you need a 12 foot to have elk. i drive past it a lot and its very much secured. if its only 8 foot fence than i stand about 3'0"

[SM1]

I’m thinking the suggestion is to have double fences. You could have one fence 100 ft tall but that wont stop contact through it. Double barrier methods usually work better.

[BLACKJACK]

I've been by that farm many times, it looks impressive, but if deer can jump a 6 foot fence I'm betting an elk could go over a 8 foot fence. How about all the other game farms in the state?? Every year or so you read about escapees from game farms, how does that happen? Either thru a hole in the fence or an open gate. Thats how we're going to end up with CWD in the wild deer herd.

A double fence would be a lot tougher to breach and would stop nose to nose contact.

[DaveT]

I'm personally starting to wonder how much of a threat CWD is to begin with. We're talking about an animal that has evolved through probably hundreds of diseases already. It only seems to be a problem in captive or over populated herds. When a population gets out of control, nature usually has a way to get it under control. Granted, nature's way is usually more drastic than ours, but I think it's gone overboard a little. Game departments are wiping out deer herds all over North America to stop a disease that they don't know much about.

For instance, healthy deer that are put in a pen that used to have CWD infected animals in it are still contracting the disease. If it can survive in the soil for years, what good does killing the animals do? I think we may have to put a stop to deer and elk farming as they are the biggest spreaders and transporters of this disease, but I think wiping out wild deer herds is a waste of time and money. I bet half the wild deer are already immune to it or just carriers that never get sick.

Of course, I have no scientific data to back up my opinion, but that won't stop me from throwing it out there.

[kkahmann]

Dave raises some good points. There is just too much we don't know about CWD. They have been living with it for more than 30 years now in Colorado. Probably much longer--we just didn't know about it.

You can kill all the captive deer in a pen but does anyone really believe you can kill all the wild deer in a given area.

Wisconsin has had some experience with this--hows that working out? Dane County should be completely free of deer by now shouldn't it?

[picksbigwagon]

I have never been out of my car as I drive by the elk farm if you say it is higher than 8 feet I beleive you. If the elk can jump higher than a deer, that is scarey impressive.....those bulls weigh what 8-900 pounds? carrying 60 pounds of head gear?

[InTheSchool]

What is the status of the Elk Run building project? All the $$$$ spent on that farm it's a wonder they still have elk there. Does anyone have any idea how many elk farms there are in Olmstead, Goodhue, Wabasha and Dodge counties?

[sparcebag]

I've seen films of people in I believe Borneo,Who contacted CWD from wild game! If you saw the same films you'd understand why science believes the best way of control is offing all infected animals! What they know of it really doesn't matter! What is seen from contacting this brain/nervous system altering disease is devastating! That should matter! and the only way known of control is not letting it spread but trying to slow or eradicate it.

[lovebigbluegills]

I agree with alot of your points DaveT--Mother Nature does have a way of keeping things balanced, whether it be through hard winters, disease, or increased predator populations.

[kkahmann]

Sparcebag--I saw some films about Jakob-crochfelt or whatever CWD in humans is called. There is a very high incidence in PNG (Paupau New Gueani) and Borneo and it comes from eating brain matter--but not from wild game. It's kinda self-limiting as the third world catches up. Nat Geo did a special on it but it was pulled for political reasons.

[sparcebag]

I think thats what I saw.They did state cannibolism was the caues before that time,now they dont know where its comming from unless they havent stopped eating their enemies spirit.

[bottom-bouncer]

the elk farm that is in question here wiil be no more very soon as the land is going to be developed into a bio-science research facility. second the elk that tested positive has not been at that farm for a number of years it was sold to another farm and was recently butchered thats how it was discovered in this elk.

I agree just do away with the big game game farms.

and to answer how many elk farms are in this part of the state I am not sure of exact numbers but I know that there is one in cannon falls, one in pine island, and we have three down here.(twenty miles south of rochester. plus two deer farms that im aware of. I know that at the deer farms the wild deer come rite up to the fence I have witnessed this several times at both locations.

[96trigger]

Yes, I have noticed down here in SEMN that more and more "little" deer farms, with herds of about 20-30 deer have popped up in the last couple of years. I haven't heard anything lately about the Elk farm, I know that some of it was sold to developers like Bottom bouncer said, but I thout that much of it was still going to be and Elk farm.

If you have never seen it before, it is a sight. I believe its over 1500 acres, all fenced, and there are hundreds of elk. Correct me if I'm wrong... I'm trying to go by memory, which isn't very good. Maybe somebody in Rochester or Pine Island has more knowledge of it.

[bottom-bouncer]

96 trigger I just had this conversation the other day with a guy down here about the fate of the elk farm in pine island I thought that deal on the farm side of the road had fallin thru this summer and the land was returned to the origanal owner but was told that it was the property on the west side of the road that fell thru. Who knows this my source has been wrong before.

[The_King48]

To eliminate all game farms because of CWD would be saying lets get rid of the human race becasue of AIDS.... I don't believe that we should play " GOD" !!!! This is just my opinion so don't get bully.

[sparcebag]

With Game farms exchanging breeding stock it sure increases the spread of any disease!

Maybe the breeders should be denied intermingling herds outside of their own.

[B. Amish]

I'm a little surprised that pheasant release programs haven't come under increased scrutiny. Especially since avian flu.

Think about it. Let's raise a bunch of pheasants in close captivity and then release them into the wild so they can mingle with actual wild birds.

[96trigger]

I am not sure where they are at in the terms of land etc... I know that their was opposition to the sale of the land, and that Rochester had something to do with it. I really have no idea what the state of that farm is. I do know that they were trying to sell, but I really thought that the elk farm was staying, just in a much smaller capacity.

[sparcebag]

I'm a little surprised that pheasant release programs haven't come under increased scrutiny. Especially since avian flu.

Think about it. Let's raise a bunch of pheasants in close captivity and then release them into the wild so they can mingle with actual wild birds.

Isnt that illegal??

[B. Amish]

Not that I know of. Lots of people do it around my area. Lots of game farms do it too.

[lungdeflator]

Amen to that. Get rid of the game farms. If you like elk go out west and view them in their natural habitat. I like grizzly bears but im not gonna start a grizzly farm in my back yard.