Excellent information! Thanks for taking the time to do this. Your respectful approach is missing in much of today’s society. We need to continue to follow the science!

Thanks to the creator, for having people like you on this earth. I cannot thank you enough for your passion to make what the creator made just a little better. Keep on Keeping on !!!!

Perhaps the most important posting you have done. Thank you

Excellent and informative presentation. Thank you very much and keep doing what you're doing. It has an impact.

Thank you Grant for this timely and informative video. As a longtime practicing wildlife biologist I can appreciate the time and effort that goes into gathering and vetting the information that you've presented. And I certainly appreciate the audience you can reach. All good information and as always presented in a way that doesn't tell us how to think, but what to think about, lol. CWD is here to stay and as conservationists and responsible hunters we need to be prepared to effectively discuss it and manage it to the best of our abilities. And as with so many things in life, CWD may be one of those where there is no true solution, but many possible intelligent compromises. Thank you for your professionalism, your knowledge, and most importantly your willingness to share. So kudos to you and the team, keep up the good work.

Dr. Grant. I respect and admire your work. Follow you on KZfaq since I first found you a few years back. I think these kinds of conversations are necessary and valuable for the hunting community. I will share with that in experience of working in a large government agency, well intentioned ideas will take on a life of their own! It’s for good reasons that the public is very skeptical of any comes from the government or even academia. For example you mentioned the auto insurance industry, if they are not interested in lowering the number of deer collisions it would be very surprising. You are doing a good job at educating, please don’t get defensive when people ask stupid questions. In my opinion the only stupid questions are the ones that nobody wants to ask!

Grant, you just gain my respect every time I listen to you. So calm and logical. Thanks for being the calm and wise presence you are in the industry!

This is one of the first videos I’ve watched from your channel, and to get excellent information, followed by a demonstration of your reverence for God at the end was a blessing! Keep it up!

Thank you for producing this and communicating everything so effectively Grant!

Grant, this is why I love watching the channel. It isn't solely about hunting strategies, and videos like this show just how important it is to have good information based on solid science, so that people can learn and then adjust what they do on their property or when they go hunting.

While I'm not a biologist, it seems to me that Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) might be receiving exaggerated attention from our state agencies. Specifically looking at Arkansas, where CWD was initially identified in 2015 and testing commenced in 2016, the numbers paint an interesting picture: • Between 2016 and 2023, a total of 50,430 deer were tested, with 1,495 (2.96%) testing positive. • Notably, 93% of these positive cases are concentrated around Newton County and the Elk population. • Most of the tested deer were from Newton and nearby counties, where the prevalence is highest. Most were sampled voluntarily or culled by the AGFC due to visible signs of sickness. Over the past eight years, the AGFC has marked 25 counties as CWD zones, accounting for the total 1,495 positive cases mentioned above. However, a substantial 579,568 deer were harvested in these designated counties in the same period, translating to a mere 0.26% positive rate (I know not every deer was tested). When extended to the statewide harvest numbers, the relevance diminishes further. Adding to the perspective, the AGFC has significantly increased the number of CWD tests by 435% from 2016 to 2023, with only a 117% increase in positive cases. In essence, does this not suggest an exaggeration of the issue? In summary, while acknowledging the severity of CWD, a 100% fatal disease for deer, and speaking as a passionate deer hunter, the decision to remove antler restrictions across half the state appears disproportionate. This measure clearly impacts the age class of bucks negatively. A little bit of research tells me CWD was introduced to Arkansas in 1981 with the Elk herd. CWD has been around since then and will always be here. A doe will always lick her fawns, deer will groom each other, and deer will always feed/sleep/walk/drink in the same areas even if there is not a corn pile. The data shows there has been no impact on CWD numbers by implementing the CWD regulations set by the AGFC, like no baiting in the summer months, no antler restrictions, no natural deer scents/lures, & increased bag limits.

Not a thing we are going to do about CWD. Deer live with it and groom each other daily. I agree with Dr James Kroll on the issue. I eat venison for the last 40 years and CWD has been around way longer than that. Testing will just keep the hype going. Hemorrhagic disease is way worse IMHO.

Thank you for putting out this information. I appreciate it as some of the places I hunt in Pennsylvania and Ohio have deer that tested positive for CWD. Keep doing what you’re doing. And thanks again.

I agree on the natural route of enhancing the natural forage. It’s hard to beat the original designer.

I have land in the core zone in Wisconsin after 20 years plus the mature buck numbers are way down 4 yrs old are becoming rare! people really complain about deer numbers up this way.

Thanks for your common sense and calm response to a complex problem.

As always, solid information and video, Dr. Grant.

Great episode. Thanks for sharing your CWD journey and supporting best practices for CWD.

As always great information. Thank you so much Grant!

Sorry you found CWD. Excellent job in summarizing facts about CWD. I appreciate it.

God Bless you Dr. Grant Woods!

As a wildlife biologist myself for which state I won’t mention. We recommend Growing DeerTV to a lot of our landowners or we’ve had them mentions Grants name. Thank you Grant/Daniel for expressing the information in a digestible format for many hunters and landowners; it helps us in the field exponentially!

Great episode Grant!!! We all need to be good stewards and conservationists and follow the most recent research and information available. Thank you and your team for consistently providing us with what you can of that!!! Keep up the good work.

This is the best video on CWD I have ever seen. Thank you!

Honest question. If the CWD protein is passed by body fluids and waste, why can they only find it in testing that requires the animal die?

Well Done Grant THANK YOU

Great presentation Dr Woods. It’s amazing to me that some will not do anything to help out. Some are very short sighted and can’t be bothered to be inconvenienced with a slightly smaller herd, handling carcasses properly or give up a corn pile.

Thanks Dr Grant for the facts and information on CWD as well as legitimate sources for further information. I respect a biologist who is also a deer hunter and uses science and not emotion to explain how we can mitigate this disease until a cure is found.

I agree with you grant totally if you we don’t take care of are deer herd ,the most sought after big game in the us,a lot of people that disagree with you they don’t care about conservation,all that matters to them is the harvest, god bless you grant and your family you have the best and most knowledgeable hunting show on KZfaq

I live in Southwest Wisconsin and we've had CWD for the past 30 years. Yet the herds are the same if not bigger today than they were thirty years ago. It's a moneygrab by the department of natural resources. Mainly due to deer farms, and that's where you'll find your highest concentrations of CWD. I suggest you listen to Chris Brackett. As he is very knowledgeable on the subject along with many other podcasters

Great episode. Thank u Grant.

I agree 100% with every word that you have spoken and hope more passionate deer hunters like myself will arm themselves with the knowledge it takes to bring us through this challenging time!

Until you can figure out how to get deer to stop swapping fluids at every oak flat, community scrape, and travel corridor then it will continue. Baiting/mineral sites are such a small percentage of the whitetails world. However; I have never seen massive efforts to reduce deer populations to have a positive effect on the deer herd in my state, especially when money can be procured by the state.

Excellent vid Grant, i appreciate all your doing to educate everyone and share the facts. Lets make it a great 2024!

Thank you for such an informative and science-based segment, Grant! Well done!

Thank you for the great information. Here in PA in all the CWD zones the game commission puts out collection bins to put heads in and does free testing. It is a great service to the hunters in our state.

Good video. Thanks for posting it.

This was the best educational source on CWD I've come across, yet.

Excellent video Grant!! Thank you again.

Dr. Grant I thought that I had this season in the bag, as far as tagging a mature buck. I only hunt public land here in Missouri. Scouted very hard this past spring and found two different huge rub lines. The biggest rub lines I have personally ever seen. Definitely made by big mature bucks. Then I started finding dead deer. From February til October I found three dead deer. Killed from disease. I've contacted the conservation department. One deer I found in October was a decent 135" ten pointer. Needless to say, after the drought we've had this year it's made it harder on the deer herds to stay healthy. I didn't catch any mature bucks on camera. It sucks! Thanks for posting on this horrible disease. There's always next season.

Thank you for the information. God bless you

Thank you, great source of information.

Great cumulative review of existing CWD info. Don't even acknowledge the ignorant, Dr.Grant. they don't even deserve the recognition. Most mammalian species go through a cycle with hemorrhagic fevers and various diseases. This is 1 of the few times we have these platforms to communicate info about it. You play a key role in that communication. Can't thank you enough.

I sent my first comment in before you got to the segment where you explained that a food plot or natural food source isn't the same as a feeder spot. I can agree with that too. However, at the beginning when you explained that a deer is constantly salivating especially while eating. And food particles are falling out of their mouths. But when you touched on the fact that food plots and natural food sources the deer eats the plant and doesn't put their nose back down in the same spot. I have to disagree with that statement simply because the deer are in fact grazing in the same spot just eating another plant/foot source. So in reality the saliva is spreading along with their urine and feces as they move through the food plot/natural food source. It's just not in a pile as you stated; which again I never thought about that so thank you for that insight.

Thanks for the good information. I really appreciate this video! Keep up the good work. :)

Thanks Grant.

I always like learning and appreciate learning from those ahead of my time…I live in capital ny we have had some outbreaks but nothing to your extent…and I have always wondered about the meat ..and if we could contract it..I do wish they would give more tags out and more access to lands especially just outside city limits where the herd is just exploding in past that’s where most outbreaks occur because a large portion of the people feed the deer year round.

Grant what do you think about scrapes ? They seem to be cwd pits .

I am from Wisconsin and can say that when CWD was first found it put a scare in hunters to the point that a lot of hunters did not go or decided that they would only shoot a big buck. In areas that it was found the DNR did try to eradicate deer by hiring sharpshooters to shoot deer at night over of all things bait piles. They also had special seasons. Where I live they found it in a deer farm image that. Every deer in the farm (Buck Horn Flats) ended up testing positive. There was also a hole in the fence found that miraculously most of the big bucks escaped through. Tells you something about how deer farms played a big roll in CWD. The DNR then tried to take out as many wild deer in the area with a special hunt in February. As you stated in your video that there is no proof that CWD can spread to humans. In Wisconsin testing is voluntary and they do not confiscate the meat from a deer that tests positive. It should be up to the individual whether they want to have their deer tested. I am not a big fan of baiting to begin with but do not feel it is a major factor in CWD spreading. Every deer in an area visits community scrapes and licking branches. Very few deer in the wild die from CWD. They usually die from blunt force trauma, coming into contact with sharp objects or lead poisoning.

Great information. Thanks for sharing!

How many deer have died from this disease? Every deer that’s tested positive, has come from death by hunter or car. Is there a study of deer in pens showing long term effects?

Excellent video Grant! Facts are the best way to handle CWD.

Two fawns positive and a 12 point positive out of 5 deer taken in camp here in Arkansas; so much for not being in fawns.

The problem is there has never been a study that delineates the % of transmission via the possible modes of transmission due to the difficulty of design and accurate execution of such a study, esp for deer in the wild. Thus all restrictions and efforts are based on best intentions and not backed by replicable science. It doesn't take a genius to realize reducing population density will slow the spread of any transmissable disease. Until a human actually gets CWD from a deer, it remains just one of a thousand things that occur in nature that has what we perceive as negative results.

$420 million up for grabs for cwd ladies and gentlemen.

Thx Grant for this good information 👍👍🦌🦌

I hunt in CWD prevalent counties in IL & WI. Since it has been discovered in 2002 I've never witnessed an obviously sick deer nor have fellow hunters in the areas I hunt. The WORST outcome is the introduction of these culling programs, sharpshooters, liberalized seasons & tag sales. As such quality deer hunting has gone downhill in these areas no doubt. If you choose to perpetuate the CWD hype then at least include some empirical evidence illustrating the horrific impact is has on deer, Dr. Woods? Aside from a measly 5 second clip of a buck walking & using it as confirmation bias lol A PhD should know better

Keyboard cowboys absolutely killed me 😂

Ok Dr. Grant what about scrapes every deer in the area bucks and does all lick and defecate in the scrape how is that different then a bait site?

I appreciate the info Grant and team. The more information we have, the better the decision making. Deferring baiting is perfectly reasonable and shows direct correlation via the 2 state approaches. This year I started baiting and planting green cover, all be it late in the year. Trail cams tell me the deer much prefer the planted plots. I have only seen a few doe groups at the bait. MUCH more deer (especially bucks) at the planted plot. So, baiters relax and adapt, you can plant virtually any where. Good hunting!

Nose to nose like every deer that hits a scrape/licking branch. CWD has been here long before we tested for it. Thousands of deer with CWD have been eaten without knowing that deer was sick. No human has ever contracted this disease can’t happen.

Very good,thanks

Dr Grant convinced me a long time ago that I didn’t have to have 500 acres on th Missouri/Iowa border to grow and harvest quality bucks. Our practices, through knowledge that he’s provided over the years, created more deer and other wildlife, and high-quality deer on a 63 acre tract. I’ve taken a 165 4/8, several 150 class and each year we see progress. Our unofficial “proving grounds” has made for great hunting and conservation.

Im from NW WI, and the only thing affecting the deer heard in the northern 1/3 of the state is the wolves they introduced back into the state and the fact they started allowing crossbows to every average joe whos to lazy to take the time to shoot a compound bow. Our deer herd isn't quite the same it was where I hunt since I started hunting 18 years ago but it's not a zombie zone and I hunt in the heart of one of the "cwd" zones. It's quite fishy that the most recent cwd positive deer they found in the county next door just so happened to be 2 weeks BEFORE bow season started this year. What deer did they test that came back positive before season even started? Roadkill? I don't think so because they leave the vehicle killed deer to rot in the ditches around here. They will never get rid of it. That is their main form of communication. A scrape and LICKING branch. Not to mention crop fields, the food plots you preach about all summer long and educate us about, mud puddles they drink out of, grooming each other etc........I think CWD is just like covid. Quit testing for it, and it wouldn't be such a huge deal. Another money driven government scheme. They want all the deer shot so they sell unlimited doe tags at next to nothing prices. At one point they were selling doe tags for 2 dollars. 2 DOLLARS. I believe now they are 12 dollars. Every farmer around was buying as many as they could and filling them for crop damage purposes. That was another thing that made the deer herd a little weaker. I think the WI dnr have their heads up their butts IMO. Now I'm not saying it's not real, I do believe it's real but I think the way the dnr is handling it is whack. It's ridiculous to think that the 2 gallons of bait WI used to allow to be placed was something that needed to be eliminated. A doe and her fawns will mop that up in a short period of time, and I don't even care to use bait. Never have cared one way or another. Like I said deer are going to swap saliva no matter what. They are herd animals and feed and live together. Just like you state not supposed to cross state lines with a carcass but yet here we are with all these deer farms around here bring deer in from other states. But that's a grey area, they turn their heads to that. Most of the cwd cases around here are because of the deer farms. Another fishy thing because these deer farms are supposed to be Fort Knox security where their pen deer can't get out, double fencing and such, but yet if they find a cwd deer in the pens they correlate it to the wild herd. Again fishy things are happening. I'm not questioning you Dr. Grant at all but I do question the government. Thank you for the informative videos you create and put out for us to watch. Appreciate it. God bless!

Excellent video. Thanks

Great information. Like to add. In NYS one of the first know cases of CWD was do to herd farming deer for restaurants. This goes back over thirty years ago when venison was only allow to be sold in restaurants. It had nothing to do with hunters. I support not doing baiting stations

Amen! Brother grant. I enjoy everything about the channel. Just don't start getting overly excited about the harvest like some channels do. We're still taking a life ,that the creator gave us to manage responsibly, and sometimes the harvest can be an emotional thing. And they should be respected, as your channel does. Thanks.

Well done Grant!

That buck sure looked healthy to me...cwd it just more control and money for the conservation department...ive lived and hunted in a cwd zone for year's and its a joke..

Thank you, Grant for providing the information needed to understand CWD and ways we can help. Ignore the junk mail. You are doing great work.

Good video/info. Rethinking my mineral rocks.

Awesome presentation Grant! Thank you for doing all you can to educate your audience! The process of educating the public is slow painful and disappointing at times. Look guys, there is no conspiracy by wildlife departments to profit from CWD nor to exterminate deer. Please educate yourself, the information from decades of studies of CWD is there for you to read! Thanks!

Thank you for the information. We all need to be proactive on this. We can stop mineral licks and baiting deer immediately. We have the information, now act. This could keep our deer heard healthy for many years to come.

We appreciate this video. It's sad how many people are misinformed or believe in conspiracy theories with CWD. A lot of people get offended when someone doesn't recommend baiting. I live in NC and we are just now seeing deer with CWD and so regulation changes have occurred as a result. I stopped baiting when I first learned about CWD. Others get upset about the idea of taking away the baiting. But we gotta look at the bigger picture. I think taking baiting away could be even more beneficial not just for reducing CWD but maybe other hunters will focus more on improving habitat/native browse as a result instead of putting so much time and effort into baiting.

And another thing you said CWD was found in the 60s in lab then 40 later it was found in the field is it possible that lab grown CWD and released it in the wild?

this is coming from the same guy who pushed trophy rocks for years and years! How about those mock scrapes you have every where? Licking and fluids all over those sites

I never thought about what you were saying about the feeders being used for deer. But wouldn't what you were stating hold true for large areas of Oak trees dropping the acorns. These areas are much more larger areas than a feeder which would spread out over a more vast area of deer deification.

CWD on your hunting property changes things. My friend & I cut up all our deer now (local deer processing is $180/deer). We bag the venison in 1-gallon zip lock bags until we get the CWD results (1-2 weeks). We toss a positive deer. Some question that, but when we offer them the positive meat to feed to their loved ones (family, grandkids, & friends), they quickly shut up. We go through & clean up (trim off more fat, remove any hair, etc...) & repackage a negative deer. As a matter of fact, I am picking up 40+ pounds of ground venison with 10% beef tallow added from the locker today. I took in 58 pounds of cleaned up scrap venison last week. The remaining amount is going to be made into my favorite (jalapeno/cheese sausage). I wrap my better cuts with wrapping paper at home. We don't risk high meat processing costs on untested deer any more. I've had 6 positive bucks on my Wisconsin property since 2020. We harvested 6 deer this past season, and we had one positive (young, 1.5 year old buck) that a friend shot. I shot an older 11 pointer with my Prime bow in early November, & it was negative. Thus, you never really know. I live in a county where 30% of the CWD tested deer were positive in 2023 (we are the current hot spot). I have a friend whose group shot 4 mature buck opening weekend of gun season & 3 of the 4 tested positive. I haven't had a positive doe, even though some have been 3-4+ years in age. You don't need to overreact to CWD, but you may need to adapt. It changes how you hunt, too. I take an early archery doe now, because it's more likely to stay in the freezer!

Great video keep them coming.

I really wish they would put a stop to the captive deer facilities. They are mostly for deer scent and high fence shooting ranches. It seems like a risk that’s too big to take. Most of these cases start at those facilities. We had two instances in Ohio. One was not spread to wild deer and one was. Now we are likely stuck with it. Mostly because some dude wants a big set of antlers without the work.

Great explanation. Thank you, Grant. I've definitely heard of CWD but haven't sought out info on my own. Man-made waterholes would be another contributing factor to CWD it seems. Regarding your point on a potential solution to CWD being a vaccine, how could that practically be administered to wild deer? I can understand trying to limit deer herd growth in order to stop the spread, but practically, I'm having a hard time understanding how we could administer a vaccine to a large # of deer all over the country in CWD areas. I'm sure there could be ways, I'm just not that much of a biologist!

Excellent show by Grant and it is all true. Eventually all states will abolish baiting stations.

Great information as it was so informative! We submitted two deer this year to our Connecticut DEP biologist for testing. I'm told that you should be careful not to cut the spinal cord, so one should be careful when removing the neck. Maybe we should bone the next without severing the spinal cord. What are your thougths?

I've had several run ins CWD deer , I had 1 chase me on a riding mower and around my truck till I could get a gun , had another trying to get in my house banging on my patio doors and another ramming a backhoe I was operating after seeing the first 1 , I could tell immediately what was going on

Great video top notch info!!!!

Great content

If a deer go's to a food plot and pees in it on a plant that plant now Carries the Prion. deer don't just eat the Whole plot to the ground. They browse and take a bite . So yes food plots would Spread cwd Based on what you said

Good stuff Grant!

I hunt in CWD zone in TN...The last 5 years since they started testing I have harvested 1-2 deer that have tested positive. None of these deer showed any signs of the Disease.

Thank you Dr. Grant for laying out the facts about CWD.

I have no doubt your heart is in the right place. That being said I do utilize deer feeders and am currently working on improving foodplots and moving away from feeding. I do not believe bate sights are as bad as everyone makes them out to be. If a deer salivates as much as you say and plants can even pull the prions from the soil and it can live there indefinitely as I understand. Than one deer with cwd will infect nearly a whole foodplot where other deer will ingest the prions and as a result spread it to the rest of the food plot. So it may take more time for it to spread in an area where bating is outlawed it surely will eventually catch up. Now from what I remember reading the average life expectancy after a deer is infected is 3 years. That’s still quite a good age for deer. The disease as far as we know isn’t capable of being harmful to humans so I can appreciate people being safe and not risking eating the venison but I don’t think the fear is warranted. Overall I absolutely agree improving native habitat is probably the best thing we can do to protect this amazing resource. I am also hopeful that a cure will be found eventually. Who knows maybe deer will adapt to the disease and be able to live with it or fight the disease off. God has a way of doing amazing things and I’m confident that I will be able share many hunts with my family and friends in the future.

Dr., thank you for keeping us informed. My question to you is how far are we from having a handheld test kit that hunters can use in the field to detect CWD? The police have them for drugs, we have them for covid, pregnancy, etc. Why has there been zero push for the technology? The need is present, and the cost is low. Thanks in advance- John in Virginia

Dr. Grant, I greatly appreciate your utube channel and sharing of knowledge and experiences. Thanks for this video. Will government shooters be coming to your area to eradicate as many deer as they can in the near future? Also, I know for a fact that in IA and NE, insurance companies have lobbied the state gov/DNR's to increase deer harvest to lower numbers, they don't just eat the cost by charging more. Deer collisions impact their bottom line so they want more killed.

There are lots of truths in the video, but Grant didn't mention 1 word about Game Farms. There lies a major Contributer to CWD. I personally know multiple Farms that had to be Uthinized because of CWD. Eliminating Game Farms would be a huge start to solving this issue.

💪👊👍! Great info!

well said

My property has been In My family since 1753. And we have over 30000 deer skulls. We hade 3000 of them tested over the past 250 years for CWD and it was found in7 of the skulls dating back to 1786. It’s been around for millennia and it takes care of itself. There has only been a problem with it recently because of the increasing population of humans. Hopefully the hunting numbers will continue to decline and this problem will resolve itself.

Out of all the years you have been harvesting deer you finally came across one with CWD? I believe there is too much hype around this. I have harvested deer for over 20 years and shoot 1-2 deer a year, and I am still alive. I believe it exists, but there are many more things challenging deer heard today, especially in the upper Midwest other than CWD. Predation management is a top priority to better manage right now. Good video and information, thank you.

Since the CWD prion can’t be destroyed via heat, cold or any sort of sterilization process. Do you suggest a total replacement of all of your CWD “contaminated” processing equipment? Any chances of a “snap” test on the horizon whereas a hunter could test his harvested deer in the field? Timely/Excellent Video Dr Woods! Straight forward no nonsense approach is the only way to discuss this topic that affects every hunter! Have a safe/productive winter!

Good info! Keep up the good work!