cwd concern
 

I drew an elk tag in a unit in colorado in a designated cwd unit. I know there are several units that are cwd. Should there be a concern on getting an infected elk, I know you can get them tested through dow is this necessary thanks

RE: cwd concern
 

That is the $64,000 question!

No one has proven there is a problem with eating the meat from a CWD infected animal, but people worry that you could get a disease like they think people got from eating mad cow disease infected animals. Actually no one has ever proved that one yet either.

I am a veterinarian, and I still don't know what to tell you! But here is what I think: IF there is a problem with eating the meat (and that is a BIG IF), I suspect that only a very small percentage of people would ever have a problem even if they ate the meat. There were literally 10's of thousands of people who ate Mad Cow infected meat and only a handful of cases that scientists think possibly were caused by eating the infected meat. So my theory is that if YOU were to eat some CWD meat AND it turns out that we can get it from eating the meat, you would have maybe a 1 in a million chance of getting the problem. However, that is just my theory. No one has any hard facts yet.

The Colorado DOW has some good info on the disease on their website, so you should check there. A shortened version is this: don't keep anything with brain, spinal tissue, or lymph nodes. And they recommend having the head tested and not eating the meat if it is positive. Last I heard, they will even refund your tag price if you have to discard the meat.

Hope I didn't muddy the water too much!

RE: cwd concern
 

txhunter58 couldn't have said it better and I think yours is the $1,000,000 question. Some people say yes and others no. Get rid of the brain and spinal cord areas of the elk and you should be fine as that is where the disease is. It has not been found in the meat itself.

Being from Wyoming we have problems up here with it as well and nobody really lets it stop them. I have heard but never seen it in person but they say you can almost tell an animal with it by the way they are acting. They will stumble around and act as if they were drunk. Don't know if it is true or not.

I wouldn't let it ruin your hunt.

RE: cwd concern
 

How about the neck meat on an elk? Is it safe to take the neck meat off of an elk or are there a lot of lymph nodes in the neck meat?

Just curious.
Bugs.

RE: cwd concern
 

There is not that many lymph nodes there to worry about. There are some where the back of the jaw meets the neck and one big one right in front of the shoulder on each side. If you learn what they look like, you can identify them and just trim them off the meat. I wouldn't throw any neck meat away.

RE: cwd concern
 

A check of the stats has always shown me that the elk actually effected by cwd isabout 1.2% of the elk harvested in Colorado. Something like 12 elk tested positive out of 966 tested. Colorado DOW will give you another tag if yours test positive. They have backed off the last few years on the manditory testing for cwd units, which is nice since they have not found anyreal threat to us eating an infected elk. We hunt in a cwd unit and have found nothing but healthy animals so far. Just a slight twitch over one eye aftereating that bull we shot last year! No big deal :)

RE: cwd concern
 

Just eat um don't worry about the test. THey have probably had it for years before they ever discovered it.

RE: cwd concern
 

Thanks for all the info, I have read alot on cwd and just wanteda 2nd opinion. I definitly would not let it change my hunting plans, 6 more weeks and counting down.

RE: cwd concern
 

txhunter58 gave excellent advice! i have hunted a cwd unit in colorado for the last 8 years, killed and eaten elk every year. for your own peace of mind stay clear of brain tissue,spinal cord, and lymphs nodes. have a great hunt.

RE: cwd concern
 

I haven't seen where anyone is asking about the ribs. What about them? you have to cut the ribs off from the spinal column and there is the bone marrow, and fluid. If I am lucky enough to take one, and I can get to it easy enough to take the ribs I would like to. There is a lot of meat I can imagine on them. I don't want to waste them if possible. You have to cut that part, unlike deboning the rest. Just curious.