• Rod fell into his first beaver pond while fishing with

his Dad on a trout stream west of Claresholm at age 4. He always wanted to go fishing after that.

• He loves taking his grand daughters out, especially ice fishing. There is nothing sweeter than watching a 30 pound 7 year old pull in a 15 pound pike.

• He received a Daisy BB gun for Christmas at age 7 and spent pretty much every afternoon after school & most weekends trying to get a rabbit for two winters until he finally succeeded. He lightly froze most of his fingers and toes repeatedly in the process. He always wanted to go hunting after that.

• His 9 year old grand daughter went goose hunting with him this past fall for the first time and thought it was "totally awesome" & can't wait to be shooting geese herself this coming fall.

• Rod joined the AFGA in the mid eighties when the Alberta Government of the day started talking of allowing the game farming of elk and deer.

• He was strongly opposed to such a ludicrous notion & believed then, as he does now, that our wild animals should remain wild and not be domesticated.

• He went to numerous meetings back then where guys like Val Geist & the new AFGA President named Jack Graham spoke out passionately against game ranching & warned of the pitfalls that would come with it.

• Rod was the Drumheller & District Fish & Game President from 1989 to 1992, then became the Zone 2 Director from '93 to '95 & is still quite active with both groups.

• He was elected to the AFGA Senior Executive after that & was the AFGA President from 2001 into 2003.

• During his time on the Executive, Rod dealt with issues such as stopping the Ultimate Whitetail Challenge before it even got started & successfully (at that time) opposed the closure of the Grizzly Bear season.

• Rod was very active in the AFGA stance opposing gun registration & took up the successful fight against the game ranchers proposal for CHP’s, better known as shoot farms, in Alberta in the early 2000's.

• He was awarded a "Life Membership" of the AFGA and was honoured to receive the "AFGA Fulton Award". He served 2 years as a CWF Director & a few years later received the CWF award for "Outstanding Conservation Achievement" in 2008.

• Rod was also inducted into Alberta's "Order of the Bighorn" by the PC Government of the day for conservation work & his work on the knock down, drag them out CHP fight.

• He has remained a devout Fish & Game member & has been active with the whole Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) fiasco since the day he became a member.

• Rod was one of the original appointees to the CWD Border South committee in 2005 when Alberta got it's first CWD positive courtesy of Saskatchewan, & is now the "Official spokesperson" for the AFGA regarding CWD.

Rod Dyck

Chronic Wasting Disease Update from an AFGA Perspective

By Rod Dyck

Chronic Wasting Disease CWD

What is it? • CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy.

• It affects the brains of deer, elk, moose and reindeer.

• It has also been found in muscle tissue. (meat)

• There are currently 8 strains of CWD. It seems different strains affect different species

• Other diseases along with CWD in this grouping include BSE (Mad Cow) in cattle, Scrapie in sheep, Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD) in humans.

• CWD is always fatal, THERE IS NO CURE OR VACCINE!

Where Did CWD Come From?

• CWD was first found in Mule Deer in a research facility in Colorado in 1967.

• It showed up in Colorado & Wyoming’s wild Mule Deer & White-tailed Deer in the early 80’s & then in Nebraska’s. This is considered the endemic area.

• It showed up in Saskatchewan & Alberta game farms in the mid 90’s through animals received from CWD infected US game farms.

• Alberta’s first wild case of CWD was in 2005 near Acadia Valley along the Saskatchewan border.

• There is no scientific or anecdotal evidence to prove that CWD has always been here.

What Has Been Done to Stop The Spread of CWD?

• Government culls by Fish & Wildlife Officers.

• Culls done by professionals in a hired helicopter with sharp shooters.

• Since 2008 Alberta has been in monitor mode by testing heads to see how rapidly the disease is spreading & to keep track of the density.

• For a few years, extra tags were issued to hunters in WMU’s along the Eastern border where you could shoot 2 does & then get 1 buck tag.

How Is CWD Spread?

• Animal to animal contact

– Touching noses, saliva, blood, offspring, sex, etc.

• Animal to ground to animal contact

– Urine, feces, etc.

• From eating plants growing in infected soils that have picked up the disease

Future Implications of CWD • Mature deer will die off as the disease is affecting

younger deer all the time. • Localized deer populations could die off once

densities reach 25% or more with CWD as they won’t be self sustaining.

• Grasses & grains grown in CWD contaminated soil can carry the CWD prion.

• If CWD gets into grain crops, countries could refuse to buy them, affecting the agriculture industry.

• Norway has already banned the import of straw & hay from States & Provinces with CWD.

Hunting Behavior and CWD Management (2007 vs. 2017 survey results)

6.67%

11.68%

30.00%

39.12%

4.44% 7.84%

33.33%

13.41%

26.67%

21.18%

38.89%

26.64%

43.33%

48.21%

10.00%

15.28%

32.22%

40.02%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

2007 2017 2007 2017 2007 2017

I regularly submit my deerheads for CWD testing.

I eat or give away the deermeat before I get the test

results.

I think hunters shouldreport back to landowners

if there was a positiveanimal found on their land.Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree

Neither agree or disagree Somewhat agreeStrongly agree

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

400000

450000

500000

2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020

Alberta Hunting Licence Sales 2005 - 2017

Total Resident Hunters (including youth) Resident Mule Deer

Resident White Tailed Deer Draw Applications Received

General Conclusions

• The majority of Alberta hunters are not changing their hunting behavior in response to CWD

– Hunters who were very concerned may have stopped hunting or starting hunting for other species or in other locations.

• Alberta Hunters are concerned about CWD impacts on wildlife populations and some are concerned about human health impacts

– But perhaps CWD prevalence is not high enough to change behavior

• Alberta Hunters are interested in participating in programs that get them involved in CWD management

– Season length extensions, extra tags

• The general public has preferences for monitoring, management by hunters

CWD In North America

CWD In Alberta

Prevalence of CWD in Male Mule Deer

2010 2018

Species Barrier Effect

• Extension of incubation period observed when prion transmitted from one species to another, not necessarily a complete block

• Incubation period decreases with each passage in the new host species

Does CWD Transmit To Humans?

• NO known cases of human disease linked to CWD.

• BUT:

– As the number of infected deer increases, probability increases

– Different strains may have differential ability to infect

– Peripheral distribution increases potential risk

• DO NOT EAT untested animals from areas where CWD is high or if your animal tests positive.

Patterns of CWD in Alberta

There are significant overall patterns of disease occurrence in

Alberta. CWD continues to occur primarily in mule deer in

comparison to white-tailed deer despite testing large numbers

of both species. Similarly males are more likely to be infected

than females.

CWD Positive Cases in Alberta by Year

YEAR NUMBER OF POSITIVES

2005 4

2006 13

2007 19

2008 25

2009 13

2010 20

2011 33

2012 35

2013 49

2014 86

2015 116

2016 179

2017 327

2018 579

T0TAL CWD POSITIVES 2005-2018

1498

Year Of First Detection In A WMU

Year of 2018 First Detection

Show Of Hands

• How many of you submitted heads for testing this past year?

• How many of you are still waiting for test results?

• How many of you think it takes too long to get test results back?

• How many are in favor of the government taking stronger measures to curb CWD?

What Can Be Done To Speed Up CWD Testing?

• More man power is needed

• CWD program needs revamping

• Current testing facility is too small

• Infrastructure needs to be updated & increased

• Warehouse capacity needs to be increased to handle the increasing number of heads submitted

• Increase the money to do the job in a timely fashion

• Some testing could be outsourced to other facilities

• Create a CWD field testing kit for hunters

• Get other Government departments to financially support testing

My Thoughts

Where Do We Go From Here? • It’s too late to turn back now! • Hard decisions need to be made!

– Hunter wants vs. conservation needs

• Continue to hunt • Get your heads tested (my mother always said I should!) • Do not eat a positive, give it away, or feed it to your dog, etc. • Dispose of positives properly by burning or burying them • Reduce your personal risk

– Wear gloves when field dressing – It is recommended that knives, saws, etc. be soaked for a minimum of

5 minutes in a 40% solution of bleach after field dressing, processing, etc. in order to make the CWD prion inactive on metal surfaces.

• CFIA Fact Sheet “A negative does not guarantee that an individual animal is not infected with CWD, but it does make it considerably less likely and may reduce your risk of exposure to CWD.”

What Can The Government, Hunters/ Conservationists,

& The AFGA Do?

• Encourage & enable the Government to do more such as: – Take stronger measures to slow the progression of CWD – Implement measures to increase testing capacities – Make hunters being notified a priority of CWD testing – Improve communication & education with stakeholders & the general

public – Create a reasonably priced hunter test kit for field use

• Sit back & let Mother Nature take its course – We have been doing this for years, it’s not working – This is not an option!

• Go back to the culls – Culls don’t seem to work well in areas where CWD is widespread – Culls are very effective in stopping CWD in locations where it has recently

been found & wasn’t there previously – Government culls are not popular with the general public & some hunters – Culls need to be all inclusive (parks, private lands, crown lands, etc.)

NO EXCEPTIONS or they are ineffective! – Culls need to be done quickly and efficiently with a minimum of disruption to

landowners

• Reduce current populations by targeting older animals – Put Mule Deer on a draw for 3 point or larger in current CWD WMU’s – This will reduce the number of large bucks – This may save younger ones so they can grow older – This will reduce the CWD density in targeted areas

• Communicate & educate the general public as to why action needs to be taken

(This is where we fell short when doing previous culls) – Increased CWD could affect public health

- CWD could jump the species barrier into humans

– CWD has the potential to affect the agriculture industry & economy - Norway has already banned the imports of feed, what if our grain becomes

infected? - CWD could jump the species barrier into livestock (remember it supposedly started

from Scrapie in sheep)

• Increase the number of tags to reduce populations – This is probably the best way to slow the spread of the disease

• Extend season lengths or create new seasons • Take appropriate measures to reduce personal risk by taking safety

precautions • Don’t transport dead animals from CWD infected zones to non-

infected zones • Support Fish & Wildlife & encourage them to take more action • We must BAN THE FEEDING OF DEER! • We must insisit the Government BAN & DISMANTLE EXISITING

GAME FARMS • Contact your MLA & tell them this is serious & going to get worse

– Request more funding for CWD testing & infrastructure improvements, with hunters receiving test results being the priority

• Encourage people to keep hunting & to get their deer heads tested!

• Do not eat CWD positive meat! • Doing nothing is not an option!

• For 2020 lets all work together to do what must be done. With the long term vision of ensuring our wildlife & habitats have a healthy future.

Thank you to the following for providing information:

• Dr Vic Adamowicz (U of A)

• Debbie McKenzie, PhD (U of A)

• Margo Pybus, PhD (AEP)

• Matt Besko, Wildlife Director (AEP)

• Ontario Federation of Anglers & Hunters (OFAH)

• Stephanie Briggs (computer tech/shoulder to cry on)