Zargabraath t1_iwu2vn7 wrote
Reply to comment by Memetic1 in Canadian scientists discover new COVID-19 variant in deer that may spread to humans by Memetic1
You literally couldn’t find a demographic less likely to wear a mask than American deer hunters
And to be honest the reasonable thing to do with any diseased game is to ban hunting of it at least until the issue is resolved. If China had done the same with their bush meat markets we likely wouldn’t even be in this mess
Ocyanea t1_iwv1ron wrote
Banning hunting is a great way to let the disease spread through the deer population. Hunters do take diseases in wildlife seriously — just look at CWD. We already have testing centers for it — there’s no reason the testing centers can’t just do a COVID swab too, since they have the whole head.
The best way to handle this is to cull local herds, test, and not bait this year until we find out how much of a risk it is.
Zargabraath t1_iwwnn22 wrote
CWD is exactly why hunting should be banned until(or if) it is resolved
The more humans interact with deer the more likely it is that CWD can jump to humans. And that could be disastrous. The hunters can get a new hobby, the risk is too high. Just like the Wuhan wet market bat meat sellers can find a new job. We can’t keep letting 0.0000001% of the population endanger everyone else with this high risk stuff.
Ocyanea t1_iwwpvqy wrote
Hunting is the biggest form of population control for deer. Deer population has exploded from about half a million a hundred years ago to 30 million today — without hunting those numbers would be even worse. Overpopulation spreads disease. Cutting the population down is the best way to prevent the disease from spreading.
Most hunters I know who get deer in CWD positive zones get their deer tested before eating it. Most of them are old enough to remember mad cow disease and to not want to fuck with it.
Hunters in my state killed nearly 400,000 deer last year. Ban hunting and the deer population will absolutely explode.
Zargabraath t1_ix0n3qj wrote
or just allow the historical predators like wolves to recover and tell the ranchers to stop shooting them. that improves the environment across the board by the way, not just by controlling deer populations.
what do you think controlled deer populations for the 99% of the time that they've been on this planet that modern humans weren't around to hunt them?
Ocyanea t1_ix0q4oi wrote
Unfortunately, wolves aren’t going to hunt deer in populated areas. They aren’t as adaptable as coyotes are, whereas deer are perfectly content to hang out in the suburbs.
A lot of people hunt just a few miles from population centers. That’s not the sort of place wolves are going to thrive. Repopulating wolves might work in some very rural areas, but it’s not a solution for suburban and semi rural areas.
sweetpeapickle t1_iwwf8fe wrote
A lot of deer meat now goes to the homeless. It does get thoroughly checked, just like in other processes. The only exception would be solo people doing the processing themselves. But then they really should not be giving the meat to anyone but family. No need to ban hunting.
And I know a lot of hunters, generational, who have been hunting for over 50 years. They all wore masks during the pandemic. Being how cold it is here, chances are their faces will be all covered up anyways.
Zargabraath t1_iwwn39l wrote
Deer having COVID isn’t even the real problem here. As someone who hunts you are probably aware of the prion situation and how bad it is… for that reason alone hunting of ungulates should be banned throughout the US until (if) we figure out a solution to it
If those prions ever jumped from deer to humans it would make COVID look like a goddamn picnic. As a species we need to stop letting the 0.00001% of the population who run bat meat markets and hunt deer fuck up things for everyone else, that’s not a luxury we can afford anymore
bobomb01 t1_iwwvl1f wrote
Triple vaxxed mask-wearing hunter here. Nice to meet you.
Zargabraath t1_ix0myki wrote
do you hunt unicorns? they're probably more common than you, lol
bobomb01 t1_ix0rjos wrote
Only duck and deer for me haha.
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