Idaho Fish and Game officials killed 442 deer and found chronic wasting disease in 6.4% that have been tested so far

LEWISTON – Idaho Fish and Game officials have wrapped up the agency’s deer culling project near lower Slate Creek and generally consider the difficult operation a success.

It won’t eliminate the presence of chronic wasting disease in the area south of White Bird, but they hope it will help contain the fatal neurological illness to a small geographic footprint.

“I think it went fantastic,” said J.J. Teare, supervisor of the department’s Lewiston-based Clearwater Region. “We give full credit to all the landowners who participated with us and let us remove deer from their property and even the ones that didn’t. They tolerated us for seven weeks.”

Teare said the lethal removal of 442 white-tail and mule deer, plus about eight elk, was difficult on landowners and on agency staff.

It was done to reduce the density of deer in the area and make it harder for the disease to spread from animal to animal there and to spiral out from the CWD hot spot.

Chronic wasting disease was found in the area during the fall of 2021 when two hunter-killed mule deer tested positive. It marked the first time the disease was documented in Idaho. Thus far, it has not spread. The disease remains contained to a small portion of Game Management Unit 14 – the lower ends of Slate and John Day creeks and in Nut Basin.

It is spread when infected animals shed malformed proteins known as prions. Scientists believe that most often occurs from nose-to-nose contact between animals. But the prions persist for years on the landscape and can serve as an infectious well.

As of Monday, 24 of the animals removed by sharpshooters from the federal Wildlife Services Agency tested positive for CWD. Results are pending from 66 tests. That means the current infection rate is believed to be about 6.4%. That will likely change slightly when the remaining tests are completed.

Teare figures about half of the deer in the area were removed. Because there is now less competition for food, he said the remaining animals may be more likely to stay in the area. About 75% of the deer removed were whitetails and all but one of the positive tests came from whitetails. But Teare said the agency knows mule deer are also infected.

Most of the positive samples came from the lower end of Slate Creek.

George Fischer, regional conservation supervisor for the agency at Lewiston, likened lower Slate Creek to the center of a bull’s-eye. The farther from the center that samples were acquired, the less likely they were to come back positive.

During the first few weeks of the project, the positivity rate was about 15%. It fell as more animals were tested and the geographic range was expanded.

Still, Teare said positive tests were found farther from lower Slate Creek, including in John Day Creek. The disease was not found in any of the elk tested and, thus far, a few deer taken from the west side of the Salmon River, across from Slate Creek, have been negative.

Teare said the agency plans to meet with landowners later this spring when all the test results are in and agency staff have a chance to map and model the presence of the disease.

In May, hunters can apply for extra doe tags in the area. In the fall, the requirement that all deer and elk harvested from Unit 14 be tested for CWD will continue.

Teare said the deer removal project will likely resume next winter.

“It’s going to continue on for the next few years and probably well into (midrange) future,” he said. “There are still probably positive deer on the landscape.

“There is definitely positive vegetation. We just have to manage it the best we can.”

More than 300 deer that tested negative have been distributed to people in need. The agency is working with Idaho Hunters Feeding the Hungry and plans to distribute more meat in the near future.