07/02/2026
We were told CWD was going to destroy deer hunting. We were told the sky was falling, the deer herds were doomed. Recently the Boone and Crockett Club even put out the idea that our children may not be able to hunt because of CWD. That narrative has been floating around for 15-plus years now. So what actually happened to the deer?
One of the original studies people pointed to was out of Wyoming, where researchers warned that high CWD prevalence could drive the deer population down by 80% by 2025. That became part of the national fear campaign. But when you zoom out and look at the bigger picture, the doomsday version never matched what hunters were told was coming. In fact, there was no decline in that study area. Now look at Wisconsin, the CWD epicenter of America. Wisconsin had CWD confirmed in wild deer in 2002, has some of the highest prevalence rates in the country, and has been living with this longer than almost anybody. Yet Wisconsin went from roughly a million deer around then to around 1.8 million deer now, and somehow it is still the number one Boone and Crockett whitetail state in America.
That doesn’t mean CWD is fake. It doesn’t mean CWD can’t kill deer. It means the “your kids won’t be able to hunt” fear campaign has not matched reality. Deer didn’t disappear. Hunting didn’t collapse. Big bucks didn’t vanish. The only thing that has stayed consistent is the same government answer every time. Kill more deer to save the deer. At best, agencies were wrong and wasted millions chasing a failed strategy. At worst, they set us back decades by killing off the very genetics that would make deer resistant to CWD.
— Stephen Ziegler
Outdoor writer | Rack Junkies Podcast