08/18/2026
The country’s top CWD genetics researcher says CWD is “by far the most corrupt area of scientific concern” he has encountered in his career. Dr. Christopher Seabury, a tenured Texas A&M professor who has spent more than 20 years researching prion diseases and has worked with USDA on CWD genetics, recently pointed to Wisconsin as the real-world example people don’t want to discuss. After years of aggressive management, including efforts to drastically reduce deer numbers, CWD continued spreading. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin population data he cited shows the deer herd grew by more than 82% between 2008 and 2024, reaching an estimated 1.825 million deer.
Seabury’s argument is that natural selection is already be accomplishing what government management has failed to do. Favoring deer that are more tolerant or resistant to CWD, allowing infected animals to survive and reproduce. He wrote that “mother nature has already done the experiment for us, and she won in the battle against CWD,” and called the CWD field the most corrupt area of science he has encountered, warning states to follow actual evidence instead of “ideological talking points.” That is an incredible statement coming from a PhD researcher who has spent his career studying prion disease.
Funny how state game agencies talk about “follow the science” until that science shows how badly they screwed up.
— Stephen Ziegler
Outdoor Writer | Rack Junkies Podcast
