Its a crying shame what the wdfw commission has done to hunting in washington state through thier anti hunting action like protecting preditors and non action for things like hoof rott.
Their is literally a crazy cat lady on the board now. The elk in the Blues are an a serious decline also due to wolves and cats. You can compare them to the Lolo elk herd in Idaho when wolves first appeared. Over 80% decline in those populations
WA state is the worst managed state for sportsmen in the nation. There should be 2x or 3x as many Roosevelt Elk than there are now. Taking away spring bear and not giving any thought to predator management is not a recipe for success.
Sadly, it was showing it in a negative light. I live in the absolute top of the Idaho Panhandle. These guy’s and many others are always doing hunting shows. My neighbor Scooter is a nationally recognized cougar hunter and is on the hunting channels all the time.
Welcome to Washington fellas! 😂 Home of the Governor who ran for President on a "Climate" agenda while having countless environmental disasters in his own back yard....
What an incredible video. Thank you for showing us the tough stuff. I hope this opens some eyes and draws attention to such a devastating situation. Good job Cal and Jason, thanks guys.
20 years old, I’ve been elk hunting southwest Washington since I was a young kid with my dad. Even in my short time here I’ve seen a dramatic, and sad, decline in the elk population. We used to see herds of 25-40 elk regularly when I was 5-10 years old. 2024 early season the biggest herd I saw had 8 total elk. Bulls don’t get as big because they die so young, and herds keep shrinking because there are like no cows. With hoof rot, and Washington restricting predator hunting, I wouldn’t be surprised if elk become a protected/endangered species here soon.
Same...I live right near Mt st Helen's and there used to be elk right where I live and we haven't seen them in at least 8 years..everybody used to think they were just living in the young re-prod but that's just not the case
I have long time hunters that originally daw this back in the 90s and named it club foot. Well it’s the same thing here (just named something different)… it is a direct result from weyerhauser properties and the big timber being able to spray their toxic ass “soup” which is causing iron deficiences in our elk! The fish and game wont do anything because theyre paid by daddy inslee…. Washington hunters need to stop buying tags before it’s too late. Ive seen first hand where elks flesh is literally rotting off their bodies and its 100 percent weyerhausers fucking fault!
Its awesome to see you guys in Washington. Man what a dream it would be to be able to work with you guys. This is one of the areas i hunt and Its really cool to see you talking about hoof rot. I think the chemicals weyerhaeuser sprays on new clear cuts has a lot to do with it.
"Certain" industrial practices are 100% degrading in various ways, our animal population, both Oregon and Washington, and have been doing so for at least a hundred years. Be it the old chemicals or new. They may act like they care about the animals, but they don't. It's a disease, but there's other reasons/factors contributing to these kinds of things.
If that’s the case, most likely they sprayed an antibacterial agent and something that it could not eradicate became the dominant bacteria. The wetness of the weather is certainly not helping.
This has been going on for 25 years and they just in the last few years decided to start researching it and do testing. When timber companys made the switch from slash burning to mass spraying atrazine and other chemicals to combat growth of other unwanted plants that compete with there saplings they planted. Almost the same time they made the switch from slash burning to spraying herbicides hoof rot appreared. These chemicals are thought to lower the elks immune system therefore making it susceptible for diseases like hoof rot. We’ve seen elk suffering for years and years now. Hoof rot killing over 70 percent of the elk in my county and this study was released years ago feels like more were dealing with 80-90 percent have died due to it. It’s frustrating watching this go on and on with no real action. These elk are on about a 8 month cycle from the time they get it to the time they literally cannot walk and starve to death or bed down and get eaten alive. What do you think these mass amounts of chemicals being sprayed on clear cuts and sides of logging roads are doing to our watersheds as well? Super frustrating hope this video sheds some light to this serious issue. The state only does the least they can possibly do. Everything wildlife related in the state they seem to mess up our salmon and steelhead fisheries our elk not to mention they’ve released wolves so if we have any elk left in southwest Washington in 20 years I’d be surprised
I just Googled the decease, and a few good scientific articles popped up. Not one mentioned atrazine. You are the first to mention it. I would not be surprised if Weyerhaeuser lobbied to keep the connection silent for as long as possible. Also, I have been a huge fan of Meateater for a few years now. This is the saddest episode I have ever seen.
They also leave the slash sometimes hip deep, forcing the animals to move through Swamp where they can't cut trees, which is also where more diseases and bacteria are. Not burning also means less quality feed becuase not only is it poisoned, but fewer plants also grow, so their diet is limited on top of it. "Must save the planet by not burning!" It's the same problem as with Washington's wildfire policies. Save the planet and in doing so destroy the planet.
To many people you might sound like a conspiracy theorist. But to those many people I say “Monsanto. Roundup. Cancer related disease class action settlements.” Sounds very familiar to what companies that sold asbestos containing products or Big Tobacco said. We should all think hard about why they wouldn’t want the bad news shared and what they would do to hide it
@Blacktailhunter69 Strange that they stopped burning the clearcuts and following nature, and went to chemicals. All in the name of global warming. Well done Washington. I saw it too before I left the state. You knew when you were tracking a herd with a sick animal, it smelled rotten even in the tracks.
I’m going on my first elk hunt this week. Was excited to watch this and now am pretty bummed out. What people have done to these amazing creatures and so many others really sparks some anger. Thanks for putting this out.
They probably do care ... about keeping it going. Having problems in the environment allow government agencies that are supposed to fix them to get funding. If they actually fix the problem, they can't get funding anymore and lose their jobs. It's the same reason why california still has a homelessness problem despite decades of promises to fix it.
Yep, no hurry let hunters stop hunting. Then they can stop selling tags and justify it, “ because nobody hunts “. The anti hunters are working for the state and their agenda is hard at work and they are playing the long game.
You are talking about the same State that FORCED all Game Wardens to get the jab. AND STILL MANDATE it to this day. Fired so many great protectors of our forests and wildlife because they purposely want it to be in shambles. Literally release wolves and now grizzles because people in Seattle want them BUT make sure they only put them in areas that don't come anywhere close to Seattle :)
I just finished up a trip out here for a high buck hunt; I’ll be coming back next year with a few other disabled veterans was planning something different then this video popped up. I’m a conservationist first, I’ll be looking into how I can help. I’d rather take a suffering animal over a trophy.
Hard to watch those gorgeous creatures like that. Yes we do hunt. Yes we do kill. But it just once again proves that us hunters truly care about all things outdoors, we're not just mindless killers.
I live in Hunt in Washington just got done with my two weeks in the woods chasing elk. We were on elk every day except for 2 days. Every herd we saw at least 15% were limping with hoof rot. Its hella sad to see. Also I hunt very close to this area and had that bull with the funky horn on my trail cam while he was still in velvet 😂
A hard video to watch! Are there any organizations that hunters/public can contribute to to help find answers and fight this disease? RMEF, the college doing the research, etc?
Well with the Tree huggers on Washington State far out numbering true conservationists of the wild... anyone who could do something is being payed off by Weyerhaeuser Tree Co
How you help all the game species in SW Washington is stop the tree farming companies (Weyco) from using whatever chemicals are poisoning animals. End of story...PERIOD
I don’t know that much I’m not an expert in this. In fact I’m an arborist in the Boise area. However I grew up in central Idaho on a cattle ranch and we always had what was called foot rot on our cattle. We primarily flood irrigated so we attributed to that. We used an antibiotic to treat it. Usually we used our capture gun rather than bringing them all the way back to the squeeze chute. I wonder what the environmental impact would be to treating standing water sources with an antibiotic to see if you could curb it. Even just a few wallows might make a difference.
When the timber companies apply there spray they post the area. The signs always say do not eat anything from this area because it is unsafe for consumption. If it is not safe for human consumption it is not safe for wildlife consumption. The research facility posted an article a few years back in the RMEF magazine on how they are trying to figure out what is causing. One of the first paragraphs was talking about how it is not caused by spraying the clear cuts with weed killer but no explanation why just that it was not causing it. Now they are even spraying our state land and we are starting to see hoof rot in these locations as well. This spray is causing the animals to have no healthy place to graze majority of elks food source comes from these clear cuts. Look at any satellite imagery and you will notice the clear cuts in Washington are all dead and yellow but all other states they are very green and healthy and you will find lots of animals use them. There is absolutely no way this is not a big factor of why the elk are unhealthy and getting diseases. This spray has been outlawed in multiple states and countries so to similar reason. Wish we could all stand together and make a difference and stop this from happening.
As a veterinarian & former deer biologist, this is hard to watch. Foot root disease is increasing worldwide in livestock associated with an increase in soil humidity and changes in solid moisture and bacterial composition. The intriguing thing is that TAHD is associated with treponema (the spirochetal bacterial family that causes syphilis and pinta in humans). The baseline Koch postulates indicate that to incriminate an agent as the cause of the disease, the four postulates to be fulfilled in their current form, the identified organism must (1) be present in all cases of the disease; (2) be isolated from diseased animals (3) cause disease when reintroduced to a healthy susceptible animal model, and (4) then be isolated again from the new host (3 & 4 normally from controlled experiments). I wonder if the term "treponeme-associated " relates to the fact that Koch's postulates have not been successfully fulfilled, yet.
I grew up about an hour and a half away from this area on the edge of Gifford Pinchot Glad when I see all that rain that I moved to Texas but man it makes me emotional seeing the elk in such terrible shape….. I used to see herds of 70+ when driving home and dream about them as a little boy. What a shame
Anybody remember in the mid to late 90's when they brought in some rocky mountain elk and kept them in a fenced area for study about 10 miles north of Pe Ell? The conditions were foul for animals not native here. Only lasted a short while but we've always wondered if that ever had anything to do with it.
I was born and raised in Washington and the WDFW is a disgrace, they have destroyed that states hunting and fishing. Ridiculous that it’s used for political purposes.
I harvested a bull with hoof rot in the same county as this one in 2010. It was in much worse shape then the one in this video. Sad to see things have only gotten worse.
some information on TAHD: TAHD is spread when contaminated soil is transferred to new areas on the hooves of infected elk or on human shoes and tires. Scientists believe that treponeme bacteria can persist in moist soil. Treating disease in free-living wildlife is difficult, and similar actions to treat livestock are not practical. How can you help? 1) Leave Hooves of infected elk on site. 2) Report Observations of limping elk, and dead elk with hoof deformities to wildlife managers. 3) Clean off shoes or tires "before" leaving a TAHD area. 4) Incentives for hunters are offered by some wildlife departments to harvest TAHD infected elk.
I’m not sure why the USA deer population suffers from these diseases, hoof rot and cwd, here in Europe luckily we aren’t having the same scale of the problem, presumably animal population numbers are the main issue
CWD and hoof disease being so prevalent in these herds seems to reinforce the concept of missing players in the ecology of some of these areas, namely predators like wolves for instance If the population of elk/deer predators (as well as the pop of the deer/elk themselves) was still as it was historically, these issues with disease would still manifest but be sufficiently managed by the wolves and bears etc Really interesting to continually see evidence of the long term affects of essentially removing certain species from varying landscapes, we humans simply do not harvest enough of these creatures to control these problems affectively, we can try but we wont be as successful as other apex predators Could this video be evidence to suggest reintroductions of potential predators back to the landscape? Exciting to think about
Was unaware of this problem. Would like to hear a science based explanation from the Department of Wildlife (or whatever it is called in that state) Maybe a good guest for Cal of the Wild.
I don’t know if this will contribute to helping with what’s going on with these elk, but there was a small herd in my area for a very long time they live next to a compost landfill area where there was rotted food and fertilizer dumped to decompose, these elk would walk and eat around the area all year round,their fur looked like it was falling off their horns look like they were drooping and deformed almost growing into the side of their head. I lived around this area and one of my friends worked at the facility and we used to watch these elk barely be able to walk and even the young ones look like they had the disease. This could be from something else, but it looks a lot the same. I wish there was something they could come up with like a powder that they could spread on the trails that the elk walk on that was absorbed into their hoof and help, but It just seems like a longshot with anything in Washington. and in the south west of Washington were a lot of the clear cut is done by a company called Hancock, which is owned by China. my father has been fighting with this company for years with the disruption that they have done in that area and not helped clean it up leaving it a mess.
Took an elk in 2005 in Colorado with this. Tracked it down in the snow because of that odd hoof, had no idea till I watched this what it was. No one official at the time could give me an answer. we ate the meat but have never seen one like that since.
This is so sad! I've never heard of this before. It seems odd that it would show up all of a sudden. Whatever changed when it first showed up must be the cause. Bacteria may be the result but not the cause of this condition
Hoof rot seems to be plaguing WA elk and no one seems to be able to correlate it to tangible environmental impacts. How do we as hunters develop a plan to handle this and address this chronic problem in elk. As a scientist I would like to see the hunting community come to address this critical issue that seems to be hidden under the table. Feel free to respond to this if ypu have ideas.
At 23 second mark of Remi Warren's video "The Crown Bull I Danielle's Giant Elk With a Bow" we see the telltale deformed left antler. Sure hope they report that animal's location!
It's sad what's happening to our wildlife here. I'm thankful to have harvested and tagged what i have in the last few years. Have a 6 day deer hunt coming up in a couple weeks, hopefully all goes well especially with all this CWD bullshit.
Am I understanding correctly that this disease traces back to Washington state? Specifically, west of I-5? I live in Western Washington, and I’ve always enjoyed hunting. I’ve never heard much about this.
I just have an undergrad in wildlife biology, and this episode is the first I have heard about it. We know it lives in the soil, and I may have missed it, but shouldn't that be a study area? Especially if is moving into Idaho. The biologist at the oab said it is prevalent in one part of the state and sporadic in others; is the soil from each of those different locations being tested against each other to find why one is a better host? Again, I know I have large limitations in this area, but if biologists are only looking to identify the bacteria, will there be an elk herd by the time they can say, "these 3 here are what are making it so bad..." Yes, I fully understand not completely irradicating all bacteria from the soil. And learning which ones will give us target treatments. But it seems to me that it would be more effective if cross-referenced against which bacterias are most prevalent in the areas the disease is most prevalent.
As a lifetime resident of SW Wa I’ve been lucky enough to harvest many elk. Growing up and living on a generational dairy farm I have a pretty good understanding of animal health and hoof disease. In my opinion it all started before the timber companies started nuking the broadleaf. It started when WDFW started issuing 300 plus cow tags for these units that aloud hunters to hunt clear into March, right into the most important stages of gestation. In turn, the animals are stressed out, giving birth to a less superior and more vulnerable calf. An animal that is hunted 6-7 months a year cannot develop the immune system needed to fight such a disease. STOP the cow hunts! Stop the depredation tags. Give these animals a fighting chance so that our kids and grandkids will have an opportunity when they grow up.
As a lifetime resident of SW Wa I’ve been lucky enough to harvest many elk. Growing up and living on a generational dairy farm I have a pretty good understanding of animal health and hoof disease. In my opinion it all started before the timber companies started nuking the broadleaf. It started when WDFW started issuing 300 plus cow tags for these units that aloud hunters to hunt clear into March, right into the most important stages of gestation. In turn, the animals are stressed out, giving birth to a less superior and more vulnerable calf. An animal that is hunted 6-7 months a year cannot develop the immune system needed to fight such a disease. STOP the cow hunts! Stop the depredation tags. Give these animals a fighting chance so that our kids and grandkids will have an opportunity when they grow up.
I have game cams out year round and see 3-5 cows with hoof rot every late winter/spring. Always on cows and the rear leg for some reason. Never on a bull or deer. Numbers on Mt St Helen's have been drastically reduced. I have offered f&g my videos and info without a response. Sad. Some blame Weyerhauser, however, cows/horses have been getting hoofrot long before elk. I understand that it is soil born. Nobody really seems to know.😢
Its interesting to me that Dept of Fish and Wildlife hasn't made a big deal out of the elk hoof rot situation. I understand that saving the salmon populations would be a bigger deal to them because there's a much bigger commercial and recreational fishing industry that would be disrupted if they allowed salmon populations to dwindle. But, with that being said, I really thought that as a government agency thats supposed to be managing and protecting animal species, especially game animals, that there'd be a greater emphasis on figuring out exactly what's going on with the elk in Washington. Because we used to have massive herds of elk in SW Washington and its getting to the point where seeing elk nowadays is getting pretty darn rare. Growing up you used to not even hardly have to look for them, they'd just show up in somebody's back yard any given day. Now its a rarity to see a healthy herd. I'm extremely disappointed in the State's lackadaisical approach to figuring out what is really going on here with the elk. There's all kind of space and range for these animals. There's plenty of habitat for them. There's more hunting pressure and there's got to be quite a bit more poaching going on than there used to be. But it just seems like there just hasn't been the same kind of effort given to answering the elk hoof rot question here that I would have expected when compared to the emphasis the state has shown towards salmon. And that's extremely disappointing for me as a game hunter in Washington. I could be completely wrong about this but when I see guys like Jason Phelps and Cam having to be the ones to blow the horn to raise the issue and meet with researchers from WSU Pullman to get some answers, it makes me pretty upset that DFW hasn't made this a bigger priority. Hunting regulations and fees have only increased in Washington but it seems like the DFW hasn't spent hardly any significant resources towards figuring out a way to mitigate the hoof rot issue or grow the elk populations to what they used to be. Also, with all of the lands used by DNR for forestry purposes it just seems like we have all the habitat in SW WA that's perfect for supporting huge herds of elk. So where are they? Why hasn't DFW been jumping on this and been making protecting and conserving the elk herds a bigger deal?
Thanks Cal. It's important for sportsmen nationwide to see how badly the wildlife management regime in Washington has squandered our once thriving elk populations. Washington's governor is no friend to the environment. In fact, right now he is trying to push forward a plan to put a lithium battery facility directly adjacent to a trib of the Skagit, where collared elk from the North Cascades herd hang out and where there is high flood and wildfire risk. There is 100% opposition to the Goldeneye project from the cities, counties, tribes and citizens but the governor has the final say and the energy lobby holds his strings.
So if this is caused by a treponema species of bacteria, it's a spirochete and probably similar to syphilis. Penicillin or doxycycline should be effective against it. I wonder if there's a natural mushroom/mold species that produces antibiotics properties that elk could eat and that could be planted in these areas (native species). But that's how we discovered penicillin was discovered
When the timber companies apply there spray they post the area. The signs always say do not eat anything from this area because it is unsafe for consumption. If it is not safe for human consumption it is not safe for wildlife consumption. The research facility posted an article a few years back in the RMEF magazine on how they are trying to figure out what is causing. One of the first paragraphs was talking about how it is not caused by spraying the clear cuts with weed killer but no explanation why just that it was not causing it. Now they are even spraying our state land and we are starting to see hoof rot in these locations as well. This spray is causing the animals to have no healthy place to graze majority of elks food source comes from these clear cuts. Look at any satellite imagery and you will notice the clear cuts in Washington are all dead and yellow but all other states they are very green and healthy and you will find lots of animals use them. There is absolutely no way this is not a big factor of why the elk are unhealthy and getting diseases. This spray has been outlawed in multiple states and countries so to similar reason. Wish we could all stand together and make a difference and stop this from happening.
John 3:16 Context 13And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
I live about 10 miles from this town. there used to be about 30 to 40 head on average in a herd now there is about 8 to 15. I usually find one a year behind my dad‘s house dead in the field from this. There is more out in the brush that you don’t find. With few animals left you know they are inbreeding, which is going to make them weaker and more sick from this and other things. I know some really good hunters that Hunt there butts off that usually get elk every year and the last couple years some of them have not gotten anything. and the elk that are left, there is tons of people going after just a few elk, which makes it even worse. I have taken a couple of my kids to the hunter safety course the last couple of years a question that the instructor asked, do you know why there is a hunting season? he said It is to get rid of the excesses animals! if there isn’t any left, why are we still hunting them? there is no excess animals.
What’s crazy is this is my home state (eastern Washington) but had no idea how big of a problem this was. I’ve heard of it once or twice but had no idea, and haven’t seen it out here in the SE side of the state. I appreciate you cal, phelps and the rest of meat eater.
The elk heard in southwest Wa. was at one point the largest in the state. Don't think that can be said at this point. I know the University of Wahington has do studies on the elk hoof rot. All these studies have spent lots of money and still have no solution. I have seen Washington Fish and Wildlife herd elk into holding pens to relocate them to another location. Why can't they herd them though a type of squeeze shut, having them walking through a trough that contains medication to cure this disease?
Welcome to washington state. Please do my hunts here. I see a huge elk heards every time I go see the in-laws. Such an amazing creature out here in the pnw.
i always wondered how they would remove wild game from the public self, turns out hoof rot is a perfect wat to destroy wild protein lol. Our world really does suck
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Its a crying shame what the wdfw commission has done to hunting in washington state through thier anti hunting action like protecting preditors and non action for things like hoof rott.
Their is literally a crazy cat lady on the board now. The elk in the Blues are an a serious decline also due to wolves and cats. You can compare them to the Lolo elk herd in Idaho when wolves first appeared. Over 80% decline in those populations
WA state is the worst managed state for sportsmen in the nation. There should be 2x or 3x as many Roosevelt Elk than there are now. Taking away spring bear and not giving any thought to predator management is not a recipe for success.
Heartbreaking. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
The scope kiss still brings a smile to my face , it reminds me of my first time 🤣
I never thought I'd see what is basically my backyard in a meat eater video.
Fr same here willapa valley guy here
Sadly, it was showing it in a negative light. I live in the absolute top of the Idaho Panhandle. These guy’s and many others are always doing hunting shows. My neighbor Scooter is a nationally recognized cougar hunter and is on the hunting channels all the time.
Welcome to Washington fellas! 😂 Home of the Governor who ran for President on a "Climate" agenda while having countless environmental disasters in his own back yard....
Nothing about wildlife management in WA is encouraging. Lived here 50 years (my whole life) and It's sad what has happened here.
What an incredible video. Thank you for showing us the tough stuff. I hope this opens some eyes and draws attention to such a devastating situation. Good job Cal and Jason, thanks guys.
Cal is the man. He cares so much and i appreciate him highlighting the science behind hoof disease with alot of compassion fir the species.
Terrific program. Straightforward and well done. Thanks
20 years old, I’ve been elk hunting southwest Washington since I was a young kid with my dad. Even in my short time here I’ve seen a dramatic, and sad, decline in the elk population. We used to see herds of 25-40 elk regularly when I was 5-10 years old. 2024 early season the biggest herd I saw had 8 total elk. Bulls don’t get as big because they die so young, and herds keep shrinking because there are like no cows. With hoof rot, and Washington restricting predator hunting, I wouldn’t be surprised if elk become a protected/endangered species here soon.
It's not just a decline there. The Blue Mountains are in a serious decline as well for elk. Wolves and cats. I gave up on the blues.
Same...I live right near Mt st Helen's and there used to be elk right where I live and we haven't seen them in at least 8 years..everybody used to think they were just living in the young re-prod but that's just not the case
You literally have vegans on your wildlife commission. What direction do you think this is headed?
@@swearengin1111111111and Mexicans who hunt in large parties and fire volleys like they are on a duck hunt.
Good educational video. Thank you! And Jason seems to be a down to earth, genuine, successful entrepreneur.
This is the exact reason I take in meat eater content! Great job
I have long time hunters that originally daw this back in the 90s and named it club foot. Well it’s the same thing here (just named something different)… it is a direct result from weyerhauser properties and the big timber being able to spray their toxic ass “soup” which is causing iron deficiences in our elk! The fish and game wont do anything because theyre paid by daddy inslee…. Washington hunters need to stop buying tags before it’s too late. Ive seen first hand where elks flesh is literally rotting off their bodies and its 100 percent weyerhausers fucking fault!
Washington hunters are as greedy as the timber companies. They'll all sink the elk herd together.
Its awesome to see you guys in Washington. Man what a dream it would be to be able to work with you guys. This is one of the areas i hunt and Its really cool to see you talking about hoof rot. I think the chemicals weyerhaeuser sprays on new clear cuts has a lot to do with it.
weyerhaeuser in my opinion is the contributing factor to the hoofrot. it showed up after they started spraying after clearcutting.
I agree!
"Certain" industrial practices are 100% degrading in various ways, our animal population, both Oregon and Washington, and have been doing so for at least a hundred years. Be it the old chemicals or new. They may act like they care about the animals, but they don't.
It's a disease, but there's other reasons/factors contributing to these kinds of things.
A hundred percent accurate
If that’s the case, most likely they sprayed an antibacterial agent and something that it could not eradicate became the dominant bacteria. The wetness of the weather is certainly not helping.
Then why don't we have it in oregon ?
I have never heard of this disease. Doesn’t seem to be a Midwest issue. It is disturbing to say the least and I thank you for spreading awareness.
This has been going on for 25 years and they just in the last few years decided to start researching it and do testing. When timber companys made the switch from slash burning to mass spraying atrazine and other chemicals to combat growth of other unwanted plants that compete with there saplings they planted. Almost the same time they made the switch from slash burning to spraying herbicides hoof rot appreared. These chemicals are thought to lower the elks immune system therefore making it susceptible for diseases like hoof rot. We’ve seen elk suffering for years and years now. Hoof rot killing over 70 percent of the elk in my county and this study was released years ago feels like more were dealing with 80-90 percent have died due to it. It’s frustrating watching this go on and on with no real action. These elk are on about a 8 month cycle from the time they get it to the time they literally cannot walk and starve to death or bed down and get eaten alive. What do you think these mass amounts of chemicals being sprayed on clear cuts and sides of logging roads are doing to our watersheds as well? Super frustrating hope this video sheds some light to this serious issue. The state only does the least they can possibly do. Everything wildlife related in the state they seem to mess up our salmon and steelhead fisheries our elk not to mention they’ve released wolves so if we have any elk left in southwest Washington in 20 years I’d be surprised
I just Googled the decease, and a few good scientific articles popped up. Not one mentioned atrazine. You are the first to mention it. I would not be surprised if Weyerhaeuser lobbied to keep the connection silent for as long as possible. Also, I have been a huge fan of Meateater for a few years now. This is the saddest episode I have ever seen.
They also leave the slash sometimes hip deep, forcing the animals to move through Swamp where they can't cut trees, which is also where more diseases and bacteria are.
Not burning also means less quality feed becuase not only is it poisoned, but fewer plants also grow, so their diet is limited on top of it.
"Must save the planet by not burning!"
It's the same problem as with Washington's wildfire policies. Save the planet and in doing so destroy the planet.
@@augustingarnier4625 can only imagine the lobbying to keep this on the down low
To many people you might sound like a conspiracy theorist.
But to those many people I say “Monsanto. Roundup. Cancer related disease class action settlements.” Sounds very familiar to what companies that sold asbestos containing products or Big Tobacco said. We should all think hard about why they wouldn’t want the bad news shared and what they would do to hide it
@Blacktailhunter69 Strange that they stopped burning the clearcuts and following nature, and went to chemicals. All in the name of global warming. Well done Washington.
I saw it too before I left the state. You knew when you were tracking a herd with a sick animal, it smelled rotten even in the tracks.
I’m going on my first elk hunt this week. Was excited to watch this and now am pretty bummed out. What people have done to these amazing creatures and so many others really sparks some anger. Thanks for putting this out.
The the channel love your books but just noticed printed in China why ? Couldn't you have found a USA printer instead of outsourcing from China .
Thank you Sir.
I see a hmong embroidery on the wall during the talk at the desk. Great info and video to provide some insight into this disease.
Welcome to Washington and the WDFW (worst department of fish and wildlife). They have no ideas on how to address this issue. Nor do they seem to care.
They probably do care ... about keeping it going. Having problems in the environment allow government agencies that are supposed to fix them to get funding. If they actually fix the problem, they can't get funding anymore and lose their jobs. It's the same reason why california still has a homelessness problem despite decades of promises to fix it.
Yep, no hurry let hunters stop hunting. Then they can stop selling tags and justify it, “ because nobody hunts “. The anti hunters are working for the state and their agenda is hard at work and they are playing the long game.
@@moneyandtimefreedom3352 Meanwhile, they also claim that the only valid reason for citizens to have guns at all is for hunting.
You are talking about the same State that FORCED all Game Wardens to get the jab. AND STILL MANDATE it to this day. Fired so many great protectors of our forests and wildlife because they purposely want it to be in shambles. Literally release wolves and now grizzles because people in Seattle want them BUT make sure they only put them in areas that don't come anywhere close to Seattle :)
Well done Cal! Terrible to see the effects of this disease.
Elk is a sad story here but would love to see meat eater come back for some blacktail its awesome to see familiar forests on this channel
The influence of influencers doesn’t help with the population either
I just finished up a trip out here for a high buck hunt; I’ll be coming back next year with a few other disabled veterans was planning something different then this video popped up. I’m a conservationist first, I’ll be looking into how I can help. I’d rather take a suffering animal over a trophy.
Me, too.
What an great video . Had no idea this was a thing in till saw this video. Hope they can find a cure fast. Thank yuo
Hard to watch those gorgeous creatures like that. Yes we do hunt. Yes we do kill. But it just once again proves that us hunters truly care about all things outdoors, we're not just mindless killers.
I live in Hunt in Washington just got done with my two weeks in the woods chasing elk. We were on elk every day except for 2 days. Every herd we saw at least 15% were limping with hoof rot. Its hella sad to see.
Also I hunt very close to this area and had that bull with the funky horn on my trail cam while he was still in velvet 😂
Looks like cal scoped himself 😂😂
very sad, we need to figure this out.
So sad, thanks for bringing awareness.
PNW is sofa king cool. I’ve hunted Lebam, love it. That’s hard to watch for a local.
add to that bear, wolves, and cougars running out of control and thats a recipe for disaster.
A hard video to watch! Are there any organizations that hunters/public can contribute to to help find answers and fight this disease? RMEF, the college doing the research, etc?
Yes, but it is a relief-as it always is on such matters-that hunters will be the primary gatherers of evidence in the field.
@@augustingarnier4625 Very true. And hunters will be the ones funding the research as well, most likely.
Well with the Tree huggers on Washington State far out numbering true conservationists of the wild... anyone who could do something is being payed off by Weyerhaeuser Tree Co
How you help all the game species in SW Washington is stop the tree farming companies (Weyco) from using whatever chemicals are poisoning animals. End of story...PERIOD
I don’t know that much I’m not an expert in this. In fact I’m an arborist in the Boise area. However I grew up in central Idaho on a cattle ranch and we always had what was called foot rot on our cattle. We primarily flood irrigated so we attributed to that. We used an antibiotic to treat it. Usually we used our capture gun rather than bringing them all the way back to the squeeze chute. I wonder what the environmental impact would be to treating standing water sources with an antibiotic to see if you could curb it. Even just a few wallows might make a difference.
"we're not looking for cures" because then we would lose our grant money.
Fun to see Meateater hunt in a place where i grew up hunting and still hunt.
Well there goes that state to hunt, pretty soon there will be no elk there anymore so sad thanks for the video
When the timber companies apply there spray they post the area. The signs always say do not eat anything from this area because it is unsafe for consumption. If it is not safe for human consumption it is not safe for wildlife consumption. The research facility posted an article a few years back in the RMEF magazine on how they are trying to figure out what is causing. One of the first paragraphs was talking about how it is not caused by spraying the clear cuts with weed killer but no explanation why just that it was not causing it. Now they are even spraying our state land and we are starting to see hoof rot in these locations as well. This spray is causing the animals to have no healthy place to graze majority of elks food source comes from these clear cuts. Look at any satellite imagery and you will notice the clear cuts in Washington are all dead and yellow but all other states they are very green and healthy and you will find lots of animals use them. There is absolutely no way this is not a big factor of why the elk are unhealthy and getting diseases. This spray has been outlawed in multiple states and countries so to similar reason. Wish we could all stand together and make a difference and stop this from happening.
As a veterinarian & former deer biologist, this is hard to watch. Foot root disease is increasing worldwide in livestock associated with an increase in soil humidity and changes in solid moisture and bacterial composition. The intriguing thing is that TAHD is associated with treponema (the spirochetal bacterial family that causes syphilis and pinta in humans). The baseline Koch postulates indicate that to incriminate an agent as the cause of the disease, the four postulates to be fulfilled in their current form, the identified organism must (1) be present in all cases of the disease; (2) be isolated from diseased animals (3) cause disease when reintroduced to a healthy susceptible animal model, and (4) then be isolated again from the new host (3 & 4 normally from controlled experiments). I wonder if the term "treponeme-associated " relates to the fact that Koch's postulates have not been successfully fulfilled, yet.
I grew up about an hour and a half away from this area on the edge of Gifford Pinchot
Glad when I see all that rain that I moved to Texas but man it makes me emotional seeing the elk in such terrible shape….. I used to see herds of 70+ when driving home and dream about them as a little boy.
What a shame
14:10 - Hoof Disease. 😥
20:00 - Hoof Disease Samples. 👍🏻
21:25 - Lab Process & Examples.
~ L❤VE KNOWLEDGE ~
So glad you guys are bring this up wherhausrr is to blame 💯
Good tough questions, good honest, thoughtful answers.
Anybody remember in the mid to late 90's when they brought in some rocky mountain elk and kept them in a fenced area for study about 10 miles north of Pe Ell? The conditions were foul for animals not native here. Only lasted a short while but we've always wondered if that ever had anything to do with it.
Ryan should really do meet and greets. I'd love to just say Hi. can't believe he was in Pullman!!
I was born and raised in Washington and the WDFW is a disgrace, they have destroyed that states hunting and fishing. Ridiculous that it’s used for political purposes.
Great video. Cal does not disappoint.❤
I harvested a bull with hoof rot in the same county as this one in 2010. It was in much worse shape then the one in this video. Sad to see things have only gotten worse.
Hope this helps get some attention to fix this problem. Seeing those elk is hard to watch.
some information on TAHD: TAHD is spread when contaminated soil is transferred to new areas on the hooves of infected elk or on human shoes and tires. Scientists believe that treponeme bacteria can persist in moist soil. Treating disease in free-living wildlife is difficult, and similar actions to treat livestock are not practical. How can you help?
1) Leave Hooves of infected elk on site.
2) Report Observations of limping elk, and dead elk with hoof deformities to wildlife managers.
3) Clean off shoes or tires "before" leaving a TAHD area.
4) Incentives for hunters are offered by some wildlife departments to harvest TAHD infected elk.
Or....Ban the spraying of chemicals on their food source.
Makes me sick seeing that, as a Texan didn’t know this was going on.
Go Cougs!
I’m not sure why the USA deer population suffers from these diseases, hoof rot and cwd, here in Europe luckily we aren’t having the same scale of the problem, presumably animal population numbers are the main issue
Too highly concentrated herds
CWD and hoof disease being so prevalent in these herds seems to reinforce the concept of missing players in the ecology of some of these areas, namely predators like wolves for instance
If the population of elk/deer predators (as well as the pop of the deer/elk themselves) was still as it was historically, these issues with disease would still manifest but be sufficiently managed by the wolves and bears etc
Really interesting to continually see evidence of the long term affects of essentially removing certain species from varying landscapes, we humans simply do not harvest enough of these creatures to control these problems affectively, we can try but we wont be as successful as other apex predators
Could this video be evidence to suggest reintroductions of potential predators back to the landscape? Exciting to think about
Was unaware of this problem. Would like to hear a science based explanation from the Department of Wildlife (or whatever it is called in that state) Maybe a good guest for Cal of the Wild.
Said Scientist is probably working in a revolving door type situation with Weyerhaeuser timber co.
WSU has been the one's working on this if you watch to the end.
@@ZachRobinson-w3q WSu recievers grants and funding from.... You guessed it Weyerhaeuser Tree Co.
Can you guys do a video on the taste of one of these infected elk? Or are you guys even eating/trying them?
the meat is unaffected. some people throw the quarter away that has the rot on it, some people eat it. meat tastes the same
Looks like ole Cal got kissed by his rifle scope😂 we now share the same scar. Great video and conservation 🇺🇸
Missed opportunity. Cal in the field should be called Cal of the wild.
I don’t know if this will contribute to helping with what’s going on with these elk, but there was a small herd in my area for a very long time they live next to a compost landfill area where there was rotted food and fertilizer dumped to decompose, these elk would walk and eat around the area all year round,their fur looked like it was falling off their horns look like they were drooping and deformed almost growing into the side of their head. I lived around this area and one of my friends worked at the facility and we used to watch these elk barely be able to walk and even the young ones look like they had the disease. This could be from something else, but it looks a lot the same. I wish there was something they could come up with like a powder that they could spread on the trails that the elk walk on that was absorbed into their hoof and help, but It just seems like a longshot with anything in Washington. and in the south west of Washington were a lot of the clear cut is done by a company called Hancock, which is owned by China. my father has been fighting with this company for years with the disruption that they have done in that area and not helped clean it up leaving it a mess.
Just tragic. This state mismanages its resources so much
In domestic livestock increasing zinc in the diet decreases foot rot..
I'm seeing lack of Elk in the South Fork,,,Flathead,,grizzley sign is Huge,,,lots wolf sign,,,little Elk sign
Took an elk in 2005 in Colorado with this. Tracked it down in the snow because of that odd hoof, had no idea till I watched this what it was. No one official at the time could give me an answer. we ate the meat but have never seen one like that since.
This is so sad! I've never heard of this before. It seems odd that it would show up all of a sudden. Whatever changed when it first showed up must be the cause. Bacteria may be the result but not the cause of this condition
Hoof rot seems to be plaguing WA elk and no one seems to be able to correlate it to tangible environmental impacts. How do we as hunters develop a plan to handle this and address this chronic problem in elk. As a scientist I would like to see the hunting community come to address this critical issue that seems to be hidden under the table. Feel free to respond to this if ypu have ideas.
At 23 second mark of Remi Warren's video "The Crown Bull I Danielle's Giant Elk With a Bow" we see the telltale deformed left antler. Sure hope they report that animal's location!
When they got to the lab i felt like i was watching SmarterEveryDay !! Pretty dang good and educational video!!!
It's sad what's happening to our wildlife here. I'm thankful to have harvested and tagged what i have in the last few years. Have a 6 day deer hunt coming up in a couple weeks, hopefully all goes well especially with all this CWD bullshit.
Am I understanding correctly that this disease traces back to Washington state? Specifically, west of I-5?
I live in Western Washington, and I’ve always enjoyed hunting. I’ve never heard much about this.
I just have an undergrad in wildlife biology, and this episode is the first I have heard about it.
We know it lives in the soil, and I may have missed it, but shouldn't that be a study area? Especially if is moving into Idaho. The biologist at the oab said it is prevalent in one part of the state and sporadic in others; is the soil from each of those different locations being tested against each other to find why one is a better host?
Again, I know I have large limitations in this area, but if biologists are only looking to identify the bacteria, will there be an elk herd by the time they can say, "these 3 here are what are making it so bad..."
Yes, I fully understand not completely irradicating all bacteria from the soil. And learning which ones will give us target treatments. But it seems to me that it would be more effective if cross-referenced against which bacterias are most prevalent in the areas the disease is most prevalent.
As a lifetime resident of SW Wa I’ve been lucky enough to harvest many elk. Growing up and living on a generational dairy farm I have a pretty good understanding of animal health and hoof disease. In my opinion it all started before the timber companies started nuking the broadleaf. It started when WDFW started issuing 300 plus cow tags for these units that aloud hunters to hunt clear into March, right into the most important stages of gestation. In turn, the animals are stressed out, giving birth to a less superior and more vulnerable calf. An animal that is hunted 6-7 months a year cannot develop the immune system needed to fight such a disease. STOP the cow hunts! Stop the depredation tags. Give these animals a fighting chance so that our kids and grandkids will have an opportunity when they grow up.
As a lifetime resident of SW Wa I’ve been lucky enough to harvest many elk. Growing up and living on a generational dairy farm I have a pretty good understanding of animal health and hoof disease. In my opinion it all started before the timber companies started nuking the broadleaf. It started when WDFW started issuing 300 plus cow tags for these units that aloud hunters to hunt clear into March, right into the most important stages of gestation. In turn, the animals are stressed out, giving birth to a less superior and more vulnerable calf. An animal that is hunted 6-7 months a year cannot develop the immune system needed to fight such a disease. STOP the cow hunts! Stop the depredation tags. Give these animals a fighting chance so that our kids and grandkids will have an opportunity when they grow up.
This is by far the saddest episode I've ever seen. Damn it!
I have game cams out year round and see 3-5 cows with hoof rot every late winter/spring. Always on cows and the rear leg for some reason. Never on a bull or deer. Numbers on Mt St Helen's have been drastically reduced. I have offered f&g my videos and info without a response. Sad. Some blame Weyerhauser, however, cows/horses have been getting hoofrot long before elk. I understand that it is soil born. Nobody really seems to know.😢
Catlle get hoof rot quite a bit and its very contagious. Im pro logging and grazing but I think its from cows. How would a spray give hoof rot?
Its interesting to me that Dept of Fish and Wildlife hasn't made a big deal out of the elk hoof rot situation.
I understand that saving the salmon populations would be a bigger deal to them because there's a much bigger commercial and recreational fishing industry that would be disrupted if they allowed salmon populations to dwindle. But, with that being said, I really thought that as a government agency thats supposed to be managing and protecting animal species, especially game animals, that there'd be a greater emphasis on figuring out exactly what's going on with the elk in Washington. Because we used to have massive herds of elk in SW Washington and its getting to the point where seeing elk nowadays is getting pretty darn rare. Growing up you used to not even hardly have to look for them, they'd just show up in somebody's back yard any given day. Now its a rarity to see a healthy herd.
I'm extremely disappointed in the State's lackadaisical approach to figuring out what is really going on here with the elk. There's all kind of space and range for these animals. There's plenty of habitat for them. There's more hunting pressure and there's got to be quite a bit more poaching going on than there used to be. But it just seems like there just hasn't been the same kind of effort given to answering the elk hoof rot question here that I would have expected when compared to the emphasis the state has shown towards salmon. And that's extremely disappointing for me as a game hunter in Washington.
I could be completely wrong about this but when I see guys like Jason Phelps and Cam having to be the ones to blow the horn to raise the issue and meet with researchers from WSU Pullman to get some answers, it makes me pretty upset that DFW hasn't made this a bigger priority. Hunting regulations and fees have only increased in Washington but it seems like the DFW hasn't spent hardly any significant resources towards figuring out a way to mitigate the hoof rot issue or grow the elk populations to what they used to be. Also, with all of the lands used by DNR for forestry purposes it just seems like we have all the habitat in SW WA that's perfect for supporting huge herds of elk. So where are they? Why hasn't DFW been jumping on this and been making protecting and conserving the elk herds a bigger deal?
Are you guys wearing first lite cipher? The camo they discontinued
Thanks Cal. It's important for sportsmen nationwide to see how badly the wildlife management regime in Washington has squandered our once thriving elk populations. Washington's governor is no friend to the environment. In fact, right now he is trying to push forward a plan to put a lithium battery facility directly adjacent to a trib of the Skagit, where collared elk from the North Cascades herd hang out and where there is high flood and wildfire risk. There is 100% opposition to the Goldeneye project from the cities, counties, tribes and citizens but the governor has the final say and the energy lobby holds his strings.
So if this is caused by a treponema species of bacteria, it's a spirochete and probably similar to syphilis. Penicillin or doxycycline should be effective against it. I wonder if there's a natural mushroom/mold species that produces antibiotics properties that elk could eat and that could be planted in these areas (native species). But that's how we discovered penicillin was discovered
When the timber companies apply there spray they post the area. The signs always say do not eat anything from this area because it is unsafe for consumption. If it is not safe for human consumption it is not safe for wildlife consumption. The research facility posted an article a few years back in the RMEF magazine on how they are trying to figure out what is causing. One of the first paragraphs was talking about how it is not caused by spraying the clear cuts with weed killer but no explanation why just that it was not causing it. Now they are even spraying our state land and we are starting to see hoof rot in these locations as well. This spray is causing the animals to have no healthy place to graze majority of elks food source comes from these clear cuts. Look at any satellite imagery and you will notice the clear cuts in Washington are all dead and yellow but all other states they are very green and healthy and you will find lots of animals use them. There is absolutely no way this is not a big factor of why the elk are unhealthy and getting diseases. This spray has been outlawed in multiple states and countries so to similar reason. Wish we could all stand together and make a difference and stop this from happening.
John 3:16 Context
13And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Another masterpiece to bring awareness to a problem most of us don’t even know about. Well done Meateater, Cal, and Phelps.
I live about 10 miles from this town. there used to be about 30 to 40 head on average in a herd now there is about 8 to 15.
I usually find one a year behind my dad‘s house dead in the field from this. There is more out in the brush that you don’t find. With few animals left you know they are inbreeding, which is going to make them weaker and more sick from this and other things.
I know some really good hunters that Hunt there butts off that usually get elk every year and the last couple years some of them have not gotten anything. and the elk that are left, there is tons of people going after just a few elk, which makes it even worse. I have taken a couple of my kids to the hunter safety course the last couple of years a question that the instructor asked, do you know why there is a hunting season? he said It is to get rid of the excesses animals! if there isn’t any left, why are we still hunting them?
there is no excess animals.
What’s crazy is this is my home state (eastern Washington) but had no idea how big of a problem this was. I’ve heard of it once or twice but had no idea, and haven’t seen it out here in the SE side of the state. I appreciate you cal, phelps and the rest of meat eater.
Was hoof rot around before we started feeding cattle cattle? Was it around say 60 years ago? Something changed.
Thanks for pushing this issue. Myself and many others appreciate this
Thanks for pushing this issue. Myself and many others appreciate this
Thanks for pushing this issue. Myself and many others appreciate this
The elk heard in southwest Wa. was at one point the largest in the state. Don't think that can be said at this point. I know the University of Wahington has do studies on the elk hoof rot. All these studies have spent lots of money and still have no solution. I have seen Washington Fish and Wildlife herd elk into holding pens to relocate them to another location. Why can't they herd them though a type of squeeze shut, having them walking through a trough that contains medication to cure this disease?
This really needs light shed on it.I couldn't imagine if it spread to whitetails or muleys
Sad to see how slow the study has been. Expected more information. Lots of money has been poured in to that program
Welcome to washington state. Please do my hunts here. I see a huge elk heards every time I go see the in-laws. Such an amazing creature out here in the pnw.
When the lady at the university pulled out the diseased foot, holy moly I can’t imagine walking on that 🤯
What is the Rocky mountain elk foundation doing about hoof disease??
30 years in and they are still working on building test kits....
Have yall tried epsom salts ? Apple cider vinegar ? Ask the indians maybe its something simple like calcium or salt
i always wondered how they would remove wild game from the public self, turns out hoof rot is a perfect wat to destroy wild protein lol. Our world really does suck