I have seen dead deer many times. I have seen a fair share of carcasses at deer leases, in the back of pickup trucks and on the side of the road. But this felt different. This was a nightmare. A tragedy. A pile of deer, some of them bucks still in velvet, lay lifeless on a black tarp on a dark night at the RW Trophy Ranch near Terrell.
. Three more positives have been confirmed since. The department says the mortalities from this year alone are roughly 90% positive or suspected positive. These tests were performed with the immunohistochemistry method — currently considered a gold standard for CWD testing by the U.S. Department of Agriculture — at the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory in College Station and then sent to the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, for confirmation.
offered Williams herd plans that he rejected. has administered 16 depopulations among the 31 total CWD-positive facilities in the state. None was as contentious as this one. Williams fought tooth and nail. His friends rallied to his cause. The situation drew the ire of Texas senator Bob Hall and outspoken rock star Ted Nugent, who sent a private security detail to Williams’ ranch ahead of the depopulation. One does not walk away from Williams wondering what is on his mind.
. To let these animals fester in a contaminated environment would have been irresponsible and cruel. The risk of spreading the disease to native deer was deemed unacceptable. “The mortality rate in this facility since it popped positive increased dramatically every year and every week. At some point, on that continued track, you’re just keeping deer alive so they get the disease and die. And that’s not humane.