I have known this for 4+ decades! It's a Thing!

@AnneWimsey There's no evidence that humans can get CWD from infected deer meat. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't eat it. Where I used to go hunting there's no CWD. Quakertown and the Poconos. We only are allowed to use shotguns. Central and Western PA if you wanna legally use a rifle but that part of the state loaded with CWD. NJ is good, but the cops don't let you transport guns from PA. I haven't hunted in years.

@barjoe my ex was an avid hunter, I have eaten deer meat 3-4-5 times a week for 33+ years, (I am a excellent self-taught game cook).
We most certainly always paid attention to any CWD warnings, but they were always far out West, not anywhere near here.
I understand in later stages even the untrained eye can see the changes in brain tissue, ugh!
Shotgun to kill a deer? How cruel! And it would ruin a lot of the meat!!! Really? OmG!

@AnneWimsey Sometimes it's early stage and not that evident. Yes. Remington 870 pump action 20 gauge is what I have. 12 gauge has too much recoil. We use slugs not buckshot.

@barjoe oh, yes, it would be bad to ingest that "bug" at any stage!
Question: With rifles i know the desirable, humane shot is a heart shot....no idea what a "good" shot would be with even a slug in a shotgun (still getting over that info!)

@AnneWimsey I try to hit white tail deer broadside. The slug ideally passes through the lungs. In Luzerne, Wayne, Lackawanna and Lehigh counties where I drove from Philly, there was no choice. It was shotgun only.

@barjoe one time in the morning, coming back from the Erie Region we counted over 20 deer dead alongside the turnpike, that we could see....you guys were overrun & the herds were severly under-managed, iMO an ideal scenario to further spread of diseases.