04/13/2026
⚖️ Here’s the Question Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) and Texas Parks and Wildlife needs to answer. Along with the talking pieces they interview.
Why is it:
👉 When wildlife agencies raise animals in captivity and release them…
it’s called “conservation.”
BUT…
👉 When private landowners raise deer in captivity…
it’s treated like a threat?
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🎣 Let’s Start With Fish
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department runs one of the most aggressive stocking programs in the country.
Through programs like ShareLunker, they:
• Raise trophy largemouth bass in captivity
• Breed for specific genetics (bigger fish)
• Release those fish into public lakes across Texas
👉 That’s selective breeding.
👉 That’s captive propagation.
👉 That’s releasing into the wild.
And they call it conservation.
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⚠️ But Here’s What Really Happened
Largemouth bass virus (LMBV) has been documented in hatcheries and lakes across the country.
👉 It is a highly contagious virus in bass populations
👉 It spreads through water, fish-to-fish contact, and movement between systems
👉 It has been linked to fish kills and population stress events in multiple lakes nationwide
And here’s the part people don’t talk about:
👉 Hatchery systems in The Texas share a lunker program were known to have LMBV present
👉 Fish were still raised in those systems and released into public waters anyway
No shutdown of stocking programs.
No bans on movement.
No widespread alarm pushed to the public.
Just… continued stocking.
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🎣 It’s Not Just Texas
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation also:
• Raises bass in state hatcheries
• Moves those fish across the state
• Releases them into public lakes and rivers
👉 That includes efforts like:
• Smallmouth bass stockings in Lake Texoma
• Fish sourced from hatcheries and broodstock populations
• Released with the goal of establishing or enhancing fisheries
Again:
👉 Captive-raised animals
👉 Transported
👉 Released into public waters
And it’s called good management.
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🦌 Now Compare That to Deer
Captive deer operations:
• Maintain closed herds
• Track genetics
• Select for CWD resistance
• Remain CWD compliant and monitored
👉 These are animals that are:
• Known
• Traceable
• Managed
Animals that are meeting the very standards set in place.
⸻
🤔 So What’s the Difference?
Why is one:
• Funded
• Promoted
• Celebrated
While the other is:
• Restricted
• Blamed
• Targeted
⸻
🔄 Same Action — Different Narrative
Let’s simplify it:
• Raising animals in captivity
• Selective breeding
• Movement between locations
• Release into the environment
🎣 = “Great conservation work”
🦌 = “Serious risk to wildlife”
⸻
🧠 At Some Point, You Have to Ask…
If agencies can:
👉 Raise fish in hatcheries
👉 Know a highly contagious virus is present
👉 And still release those fish into public waters
…while calling it conservation—
Then why are:
👉 CWD-compliant, monitored deer with known genetics
treated as unacceptable?
⸻
🔑 Bottom Line
One group of animals:
👉 Comes from systems known to have carried a contagious virus
👉 Was still released into public waters
The other:
👉 Comes from CWD-compliant, monitored herds
👉 With controlled genetics and traceability
The public has spoken and the bill to release these deer was unanimously passed.
You guys see it yet?
⸻
Let’s take it another step to show the hypocrisy. ODWC reports that a deer from a closed environment that is CWD compliant and CWD resistant could possibly shed CWD prions, while these same agencies know that millions of tons of CWD exposed materials are spread across their landscape each year. This is like an F5 tornado ripping through a forest and being concerned over a bush that got blowed over a week later. You really can’t explain this biased narrative blame game. These press releases that agencies send out is creating fear and destroying the heritage of deer hunting.
For me personally, I could care less if they release deer into the wild. I feel the entire CWD narrative is a scam for funding. What I write is their science, they just push one narrative. I don’t write it as a concern for CWD. I write it to show their hypocrisy.
As for releasing deer, I do think hunters would enjoy seeing larger deer and science has proven that SS deer are more hearty to CWD. However, the hypocrisy and narrative about CWD is destroying deer hunting, and it must end.
Accountability is coming.
