Sep 28, 2026 · 2 hr 20 min · 38 segments
Steven Rinella talks with director of the Missouri Department of Conservation, Jason Sumners, about: honest updates on the state of chronic wasting disease in America; managing deer herds; what other…
Jason SumnersGuest
Steven RinellaHost
All right, man, joined today by Jason Sumners, who's the, the director of Missouri's State Fish and Game Agency, which is called the Missouri Department of Conservation.
He's a deer biologist by training, worked his way up, uh, from being guy, a biologist out in the field, uh, to running the whole show there.
What we're gonna talk about primarily, we're gonna talk about whitetail deer and deer management, mostly gonna focus on what I think, what, what, what in my mind is the number one issue impacting deer and deer hunting and deer hunters today, which is chronic wasting disease.
And, and, and when I say that it's number one issue, is even for you listeners, and I know there are many, even for you listeners that feel that it's overblown, it's all hysteria, it's like, it's, it's, it, it impacts all conversations about deer.
For people out there that are worried about the future of deer herds, you know what I'm talking about.
For people that are worried about the potential for human transmission, that, that a, that a disease would jump from deer to humans, you know what I'm talking about.
Even people that, that the whole subject of CWD drives them nuts, they spend time and energy explaining why the conversation drives them nuts.
Th- there is no other issue that comes close to chronic wasting disease and w- when it comes to impacts, again, to deer, deer hunting, deer management.
It is, it is the issue of the moment, and at this point, the moment is decades long.
State Fish and Wildlife Agency, just because of, yeah, the very things that you mentioned.
All right, man, joined today by Jason Sumners, who's the, the director of Missouri's State Fish and Game Agency, which is called the Missouri Department of Conservation.
He's a deer biologist by training, worked his way up, uh, from being guy, a biologist out in the field, uh, to running the whole show there.
What we're gonna talk about primarily, we're gonna talk about whitetail deer and deer management, mostly gonna focus on what I think, what, what, what in my mind is the number one issue impacting deer and deer hunting and deer hunters today, which is chronic wasting disease.
And, and, and when I say that it's number one issue, is even for you listeners, and I know there are many, even for you listeners that feel that it's overblown, it's all hysteria, it's like, it's, it's, it, it impacts all conversations about deer.
For people out there that are worried about the future of deer herds, you know what I'm talking about.
For people that are worried about the potential for human transmission, that, that a, that a disease would jump from deer to humans, you know what I'm talking about.
Even people that, that the whole subject of CWD drives them nuts, they spend time and energy explaining why the conversation drives them nuts.
Th- there is no other issue that comes close to chronic wasting disease and w- when it comes to impacts, again, to deer, deer hunting, deer management.
It is, it is the issue of the moment, and at this point, the moment is decades long.
State Fish and Wildlife Agency, just because of, yeah, the very things that you mentioned.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.