Yes, CWD is chronic wasting disease, similar to mad cow disease (a prion disease). Some affected deer showed up in Wisconsin a few years back (1st time east of the Mississippi). The orginal plan was to eliminate it before it got too bad. that plan seems to be failing, so control is the new plan.
Note that I don’t think it is any cheaper to hunt, but I know there were/are extended seasons, “earn a buck” (have to kill an antlerless dear before a buck) and other programs.
Brian
From the responses so far, it seems that hunting can be cost-effective, but it often isn’t. For most hunters, though, the idea of shopping for meat in the woods is not the point. Some deer hunters I know are giving away venison at this time of year to make room in the freezer for this year’s carcass.
I believe a lot of them would go hunting and feel satisfied if they came home empty-handed. I know one hunter who bagged his first deer in his 12th year as a hunter. It seems to be more about going “out there” with friends, and about time spent around a campfire.
Some hunters also realize their responsibility to the environment. There are too many deer for their food supply. This is true because our forefathers killed off most of the predators. Today’s hunters are doing the job of yesterday’s predators, and I salute them.
Okay, full disclosure. I’m a city feller, and I’ve been hunting twice in my life. I don’t much like camping, and I’m too asthmatic to sit around a campfire. I hunt for meat in a supermarket. I talk of the noble hunter, but I am not one myself. Have I excoriated myself enough? Fine.
For a time I used to cull roos on a farm near Canberra. There were hundreds of them and at the back of the farm they would knock down fences and the farmer’s sheep would disappear down huge river gorges. Although we used to skin them I could never bring myself to try the meat as they were riddled with worms all through the flesh. We used to shoot rabbits to eat.
I recently started eating farmed roo meat which you can get for about $5 or $6 a kilo (about $2.40 a pound) and it is absolutely sensational. You have to learn how to cook it because it is fat free but it is superb. Last night I made a Thai style lime and coriander warm kangaroo salad. One couple remarked that it was the best meal they had eaten in months.
Still at the price I am in no hurry to go shoot one in the wild and revisit the wrms that put me off roo for 30 years.
I’ve only eaten roo meat twice in my life. The first one was a Wallaroo I shot near Grenfell. The meat looked clean, and we made a roo tail stew. It was absolutely exquisite. The second time was at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney about five years ago. I had a kangaroo burger, and it tasted gamey and horrible. Later, I had some bratwurst. I don’t know which it was that gave me food poisoning, but my I’m guessing the kangaroo.
Not that I give lots of thought to kangaroos, but I guess I am a bit surprised that they’re edible. This is going to be a really stupid question, but how big is a roo? I think I’ve always thought of them as dog sized animals.
Hunting is GREAT for my friend in eastern Washington (Colville area). Mind you, she doesn’t do the hunting herself. She used to work in a meat packing plant, so when neighbors get a deer, they call her to come cut it and wrap it for them. Then they give her LOTS of meat. She has a freezerful, all for the cost of a few hours of work.
I rent out a field to some guys that shoot doves on it. To be legal, they must plow the field and strow wheat seed to draw the doves. Then when they are finished with dove season, I require that they apply fertilizer and plant grass seed to prevent soil erosion.
I’ve got a pretty good idea of the cost of operating a tractor, wheat seed, grass seed and fertilizer.
One year I kept track of how many doves they got, and calculated it out. They paid about $78 per pound for the dove meat.
Shooting doves must be more fun than it looks like!
The larger roos, especially male Red Kangaroos can stand about 2 metres high (6-7 feet) and weigh in at around 90kg’s (about 180lbs)(from here) , though I’m not sure I’d want to eat one that size, mainly as it’d be pretty tough. The smaller Easter Grey is a better animal for food.
AFAIK the Red and Eastern/Western Grey are the only species that its legal to shoot and then only with permits.
For many hunting is recreation which has value in itself. And it has the side benefit that you could actually come out ahead, but unlike gambling that really is not the factor.
Kind of like growing tomatoes for some people.
Large pot: $10
Soil: $8
Fertilizer: $4
Veggie safe insecticide: $6
Support: $5
The tomato plant: $1.99
You get ten large, good juicy tomatoes off the plant.
Total cost: $3.50/tomato. Good times!
Fishing is another example. I cannot count the times when I have spent $10 on bait, sat on a pier for umpteen hours and have come home with nary a bite to boast about.
Cheaper to go and buy some fish’n’chips’n’dimmies at the local fish shop mostly. 
I only hunt for Pest Control reasons- I don’t eat what I shoot.
I’ve eaten farmed Kangaroo before, and I hated it. But that’s probably because dead Kangaroo is the most vile smell I’ve ever encountered, and the smell still makes me mildly nauseous even thinking about it.
Haven’t tried Hare or Rabbit, either- but to be fair, there’s not much left of one after it’s been hit by a 180gr SP .303 calibre round or a 139gr SP 6.5x55 calibre round, either.
Goat is nice, as is Camel, though!
Yep - it’s a dependable excuse to smoke, drink beer, and stand around the campfire telling tall tales. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
Butchering your own meat saves a lot. My husband hunts, and when he gets a deer, it costs $75 to have it butchered.
When the processor gives you the meat, what happens to the skins? Have you made anything, etc?
I have no idea what happens to the skins. All we’ve had done are getting two of the heads mounted.
Counting time and travels costs- it’s certainly not cost effective.
But one can discount certain costs as “I’d be spending that on another hobby anyway”, as kanicbird and others have mentioned.
If you consider hunting (or fishing) “a hobby that can sometimes have a nice payback” then sure.
Nor with a .223BT. .22 next time mate. 
When I was a kid on my grandparents farm, rabbit was on the menu several times a week. My grandfather would often hand me a single shot .22 and 10 rounds and say “go get dinner”. Great way to learn how to make each shot count when you are feeding 7 people.
The skins are sold to a rendering plant. Other organ meats might have a market, even overseas. Another question might be, who gets the meat, as some processors (all?) don’t process and return your (or, if you prefer, the deerly departed) meat, it is probably done by weight? I would be upset if I managed to take a nice corn-fed animal unawares, and got back meat from a poor, aged animal that had been chased several counties away.
Whoa, that ain’t right. Does it happen much that you know of?