You are correct, most CWD deer die of causes other than CWD but they will have spread the prion for years before they were killed. What remains to be seen is in Wisconsin where prevalence has topped 50% in bucks and close to 35% in does in the original CWD area. The deer will die of all the causes listed plus they will start dying from CWD. This will be nonsustainable. The next 5 years will be, in my opinion, critical in determining to what extent CWD will have in Wisconsin and that can be extrapolated to the rest of the areas with CWD.
Illinois has used sharp shooters targeting family groups. Their goal is to keep CWD at 5% prevalence or less and so far they have been successful in slowing the spread.
Bottom line, the solutions to slowing the spread of CWD are not socially and therefore politically acceptable. My deer hunting will not be impacted, other than getting deer tested before I eat them, but the future is where our concern should be.