Hunting News

Mandatory CWD sampling planned Nov. 11-12

Mandatory CWD sampling planned Nov. 11-12

By Missouri Department of Natural Resources

On opening weekend November 11 and 12, the Department of Conservation will conduct mandatory CWD sampling of harvested deer in 25 counties, and will offer voluntary CWD sampling throughout entire deer season.

Hunters who harvest deer in any of the counties in the CWD Management Zone during opening weekend must present their harvested deer at one of the 56 CWD sampling stations so tissue samples can be collected for CWD testing.  

The 25 mandatory CWD sampling counties include Adair, Barry, Benton, Cedar, Cole, Crawford, Dade, Franklin, Hickory, Jefferson, Knox, Linn, Macon, Moniteau, Ozark, Polk, St. Charles, St. Clair, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Stone, Sullivan, Taney, Warren and Washington.

Find mandatory sampling stations online.

The information is also available in the 2017 Fall Deer & Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet available where permits are sold and online.

Voluntary CWD sampling will be available throughout the entire deer hunting season at more than 55 participating taxidermists and designated MDC offices in and around the CWD Management Zone. Find voluntary sampling locations online at mdc.mo.gov/cwd.

Opening weekend of the firearms season is the most popular two hunting days for most deer hunters in Missouri. During those two days, hunters take about a third of the state’s total annual deer harvest of about 275,000 animals.

“Focusing on this key weekend gives us the best opportunity to collect the most tissue samples during a very concentrated time period,” according to Wildlife Disease Coordinator Jasmine Batten. “Prior to conducting mandatory sampling for the first time last year, we collected about 7,600 tissue samples through voluntary sampling over the entire deer season. Thanks to deer hunters, last year we collected 19,200 samples during opening-weekend mandatory sampling.”

Batten said the increased number of samples collected will give scientists a much better understanding of the distribution and prevalence of the disease, where it is and how many deer may have it. It can also help find new cases in new areas.

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