Mandatory CWD testing Nov. 4-5

Portions of north central, central and southeast affected

If you purchased a firearm deer hunting license for a permit in an area that is subject to mandatory chronic wasting disease testing on Saturday, Nov. 4, and Sunday, Nov. 5.

Testing in north central and central Minnesota will determine whether CWD may have spread from captive deer to wild deer in central and north central Minnesota. Deer in these areas are not known to have CWD. These tests will determine that.

Mandatory CWD testing also will occur in much of southeast Minnesota Nov.4-5 because of its proximity to 11 known instances of CWD in wild deer.

After field dressing and registering their deer, all hunters in affected permit areas are required to take them to a sampling station. DNR staff will remove lymph nodes and submit them for laboratory testing.

Early detection is our best opportunity to eliminate disease spread and keep Minnesota deer healthy. It’s your cooperation that makes these surveillance efforts work.

And they do work. Proactive surveillance and precautionary testing for disease is a proven strategy that allows DNR to manage CWD by finding it early and reacting quickly and aggressively to control it.

We initiated these actions in 2005 to successfully combat bovine tuberculosis in northwestern Minnesota deer and in 2011 to eliminate a CWD infection in wild deer near Pine Island.

What you need to know

We’ve put together a video that explains everything. You can watch it online.

Hunters not in a mandatory testing area can collect their own lymph node sample and submit it for testing to the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Minnesota for a fee. Watch our video showing how to collect a lymph node sample and access a link to the lab’s website.

Here are the most important details to remember:

• Hunters must register their deer by phone, internet or in person. Harvest registration will not be available at CWD sampling stations.
• Central Minnesota deer permit areas with mandatory testing are 218, 219, 229, 277, 283 and 285.
• North central permit areas with mandatory testing are 155, 171, 172, 242, 246, 247, 248 and 249.
• Southeast deer permit areas affected are 343, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349 and 603.
• Hunters who harvest deer in area 603 are reminded that carcass movement restrictions remain in place. Deer cannot be removed from the area until a negative CWD test is received.
• Area 603 hunters must take their deer to one of three sampling stations at Forestville State Park, Strongwell or Preston on Nov. 4-5.
• DNR will provide space in a refrigerated trailer at its Preston forestry office for area 603 hunters who need to store their deer while waiting for test results.
• Hunters in 603 also can choose to properly quarter and de-bone the meat so it is free of brain and spinal column material, which allows the meat to be immediately moved out of the area.
• Beginning Monday, Nov. 6, and continuing through Saturday, Nov. 12, hunters in permit area 603 must take their deer to sampling stations at Magnum Sports in Chatfield or the Preston forestry office for mandatory CWD sampling.
• Head collection boxes will not be available during the entire A and B firearms seasons in permit area 603. Hunters who harvest deer must have them tested by DNR at Chatfield or Preston. The B firearms season runs from Saturday, Nov. 18, through Sunday, Nov. 26.
• Hunters in area 603 must use head collection boxes during the five-day break between the A and B seasons. The break runs from Monday, Nov. 13, through Friday, Nov. 17.

Complete information about mandatory CWD testing, an interactive map showing sampling station locations and a related precautionary feeding ban are available on the DNR’s CWD webpage.

CWD information can change quickly so please check this page regularly.

Since only a small percentage of hunters have an email on file, we would appreciate it if you could forward this email to other hunters in your permit area.

Thank you in advance for your help in our effort to keep Minnesota deer healthy.

Sincerely,

Lou Cornicelli • Wildlife Research Manager