Game and Fish asks hunters to submit CWD samples

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department needs help from hunters this fall to collect lymph node samples from deer and elk for chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing in targeted areas across Wyoming. Hunters are a very important component in helping Game and Fish understand the disease and achieve CWD monitoring goals.

Game and Fish is targeting deer hunt areas 17, 18, 23, 26, 34, 61, 74-77, 88, 89, 105, 106, 109, 121-123, 132, 133, 157, 168 and 171. Elk focus hunt areas include 8-12, 88-91, 97, 98, 110, 114 and 125. 

“We are asking hunters in these areas to please submit a lymph node sample from their harvested deer or elk for testing,” said Scott Edberg, deputy chief of wildlife. “Your efforts will help Game and Fish further understand the impacts of the disease as well as evaluate future management actions for deer and elk.”

Hunters outside of this year’s focused surveillance areas can still submit a sample for testing. Hunters can learn how to take a sample by watching a how-to video on the Game and Fish website. Hunters can also have animals sampled at any game check station this season or by stopping at the Game and Fish Headquarters or regional offices from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. 

Results from CWD testing are available online within three weeks. Hunters can expedite results within ten working days for a $30 fee; contact the Wyoming State Veterinary Lab in Laramie at (307) 766-9925 for more information.

Continued monitoring of CWD over time is important to help Game and Fish understand the potential impacts of the disease as well as evaluate future management actions for deer and elk. 

“This will be a challenge for Game and Fish as collecting samples for valid estimates of prevalence requires large sample sizes in focused areas across the state,” Edberg said.

The Game and Fish Wildlife Health Laboratory has limited testing capacity to monitor CWD across the entire state so focused sampling will rotate hunt areas each year.

Hunters also need to be aware of Wyoming carcass transport rules to prevent the spread of CWD within Wyoming and other states. Wyoming’s regulations require deer, elk and moose hunters transport only the following items within Wyoming:

• Deer, elk and moose can be transported to a camp, private residence for processing, a taxidermist, a processor or a CWD sample collection site in Wyoming provided the head and all portions of the spinal column remain at the site of kill or such parts are disposed in any approved landfill or approved incinerator in Wyoming. A listing of landfills that will accept waste from processed game animals and whole carcasses is available on the Game and Fish website. 

• Cut and wrapped meat

• Edible portions with no portion of the spinal column or head attached

• Cleaned hide without the head attached

• Skull, skull plate or antlers that have been cleaned of all meat and brain tissue 

• Teeth

• Finished taxidermy mounts.