The Wyoming Game and Fish Department announced it is asking hunters for help this fall to collect samples from mule deer and elk for chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing in game areas.
Game and Fish aims to collect samples from at least 200 adult elk in the Cody elk herd, which consists of elk hunting areas 55, 56, 58-61, and 66.
Additionally, Game and Fish was sampled in the Shoshone River Herd, which consists of deer hunting areas 121, 122, and 123, and the Southwest Elk Herd, which consists of hunting areas 35-37, 39, 40, and 164. Requesting mule deer samples.
Game and Fish is asking hunters who harvest mule deer bucks or adult elk in these specific hunting areas to submit samples to Game and Fish for testing. Game and Fish also encourages hunters to submit samples from white-tailed deer within the focus area. Samples from all other deer, elk, and elk collected throughout the Bighorn Basin will be tested upon hunter request.
“Our goal with sample collection and CWD monitoring is to protect the health of wildlife. Hunters are critical to helping us understand this disease and accomplish monitoring,” said Cody Regional Wilderness said Corey Klass, biological management coordinator.
Samples taken from mule deer and elk from targeted areas will help Game and Fish track CWD as part of a long-term statewide monitoring plan. CWD is widespread throughout Wyoming and is deadly to deer, elk, and moose.
Hunters can sample their animals this season at any game inspection station or stop by the Cody Regional Office Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Additional testing options include select processors and taxidermists across the basin, the Cody Regional Office, Medicine Lodge State Park, and at Northwest College, located south of the Science and Mathematics Building at 6th Avenue and Division Street. Includes a drop barrel for the head found in Powell. .
Hunters can also learn how to collect samples with how-to videos on the Game and Fish website.
Hunters should refer to page 5 of the 2024 Antelope, Deer, and Elk Hunting Regulations for specific CWD regulations regarding transportation of harvested animals.
Although the disease has not been proven to be transmissible to humans, hunters are advised to wear rubber or latex gloves when bandaging carcasses and to avoid touching brain or spinal cord tissue. . When butchering meat, you need to remove the bones from the meat. Hunters should not eat animals that appear to be sick or their brains, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, or lymph nodes. Washing your hands and utensils is a good habit. Knives and other utensils can be disinfected by soaking them in 40:60 bleach water for 5 minutes.
Hunters interested in CWD test results for harvested animals should log in through their Game and Fish user account at wgfd.wyo.gov.
