Game and Fish asks hunters to submit harvest samples for CWD testing

GILLETTE, Wyo. — Wildlife managers are asking hunters to submit samples from their harvest in a continued effort to track chronic wasting disease in Wyoming. 

Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological disease affecting American cervids, or members of the deer family, including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and moose, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which says the disease was first identified in 1967. 

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department began tracking the disease in 1997 to better understand its distribution and prevalence among the state’s deer, elk, and moose populations, according to a Sept. 9 release. 

Each year, Game and Fish asks for hunter-submitted samples in a crucial effort to manage the disease in wildlife herds. It’s that time of year once more.

“Game and Fish is requesting samples from herds that are slated for surveillance based on our rotational surveillance strategy,” Wildlife Health Laboratory Supervisor Jessica Jennings-Gaines said in a statement. “Our goal is to get a significant sample size so we can accurately determine what CWD prevalence is in these herds.”

Samples help wildlife managers understand the impacts of the disease on deer and elk while giving Game and Fish information to be used in future management actions like license types and quotas, among other things, the release states. 

Per the release, Game and Fish employs a rotating, multi-year program focusing surveillance efforts on one or two herd units each year. In some deer hunt areas — 22, 70, 88, 89, 157 and 171 — submitting deer samples is mandatory. 

“Last year’s mandatory areas went very well,” Jenning-Gaines said, adding that the department saw great compliance from the public and was able to meet its surveillance goals. “We couldn’t have done that without the public’s support.”

This year, the department is targeting deer hunt areas 17, 18, 26, 35–17, 39, 50, 82, 84, 92, 94, 100, 121–123, 128, 130, 131, 134, 135, 138–146, 148, 150–156, 160 and 164, per Game and Fish. 

Elk hunt areas 8–12, 55, 56, 58–61, 66, 70, 71, 75, 77, 78, 80–96, 110 and 125 are also being targeted, Game and Fish says. 

Hunters harvesting outside the 2024 surveillance areas may still submit a sample for testing, with wildlife managers offering an online sampling instruction video, per Game and Fish.

Samples can be given to Game and Fish personnel at any open game check station, Game and Fish headquarters and regional offices from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, per the release.