Wyoming Game and Fish wants samples from at least 200 adult mule deer bucks or adult elk in seven hunt areas. All the hunt areas are located in the eastern and central portions of the Bighorn Basin.
Elk, adult cow or bull
Courtesy Wyoming Game and Fish
Chronic wasting disease (C.W.D.) is widely distributed across Wyoming. The disease is fatal to deer, elk, and moose.
“Our goals with collecting samples and monitoring C.W.D. are to protect the health of wildlife. Hunters and volunteers are critical to helping us understand the disease and achieve our goals,” said Cody area Wildlife Management Coordinator Corey Class.
To help better understand prevalence (the proportion of animals positive vs. all animals tested), impacts on deer herds, and possible management options, Game and Fish is monitoring the prevalence of C.W.D. over many years. Strategically focusing on specific herd units within a given year will help Game and Fish obtain more samples, which allows changes in C.W.D. prevalence to be detected over time. As C.W.D. monitoring goals are obtained within targeted herd units, new herd units are added for targeted surveillance using a scheduled rotation.
Additional options for testing include select processors and taxidermists throughout the Basin, drop barrels for heads located at the Cody Regional Office, Medicine Lodge State Park, and Powell at Northwest College on the south side of the Science and Math Building at 6th and Division Streets.
Hunters can also call the Northwest College C.W.D. hotline at 307-754-6018 to schedule a time during regular business hours for a sample to be collected from a harvested deer, elk, or moose.
A how-to video on how to take samples is available on Wyoming Game and Fish’s YouTube page.
Hunters can win prizes for samples submitted from targeted (Tier 1) and non-targeted (Tier 2) areas. Targeted samples include adult male mule deer or any adult elk from targeted CWD monitoring hunt areas. Non-targeted samples include all other CWD samples regardless of their hunt area.
Winners will be drawn in March 2023.
Hunters should refer to page 5 of the 2022 Antelope, Deer, and Elk Hunting Regulations for specific C.W.D. provisions regarding the transportation of harvested animals. In addition, to facilitate the proper disposal of carcasses and help reduce environmental contamination with C.W.D., the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and the Mule Deer Foundation are providing dumpsters in two locations at no cost to hunters.
Although this disease is not transmissible to humans, hunters are encouraged to wear rubber or latex gloves when dressing carcasses and avoid handling the brain and spinal tissues. In addition, when butchering, meat should be boned out.
Hunters should not consume animals that appear to be sick. Furthermore, they should avoid consuming harvested animals’ brains, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, or lymph nodes.
Washing hands and instruments is good practice. Knives and other equipment can be disinfected by soaking them in 40:60 bleach water for five minutes.
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P.O. Box 1210, Cody, WY 82414 1949 Mountain View Dr., Cody, WY 82414