In 2017, many hunters purchased a firearm deer hunting license for a permit in an area that is now subject to mandatory chronic wasting disease testing which will be held Nov. 3-4 and Nov. 17-18.
Deer permit areas subject to mandatory testing are 341 through 349 and, throughout all deer seasons, the disease management zone, area 603.
After field dressing and registering their deer, all hunters in affected permit areas are required to take their deer to a DNR sampling station where staff members will remove lymph nodes and submit them for laboratory testing.
Testing in southeastern Minnesota is being conducted due to the presence of CWD in wild deer in Fillmore County and captive deer in Winona County.
Hunters are advised to view the DNR-produced video that explains how to cape deer, and how hunters not in a mandatory testing area can collect lymph node samples and submit them for testing to the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Minnesota for a fee.
To view the video, click here.
Complete information about mandatory CWD testing, and an interactive map showing sampling station locations and a related precautionary feeding ban, is available on the CWD webpage.
Because CWD information can change quickly, hunters are advised to the CWD page regularly.