DNR Urges Hunters to Test Deer for CWD

Monday, November 7th, 2022 -- 8:01 AM

(Bob Hague, WRN) The Wisconsin DNR urges hunters to test their deer for Chronic Wasting Disease this fall.
 
Jeff Pritzl is the agency’s Deer Program Director, “Chronic Wasting Disease is just that it's chronic and it's always fatal to the animals that are infected.”. Pritzl says it’s unfortunate that the disease which is always fatal to deer has been on the Wisconsin landscape for many years. “By contributing the sample, it really helps us track the condition. the presence of that disease, the movement of that disease over time.”

Pritzl also added, “Wisconsin unfortunately finds itself in the position of having the disease on the landscape for a couple of decades now. But the information that we've gathered over the past couple of decades in tracking that has been very helpful and beneficial to other states in the country that are also dealing with this.”  

Priztl added, “Maybe it would only happen one in a million times or one in 10 million times. But every time someone consumes a deer that is positive, you're potentially gonna have one more experiment that moves us towards that potential. And so just from a practical standpoint or a good practice standpoint, we advise against that.”

Testing deer for the fatal disease also helps researchers track the progress of CWD across the landscape. Hunters can find information about CWD testing on the DNR website. Wisconsin’s 9-day gun deer season opens November 19. 

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