SPOONER, Wis. - In cooperation with local businesses, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will collect deer heads for chronic wasting disease surveillance testing within Barron, Burnett, Polk and Washburn counties during the 2016 archery and gun hunting seasons.
If you harvest an adult deer within these counties please consider submitting a sample from any adult deer for CWD testing. Rather than disposing of the head after processing the meat, hunters are encouraged to submit it for testing.
After sampling approximately 2,000 adult deer within ten miles of the Shell Lake location of the CWD-positive deer from 2011, no other positive deer have been detected. Sampling has been expanded to the four counties in order to detect any possible missing positive deer in the area.
Head samples can be dropped off at the following locations:
- DNR Service Center, 810 W. Maple St. Spooner (north side of building via employee parking);
- Speedy's C Stop, 2962 Main St. Barronett (north side of building)
- Country Pride Coop (Cenex) Highway 63, Shell Lake (north side of building);
- DNR, 941 Mallard Lane, Balsam Lake (north side of building);
- DNR, 1341 2nd Ave., Cumberland (west side of building, use the alley); and
- DNR Crex Meadows, 110 East Crex Ave., Grantsburg (east side of Registration Shack).
Scientific collectors permits available in Shell Lake area
The department will also offer landowners within the Shell Lake two mile sampling area scientific collector permits to harvest adult deer of either sex for CWD testing. Sampling efforts may provide valuable information regarding the health of deer on private lands.
Interested landowners within the two mile sampling area who would like a permit or more information can visit the Spooner DNR Service Center Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. Participating landowners may assign hunters to harvest the deer and submit the head, and may assign someone else to pick up permits at the Nov. 14 meeting by calling the DNR. For more information or to give permission, please call 715-635-4025.
Wisconsin's citizens and cooperators have played a key role in CWD sampling efforts in Wisconsin, and department staff would like to thank all participants and collection cooperators for their continued efforts.
Deer hunters are encouraged to check out the frequently asked questions page for more information regarding deer hunting in Wisconsin. The FAQ feature provides brief responses to a wide variety of deer hunting questions, ranging from deer management unit boundaries to antlerless permits. To view the FAQ page and more information regarding archery and crossbow deer hunting, search keyword "deer."
For more information and a list of participating taxidermists and deer processors, visit dnr.wi.gov and search keywords "CWD sampling." For more general information regarding CWD, search keyword "CWD."
Last Update: Nov 02, 2016 9:53 am CDT
