JACKSON, Wyo. — To better understand how chronic wasting disease (CWD) affects the health of Wyoming’s deer and elk populations, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) has requested help from hunters with monitoring the disease.
The WGFD has continued to study the distribution and prevalence of CWD to better understand the potential impacts of the disease as well as evaluate management actions for deer and elk.
According to the WGFD, CWD is a chronic, fatal disease of the central nervous system in mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk and moose. The disease has been detected in most deer and elk hunt areas in Wyoming. In March, the WGFD reported that an elk tested positive for CWD on the Horse Creek Feedground, which is located in Elk Hunt Area 84 south of Jackson.
The WGFD told Buckrail that most of the deer and elk hunt areas in the Jackson region are designated as “CWD monitoring focus areas.” This means that Game and Fish personnel will request samples from hunters in the field, but participation is voluntary.
“While hunters are not required to submit a sample, we encourage you to do so, as it helps to achieve our monitoring goals,” WGFD Public Information and Education Specialist Raegin Akhtar said.
Samples are collected during the fall hunting season through the cooperation of hunters who voluntarily allow WGFD personnel to collect lymph nodes from harvested animals at hunter check stations, meat processors, in the field or regional WGFD offices.
The WGFD noted that hunters who harvest an elk or white-tailed deer on the National Elk Refuge are required to submit a CWD sample by depositing the animal’s head at one of the many collection barrels on the Refuge or allowing a biologist to collect samples in the field. CWD sample submission is also required for elk harvested in hunt area 75 in Grand Teton National Park. Elk Reduction Program participants must turn in the head from any elk harvested in the park at the drop location in Moose, near the intersection with Moose Landing and the post office parking lot.
Last season, the WGFD’s 2024 CWD Surveillance Report stated that out of 5,276 samples tested, 726 came back positive for CWD.
