Free CWD testing available for hunter-harvested deer

The regular archery deer hunting season opens Sept. 27, and for many hunters, that means it will be the first weekend to bring home a deer for the freezer.

According to Randy Zellers with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, hunters can help the AGFC continue to track chronic wasting disease and give themselves a little extra peace of mind by dropping off a sample from their harvested deer at one of the many CWD testing locations available throughout the state.

AJ Riggs, wildlife health biologist for the AGFC, has been working hard during the last few months to ensure hunters have a free place to get their deer tested within an hour’s drive of practically any location in the state.

Hunters may drop off the head of their harvested deer at one of 101 freezers across the state to have it tested for chronic wasting disease.

“We have 101 freezers set up around Arkansas for hunters to drop off their samples, and we also have a network of 36 taxidermists who will pull a sample for anyone who brings their deer in,” Riggs said. “We send the majority of our  samples to be tested by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture and will make the results available as soon as the test results come in.”

Riggs says any hunter who submits a deer that comes back positive for CWD will be immediately notified via the phone number indicated on their sample submission form. She will collect data on the harvest location and help make arrangements to dispose of the meat and carcass if needed.

“We post all CWD test results through a secure site using the game check number on the form filled out at the collection site, and people are emailed when those results come in as well,” Riggs said. “You can use the QR code found at the freezers or go to agfc.com/cwd to track your sample and get results any time, day or night.”

To submit your sample through a testing station, simply bring the deer’s head with 4 to 6 inches of the neck attached and place it in one of the provided plastic bags with your name and contact information on the card provided. Any antlers should be removed before placing it in the bag to save freezer space and prevent the bags from being punctured. Hunters who wish to keep their deer heads can contact a taxidermist or an AGFC regional office to make an appointment.

Hunters submitted 8,426 samples from white-tailed deer last deer season, with 246 positive cases identified.

“So far, we’ve already collected 114 deer from the early archery buck-only hunt, urban deer hunts and target deer reported since July,” Riggs said. “Four of the target deer turned up positive so far.”

All testing locations are available at agfc.com/cwd. Some of the locations have changed from last year, so hunters are encouraged to look ahead of time and find a sample location closest to their hunting area and note hours of operation.

“You also want to be mindful of CWD zone boundaries when traveling to a CWD testing station,” Riggs said. “The nearest test site may be across a CWD zone boundary, but you can’t bring the head across that line without breaking the regulation, so if you’re hunting in a CWD Zone, you want to bring that sample to a freezer that’s in that zone. The only exception would be if you’re in a Tier 2 zone and want to bring it to a Tier 1 zone.”

AGFC to Share CWD Study Results Oct. 2
The AGFC will host a special CWD meeting to discuss the results of the recent 5-year population impact research project on CWD conducted in north Arkansas with the University of Georgia. Marcelo Jorge, the study’s lead researcher, will present findings from the study, which is the first of its kind completed on chronic wasting disease in the Southeast. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Oct. 2 at the Carroll Electric Co-Op building in Jasper.

The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session on the research and implications for future management of CWD in Arkansas.

All images via AGFC