North Dakota Game and Fish Department encourages deer testing

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – In this week’s segment of North Dakota Outdoors, Mike Anderson tells us HOW deer hunters can participate in the chronic wasting disease surveillance program this fall.

Chronic wasting disease is a fatal brain disease of deer, moose and elk. Even though CWD has a low prevalence in North Dakota, the Game and Fish Department wants deer hunters in the 2024 surveillance units to get their deer tested.

“We’ll have collection sites set up during the rifle season up in the northeast and in 3B2 unit,” said Mason Ryckman, wildlife health biologist. “And so, it will just give the opportunity to hunters to drop off their deer heads at those collection sites.”

Hunters inside or outside the surveillance units can get their deer tested by requesting a self-sampling kit at gf.nd.gov, or by dropping off their deer heads at a Game and Fish Department district office, or deer head collection sites in the surveillance units.

“So once a hunter submits a sample, we get back to the lab, we’ll sample that deer and get that sample off to the diagnostic lab for testing. And from there, roughly a hunter can expect about four weeks to get their results back,” said Ryckman. “Those results will show up underneath their account on our Game and Fish website, and it’ll show up as an inbox message.”

The Game and Fish Department each deer season samples a quarter of the state as part of surveillance efforts.

“Our prevalence right now with CWD is relatively low in North Dakota. We do not want to see it spike up, and that’s why we’re conducting these management practices and doing our surveillance every year,” said Ryckman. “So just to kind of get an idea of the prevalence in the state and how to best manage to keep that prevalence somewhat low.”

It’s important for hunters to participate in the CWD surveillance efforts every year.

“Hunters can help by getting their deer tested and hopefully we can keep healthy deer herds on our landscape for future generations,’ said Ryckman.

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