This fall Game and Fish will be asking hunters in the field and at various check stations if they can collect a lymph node sample from harvested deer, elk or moose — especially in eastern Wyoming— to test for chronic wasting disease. CWD is an infectious disease fatal to deer, elk and moose, and collected samples from harvested animals helps us better understand how this disease is impacting the health of those species in Wyoming.

Another way to submit a sample is for hunters to call a regional office to arrange taking their harvest in for sampling during business hours. District game wardens and biologists can collect samples, too, as availability provides.

Test results are typically available on the Game and Fish website within three weeks after the sample is received. For quicker results — usually within 10 days — hunters can submit their samples to the Wyoming State Veterinary Lab in Laramie for a $30 fee. The Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization recommend that CWD-positive animals not be eaten. For more information on CWD, visit our website.

Thank you, hunters, for providing valuable information to wildlife managers to better understand the disease.