Attention deer hunters: The DNR will set up additional disease check stations in northeast and northwest Indiana this weekend to sample hunter-harvested deer for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).
The check stations will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET Saturday and Sunday at Fish & Wildlife Areas (FWAs) and partnering businesses.
CWD sampling involves removing lymph nodes from the deer’s neck just below the head. Any deer harvested within the CWD surveillance areas that are 1.5 years or older can be tested. Submitting samples for CWD testing is voluntary.
CWD check station locations and surveillance areas can be found at: wildlife.IN.gov/9650.htm.
Hunters interested in submitting deer harvested outside the current surveillance areas for CWD testing are now able to submit samples directly to Purdue’s Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) for a fee. Hunters may submit lymph nodes or whole heads. More information and a submission form is available on the ADDL website at vet.purdue.edu/addl/tests/fees.php?id=303.
CWD is a serious neurologic disease affecting white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and moose. Although it has been associated with captive deer and elk in the past, CWD is also found in free-ranging white-tailed deer in several Midwestern states close to Indiana, including Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin.
Each year, Indiana DNR biologists and staff at DNR fish & wildlife areas (FWAs) collect tissue samples from hunter-harvested and road-killed deer for CWD testing. Samples are collected from across the state to monitor the presence of CWD in Indiana. To date, all deer samples tested for CWD in Indiana have tested negative for CWD.
