With the bow hunting season for deer underway and the gun hunting season approaching, the DNR is again asking for businesses and hunters to help out by donating deer heads to test for Chronic Wasting Disease.
The efforts are in response to finding CWD in a deer harvested from a Three Lakes preserve in 2015.
Wildlife biologist Jeremy Holtz in Rhinelander says following the discovery, special deer rules are in effect in Oneida, Vilas and Forest counties....
"....so last deer season was our first effort. We sampled over 200 deer and there were no positives so we want to collect as many as we can this year and continue to keep our deer herd healthy...."
Holtz says their primary sample method is hunter-harvest deer...
".....anyone that shoots a deer in Oneida, Forest or Vilas county, they can get their deer tested for CWD for free. All they have to do is use one of our local drop offs, self-serve kiosks. They can remove the head before or after processing,or taxidermy. They can fill out a little bit of paperwork, leave their email address and we can send the results as soon as we get them...."
Holtz says last year they got a good number of heads from the Rhinelander city deer hunt. He says the state has put an emphasis on getting the testing results back to the hunter as soon as possible. Holtz says if you call the number at the kiosk the Department will work to get the deer head processed as quickly as possible. Holtz says if anyone sees a deer acting strangely to contact the local DNR offices in the three counties.
The DNR is encouraging hunters to check back on the agencies website if they have questions.
