Deer feeding and attractant bans expand; fall sampling shows CWD prevalence remains low
A newly discovered instance of chronic wasting disease in the Brainerd Lakes area will result in three more years of sampling and other disease management efforts for that area. In addition, following the confirmation of a CWD-positive deer in late October in Polk County near the North Dakota border, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will expand its deer feeding and attractant ban to include most of northwestern Minnesota.
“These are precautionary but necessary measures,” said Michelle Carstensen, wildlife health program supervisor for the Minnesota DNR. “Continued sampling allows us to monitor the extent of CWD in the Brainerd area. Expanding the feeding ban around Climax and Bemidji eliminates one layer of controllable risk associated with the concentration of wild deer at food placed by humans.”
Brainerd Lakes CWD discovery
One of the 1,234 deer that hunters harvested thus far this fall in deer permit area 604 tested positive for CWD. The area, which stretches north from Brainerd to Pine River and eastward to Aitkin, was in its final year of planned CWD surveillance and management because the disease had not been detected there since a wild doe tested positive in 2019. That initial discovery in wild deer came after testing in 2016 revealed that a deer farm within permit area 604 was infected with CWD.
“Like us, area residents and hunters were optimistic that deer management could return to normal,” Carstensen said. “It’s unfortunate but this discovery resets the clock, and CWD management measures will remain in place through at least the fall of 2024.”
With nearly 15,000 wild deer in the area tested since 2017 and only two positives found, the DNR is confident CWD is not prevalent or widespread in this area’s wild deer
