Cheyenne – Hunters have long been considered an invaluable resource for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s efforts to collect biological samples for study and testing. This fall elk hunters in select hunt areas are again being asked to collect blood samples from their harvested animal to help in the department’s brucellosis surveillance efforts. Brucellosis is a disease caused by the bacteria Brucella abortus. Elk, bison and domestic cattle are susceptible to brucellosis, which may cause animals to abort calves and further transmit the disease.
Hunters in targeted elk hunt areas for the 2022 season are asked to help in data collection by taking a blood sample from their elk immediately after harvest with a Game and Fish sample kit, keeping it cool and submitting it soon-after harvest. The targeted elk hunt areas are: 27, 28, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 45, 47, 48, 49, 54, 61, 63, 64, 66, 100, 106, 107, 120, 127. A map is available online.
About 8,500 kits will be mailed to hunters this year. Hunters in targeted elk hunt areas should receive kits about two weeks prior to the opening date of that particular hunt area and license type.
“You may have already — or will soon — receive a blood kit in the mail. Please bring this kit with you while hunting and collect a sample from your harvested animal and submit it to us. Take the sample soon after harvest and keep it cool until drop-off,” said Eric Maichak, Game and Fish wildlife disease biologist in the Cody Region.
As an incentive for hunters to collect samples, the department is partnering with several leading outdoor gear companies in a raffle for hunters who provide a useable blood sample from their harvested elk. Hunters with multiple licenses may
