JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – With the November portion of Missouri’s fall firearms deer season opening Saturday, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) wants hunters, landowners, and others to know key information about chronic wasting disease, or CWD. MDC is continuing its efforts this fall and winter to limit the spread of CWD in Missouri deer by finding new cases and slowing its spread to more deer or more areas.
CWD MANAGEMENT ZONE
MDC has a CWD Management Zone of 29 counties in or near where CWD has been found: Adair, Barry, Cedar, Chariton, Christian, Crawford, Franklin, Gasconade, Hickory, Howell, Jefferson, Knox, Linn, Macon, Mercer, Oregon, Ozark, Perry, Polk, Putnam, St. Charles, St. Clair, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Stone, Sullivan, Taney, Warren, and Washington. Learn more at mdc.mo.gov/cwd.
MANDATORY CWD SAMPLING NOV. 16 and 17
Hunters who harvest deer in any of the 29 counties of the CWD Management Zone during the opening weekend of the November portion of the fall firearms deer season (Nov. 16 and 17) are required to take their harvested deer (or the head with at least six inches of neck attached) on the day of harvest to one of MDC’s numerous CWD sampling stations throughout the zone. The sampling stations are open from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sampling and test results are free. Hunters who harvest deer in counties no longer part of the zone are not required to participate in sampling. Learn more at mdc.mo.gov/cwd under “Mandatory CWD Sampling,” or from MDC’s “2019 Fall Deer & Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information” booklet, available where permits are sold.
VOLUNTARY CWD SAMPLING ALL SEASON STATEWIDE
MDC is offering free voluntary CWD sampling and testing of deer harvested anywhere in Missouri throughout the entire deer hunting season at MDC regional offices during regular business hours and through
