Keep Utah’s Deer Healthy By Testing Your Harvest This Season

Hunters across Utah are once again being asked to help monitor for chronic wasting disease (CWD) during this fall’s deer hunts by bringing harvested animals to Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) check stations for testing. Biologists say the program is an important step in tracking the spread of the disease and ensuring healthy deer herds.

What is Chronic Wasting Disease?

Chronic wasting disease is a rare but fatal illness that affects the nervous systems of deer, elk, and moose. It was first discovered in Utah in 2002 in a buck harvested near Vernal. The disease is caused by a misfolded protein called a prion, which damages the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms include emaciation, droopy ears, excessive salivation, and eventually death. However, animals can carry the disease for months without appearing sick, making testing the only reliable way to know if a harvested deer is infected.

“We take the presence of CWD in Utah seriously and will continue to do extensive monitoring to stay on top of the disease and its prevalence in the state,” DWR State Wildlife Veterinarian Ginger Stout said in a press release. She noted that nearly 80 percent of hunters have never had their deer tested and encouraged participation. “The data collected through this is crucial in helping us stay on top of CWD monitoring in Utah in order to maintain healthy deer populations into the future.”

As of September 2, Utah has confirmed 356 deer and 10 elk cases of CWD. The disease has been detected across northeastern, southeastern, and parts of central Utah. The Centers for Disease Control considers the risk to humans extremely low, but advises against consuming meat from infected animals.

Read More: DWR Increases Monitoring For This Hunting Season

This year’s monitoring will focus on several hunting units including Beaver, Box Elder, Cache, Cedar/Stansbury, Fillmore, La Sal, Nine Mile, Ogden, Oquirrh/Tintic, Pine Valley, the Southwest Desert, and the Wasatch Mountains. Hunters in the La Sal Castle Valley and Moab Valley units are required to submit samples. To prepare, harvested deer must be left with six inches of neck and windpipe so biologists can collect lymph nodes for testing.

Get our free mobile app

In southern Utah, free testing will be available at the DWR Cedar City office by appointment, or through local taxidermists and meat processors working with the division. Hunters are also reminded to properly dispose of carcasses, leaving spinal cords and waste at the harvest site to reduce contamination. If processing animals elsewhere, waste should not be discarded outdoors or transported to new areas, since prions can remain infectious in the environment for years. Proper disposal is one of the most effective ways hunters can help limit the spread of CWD while ensuring Utah’s deer herds remain healthy for future generations.