The North Dakota Game and Fish Department (NDGFD) is continuing its hunter-harvested surveillance program this hunting season, encouraging deer hunters statewide to submit samples for chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing. The initiative aims to monitor the slow-moving brain disease, which affects deer, moose, and elk, and can lead to "population-level impacts under high infection rates," according to the department.
While the department will specifically test samples from deer harvested in southwest North Dakota units 2J1, 3B3, 3C, 3D1, 3D2, 3E1, 3E2, 3F1, 3F2, 4D, 4E, and 4F, hunters outside this designated area are also encouraged to have their deer tested. This includes hunters in the Bismarck and Mandan areas within Burleigh and Morton counties.
Hunters have several ways to submit samples. The department encourages dropping off harvested deer heads at collection locations listed on the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website. Alternatively, hunters who wish to keep their deer heads can bring them to a Game and Fish district office during business hours for sampling. Fawns and deer that have been head-shot cannot be tested.
For those unable to visit a collection site or district office, self-sampling kits are available. These kits can be requested through the department’s website or picked up at any district office. They allow hunters to remove lymph nodes themselves and then ship them to the department’s wildlife health lab for testing. Hunters can expect results within four weeks, which will be sent to their Game and Fish My Account inbox.
The department also reminded hunters about statewide carcass disposal requirements. While a full carcass can be transported outside the unit where it was harvested, any carcass waste left after processing must be properly disposed of through a landfill or a waste management provider. This rule does not apply to heads dropped off at CWD collection sites or to lymph nodes submitted for testing.
In addition to CWD surveillance, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department is requesting hunters' assistance in collecting lower jaws from harvested deer this season. Biologists use the teeth from these jaws to determine a deer’s age by examining tooth replacement and wear patterns. This information is crucial for the department to track the age structure of deer populations within each hunting unit, which in turn helps guide future management strategies for deer across the state. Hunters interested in participating in the jaw collection effort and having their deer aged can request a special envelope with detailed instructions through the Game and Fish website.
This collaborative effort between the North Dakota Game and Fish Department and local hunters is vital for understanding and managing the health of the state’s deer, moose, and elk populations.
