With chronic wasting disease (CWD) still prevalent across the West, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) is continuing its lymph node sampling from deer and elk this season. To date, hunters have submitted over 4,800 lymph node samples for CWD testing, according to County 10 News.

While some of the effort is voluntary, there are some specific Deer Hunt Areas (DHA) and Elk Hunt Areas (EHA) in Wyoming where it is mandatory to submit a lymph node for testing from any harvested deer or elk. These include DHA 1-6, 19, 24, 25, 27-33, 41, 46, 47, 50-53, 61, 66, 74-77, 96, 97, 124, 130, 131, 134, 135, 138-146, 150-157, 163, 165, 169 and 171. EHAs include 13, 15, 21, 41, 45, 67-71, 75, 77-85, 88-91, 97, 98, 102-105, 108, 127 and 130.

“We’ve had good participation in our CWD sampling program this year,” said Hank Edwards, Wildlife Health Laboratory supervisor. “But, we still need more samples to meet our goals, so please submit from your later-season elk and deer harvests.”

Last year, WGFD collected and tested 6,496 samples for CWD. 

If you are hunting outside of one of the mandatory CWD testing units and would like to submit a sample for testing, you can watch this how-to video and submit the lymph node along with a CWD datasheet. Results take about three weeks and are available online. For more information, contact the Wyoming State Veterinary Lab in Laramie at 307-766-9925.