CWD check stations will be in place across Region 6

Press release

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will have check stations in place across Region 6 to sample for Chronic Wasting Disease in deer, elk and moose during the upcoming general hunting season. This is part of a planned surveillance effort, and FWP encourages hunters to help by submitting their harvested animals for testing.

Last year, FWP discovered CWD in deer south of Billings and north of Chester. This contagious neurological disease can infect deer, elk and moose. It is always fatal and there is no known cure. Because of the new discovery, transport restrictions are in place for animals harvested in locations where CWD has been detected in Liberty and Carbon counties.

In 2018, FWP will conduct surveillance during the general fall hunting season in high-priority areas in parts of northern Montana, including Hunting Districts 403 and 401 in Region 4 and 640, 670, 630, 620, 611 and 600 in Region 6, as those areas are near known CWD detections in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan.

At the check stations, FWP personnel will remove retropharyngeal lymph nodes, a tooth and a genetic sample from voluntarily submitted animals, and ask for hunter information and harvest location. If a hunter is willing to contribute samples but first wants to take the head to a taxidermist, FWP personnel will take some information at the check station and follow up with the taxidermist later for the lymph nodes.

Hunters will be given a unique identification number for the sample and will be able to view the test results within three weeks at http://www.fwp.mt.gov/cwd/.

Check stations for collecting CWD samples will be located in Havre, the Malta area, and shifting between the Scobey and Glasgow areas. CWD check stations will be in operation Saturday and Sunday during daylight hours.

All hunters must stop at all check stations, but submission of CWD samples is voluntary. In addition, deer harvested in HD 640 may also be sampled for bovine tuberculosis as part of a separate study. Check station locations are subject to change depending upon sampling priority, and locations will be updated weekly on the Region 6 Facebook page.

Heads may also be submitted at the FWP Region 6 Headquarters in Glasgow from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and at the Havre Field Office from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. There will not be an unmanned “drop bucket” for heads at the offices. Hunters will need to contact office personnel when dropping off heads so FWP can get the proper harvest information.

If hunters would like to submit a sample for CWD testing that was harvested outside of the priority surveillance area, they may do so on their own. Instructions are available on the website at http://www.fwp.mt.gov/cwd, and there is a fee of $18 to Colorado State University for the test in addition to shipping costs.

People can help FWP with CWD surveillance this fall by providing samples of their harvests in the surveillance area. FWP thanked participating hunters, landowners, communities, wildlife watchers and other agencies in advance for their partnership in this effort. People with questions can contact the Region 6 FWP headquarters at 406-228-3700.