Hunters play key role in understanding CWD

Chronic wasting disease was recently detected in a white-tailed deer in Kalispell. This is the first time CWD has been detected in a wild herd in Hunting District 170. 

Fish, Wildlife and Parks is increasing the availability of antlerless white-tailed deer hunting licenses in HD 170 following the detection. Hunters can now buy two 170-00 Deer B licenses over the counter. Previously, hunters were only allowed to buy one. 

Have animals with CWD been consumed by humans? Yes. Have there been repercussions. None have been reported. Is this advisable? Wildlife officials say no.

Although CWD testing is voluntary across most of Montana, samples from hunter-harvested deer, elk and moose are critical to FWP’s understanding of this fatal disease. Multiple big game hunting districts around west-central Montana are Priority Surveillance Areas for CWD, which are areas where FWP is making a concerted effort to gather more samples. All sampling is offered for free to hunters. 

Hunters play a key role in understanding CWD by providing data and in minimizing the spread by disposing of wildlife parts properly. In Mineral County there are four official disposal locations for big game carcasses. The Petty Creek FWP Fishing Access site at Exit 77 on I-90. Ext 47 into Superior at the Mineral County Road Department. St Regis, Exit 33, 1/2 mile east of the 4-way stop on Old Hwy 10. And then at the weight station west of Haugan. 

Dumping carcasses is illegal, unethical, and can spread diseases, including chronic wasting disease. This requirement applies to all deer, elk, and moose carcasses wherever in the state they are harvested by hunters or as vehicle-killed salvage.

A carcass may be transported within the state regardless of where it was harvested if the carcass parts are disposed of in a landfill after butchering and processing. 

The CSKT Reservation has CWD check stations where CSKT Wildlife Technicians ask hunters to stop with their wild game harvested off the reservation but being brought onto it. They will do the organ gathering or give kits for hunters to do it themselves with separate instructions for animals going to a processor or taxidermist. The extracted parts then need to be delivered to an FWP Office or check station. 

In Arlee Saturday the CSKT technician gave instructions for those who took the CWD kit and would perform the procedure at home. 

“Lift the neck up, and right where their voice box is in the center of the neck, you cut all of the way to the spine. Peel the hair back so you can work easier. You pull the esophagus up and then cut around it and then dig in there with your fingers and you will feel bean-shaped lymph nodes and that’s what you’re pulling out. You cut them in half and put them in separate bags. Then there is a tooth sample bag and a meat sample bag, also.”

FWP reminds hunters they must stop at all wildlife check stations that they pass, even if they have not harvested any animals. Although wildlife check stations sample a relatively small portion of the overall effort and harvest, they capture important trends and biological information, and by stopping you are helping with wildlife management in Montana.

Ryan Kilmstra, Missoula area biologist with FWP, recently said at a Mineral County Resource Coalition meeting, “We are trying to get ahead of this the best way we can as it grows into new areas every year. The sampling and correct carcass disposal garbage bins are 2 of the best ways we have in our toolbox today.” 

The general big game season runs through Sunday, Dec. 1.