Colo. Deer Hunters Must Test For Chronic Wasting Disease: State

ACROSS COLORADO – Hunters check your mailboxes. Along with deer hunting licenses this year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife will be sending out notices about mandatory testing for chronic wasting disease during the 2018 season.

The idea is to get a better understanding of how the disease is spreading in Colorado.

"Voluntary and mandatory sampling is critical for data collection on this disease that impacts the long-term health of our herds," CPW said in a press release.

Rifle season buck hunters will receive instructions about how to have venison and carcasses tested.

More changes coming this year, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife:

1. CPW will no longer be refunding license fees to hunters that harvested a CWD positive animal.

2. CPW will no longer offer a replacement antlerless license for the same species as the one harvested.

3. Hunters whose deer tests positive for CWD will get a letter mailed to them by CPW explaining what is known about CWD, disposal recommendations, as well as public health information. Each hunter with a CWD-positive animal will be notified by phone and email.

If hunters have processed an animal that has chronic wasting disease, they can apply for reimbursement, the agency said. The standard rate will be up to $100 for animals non-commercially processed and up to $200 for deer and elk that are commercially processed. The maximum reimbursement for commercial processing moose is $250.

Chronic wasting disease is a contagious neurological disease affecting mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, moose and reindeer. Although there have been no cases of transfer from deer to humans, hunters and others are encouraged not to consume meat from animals known to be infected. In addition, hunters should take common sense precautions when field dressing and processing deer or elk taken in areas where the disease is found.

In Colorado last year, 16 percent of male animals tested were found to have the disease, which increases in severity and kills an animal in three years. Herds with chronic wasting disease were found last year along the Front Range west of Colorado Springs, metro Denver and Fort Collins, and near Craig, in northwestern Colorado.

Updated information on chronic wasting disease and the 2018 mandatory sample will be posted on CPW’s website at cpw.state.co.us/CWD, the agency said.

Image via Colorado Parks and Wildlife

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