Hunters in Grundy and Mercer counties who harvest a deer on the opening weekend of fall firearms season will be required to bring the animal to a Missouri Department of Conservation check station for Chronic Wasting Disease testing.
All deer harvested on Nov. 10-11 will need to be tested for CWD. Grundy and Mercer join 31 other counties where testing will be mandatory on the opening weekend. Other local counties in the mandatory testing zone include Putnam, Sullivan and Linn.
In Grundy County, hunters can take their harvested deer to the Rock Barn at the North Central Missouri Fairgrounds for testing. The testing site in Mercer will be at the Lake Paho Conservation Area. Putnam County’s check station will be at the Putnam County Fairgrounds in Unionville while Sullivan will have check stations at the North Central Missouri Electric Coop in Milan and the Winigan Community Center in Winigan. Hunters in Linn County can check their deer at the Linn County Fairgrounds in Brookfield or the Purdin Community Center in Purdin.
CWD testing is only required during the opening weekend. Hunters will need to bring in at least the head and six inches of the neck for testing.
Hunters are encouraged to telecheck their deer prior to testing. The testing only takes a couple of minutes as an incision is made into the deer’s throat to collect lymph nodes which are then sent to independent labs for testing.
A card will be presented to each hunter after testing with information on how to receive results of the test for their deer should they wish to follow up after samples are processed.
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