Deer hunters are reminded of mandatory CWD sampling


Volunteer Hailey Turner, left, and John Peter, MDC wildlife resource technician, take a tissue sample last year from a deer presented during opening weekend of the 2017 firearms deer season. Deer harvested in Ozark County are required to be tested for CWD this weekend, which marks opening weekend of rifle season. Times file photo/Sue Ann Jones.

Missouri firearms season opens Saturday, and the Missouri Department of Conservation is conducting mandatory sampling for chronic wasting disease (CWD) at two stations in Ozark County. 

Hunters who are successful in killing a deer Saturday, Nov. 10, or Sunday, Nov. 11, are required to visit the check station at Gainesville High School, 422 Bulldog Drive in Gainesville, or Dora High School, 613 County Road 379, near the intersection of Highways 181 and CC in Dora.

The deer can be brought to the sampling station whole or with the head removed, as long as 6 inches or more of the neck is in place. Capes can be removed from the deer if the hunter is planning on using it for taxidermy purposes. 

At the sampling station, MDC staff will make an incision across the throat of the harvested deer to remove the lymph nodes. The samples are sent to an independent lab for testing. It takes only a few minutes to complete the process.

Hunters should telecheck their deer before going to a sampling station, have completed permit information ready to give to MDC staff, be prepared to locate the harvest location on a map and position the deer in a vehicle so the head and neck are easily accessible. Hunters will be given a card with information on getting free test results for their deer after the samples are processed. 

Hunters who have harvested bucks bound for shoulder-mount taxidermy should inform the MDC staff of that intent so staff members can complete paperwork and share information about participating taxidermists taking CWD tissue samples. 

 

Voluntary sampling after this weekend

In Ozark County,  Scott and Zach McKinzie of McKinzie Taxidermy on County Road 518, off T Highway, near Mammoth Assembly of God Church, are registered to take voluntary CWD samples throughout the rest of deer season, until Jan. 15, 2019. Hunters who wish to submit their deer to be sampled by McKinzie Taxidermy should call 1-870-321-0379 or 1-870-321-3483 to make arrangements. 

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423