With hunting season upon us, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is making sure that hunters are aware of confirmed chronic wasting disease (CWD) in two new hunt areas in the Sheridan Region. Deer Hunt Area 25 in the Bighorn Mountains and Elk Hunt Area 123 previously did not have infected animals, but recent rests have confirmed the disease’s presence, the Oil City News reports.

According to WGFD, “Deer Hunt Area 25 is surrounded on three sides by four known CWD positive deer hunt areas” and, while the confirmation of CWD in Elk Hunt Area 123 is new, “the corresponding Deer Hunt Areas, 8 and 21, have been known positive since 2003 and 2019.” In Deer Hunt Area 25, an adult doe tested positive for the disease; in Elk Hunt Area 125, a sick elk tested positive for CWD.

It’s important that hunters not consume meat from any elk or deer that appears ill or tests positive for CWD per the Centers for Disease Control.

The following Wyoming hunt areas are specifically being targeted for CWD monitoring:

This season, WGFD is asking hunters to collect lymph node samples from any deer or elk they harvest so the agency can test for CWD. In 2019, WGFD tested 5,067 CWD samples, according to the Oil City News.

For more information on the state’s CWD management strategy and instructions on how to submit your sample for testing, click here.