ODFW Asks Successful Deer and Elk Hunters to Stop at Disease Sampling Stations and Follow Regulations When Hunting Out of State

SALEM, Ore.—In an effort to keep Oregon’s deer, elk and moose free from Chronic Wasting Disease, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will staff roadside sampling stations to check deer and elk taken in Eastern Oregon. Oregon State Police will enforce regulations for those bringing harvested animals into the state.

Hunters who are successful in taking a deer or elk in Eastern Oregon are asked to stop at a convenient station or to contact a local office and make an appointment to bring in the animal’s head so a biologist can take a sample of central nervous system tissue. Hunters can also provide a sample if they encounter ODFW staff out in the field during hunting season.

Since 2002, ODFW has tested nearly 12,000 free-ranging deer and elk for CWD, an untreatable and fatal neurological disease. To date, all tests have been negative.

Sampling stations will be staffed during mule buck deer season and Rocky Mountain elk season:

Sunday, Oct. 3 and Monday, Oct 4, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

• I-84 West at Biggs Junction
• Prineville weigh station, just east of Prineville on Hwy 26. (Also open Oct. 2 after noon.)
• La Pine: junction Hwys. 31 and 97

Sunday, Oct. 31 and Monday, Nov. 1, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

• I-84 West at Biggs Junction
• Prineville weigh station (just east of Prineville on Hwy 26)

Attention: Black-tailed deer hunters

ODFW biologists are asking black-tailed deer hunters to send the department a tooth from the animal they harvest. ODFW staff uses the teeth to determine the age of an animal, which is used in population modeling efforts.

Removing and returning a tooth to ODFW is relatively easy and in no way harms the taxidermy mount. Postage-paid envelopes and instructions are available at license sales agents and ODFW offices. Some hunters who drew controlled deer tags will receive an envelope in the mail.

“These teeth are critically important to us. Black-tailed deer are not easy to count. They often move in the dark, in dense cover,” said Don Whittaker, ODFW Ungulate Species Coordinator. “The more information we have about the age of the deer in the population, the better decisions we can make about hunting seasons and the health of the species.”

In six or seven months, hunters will receive a postcard showing the age of their deer.

Out-of-state hunters: Follow CWD regulations

Hunters bringing any deer, elk or moose part containing central nervous system tissue into Oregon from states or Canadian provinces known to have CWD are subject to citation.

CWD has been detected in the following states so the import ban into Oregon applies: Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, New York, West Virginia, Virginia, and the Canadian provinces of Albert and Saskatchewan.

The following parts may still be imported from those states and provinces with a documented case of CWD: meat cut and wrapped commercially or privately; meat that has been boned out; quarters or other portions of meat with no part of the spinal column or head attached; hides or capes with no head attached; skull plates with antlers attached that have been cleaned of all meat and brain tissue (velvet antlers allowed); antlers with no tissue attached (velvet antlers allowed); upper canine teeth (buglers, whistlers and ivories); and finished taxidermy heads.

The maximum penalty for this type of violation, a Class A Misdemeanor, is a fine of up to $6,250, one year in the county jail, and a hunting license suspension of two years.

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