The fight to contain chronic wasting disease as Minnesota deer hunting season returns
HASTINGS, Minn. — Hunters in Hastings made stops at a chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing site after each successful kill on Saturday, the opening day of Minnesota's deer firearm season.
It's an extra step, but one the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says is necessary.
The site is one of several statewide where testing is mandatory on opening weekend, with many sites located in the southeast portion of the state.
CWD is fatal for deer, but its impact on humans is still unknown. Hunters in Hastings allowed DNR crews to harvest their deer's lymph nodes, which will be tested for the disease.
The "Mandatory" zone in Hastings limits transporting the deer elsewhere before test results are made official.
"Us keeping tabs and monitoring this disease, controlling it the best we can, it all goes back to giving that experience to those hunters," said John Bourne, an assistant wildlife manager with the DNR. "It's a huge help. It gets us thousands of samples that we might not be able to get otherwise."
While opening day appears to be a success for many hunters across the state, police and the Minnesota State Patrol are working to determine how a hunter was shot in the head on Saturday morning near Moorhead. The condition and identity of the hunter, a 34-year-old Dilworth man, haven't been released.