CWD confirmed in a wild deer near Wheaton in western Minnesota for the first time

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced on Thursday that a deer harvested near Wheaton in western Minnesota during the opening weekend of firearms season has tested positive for chronic wasting disease.

The adult male deer was harvested within deer permit area 271 along the Minnesota-South Dakota border. To date, no wild deer with CWD had been previously detected in DPA 271, nearby DPAs or near the Minnesota border in eastern South Dakota.

“This discovery in western Minnesota, while unwelcome news, highlights the importance and necessity of our disease surveillance efforts and allowing hunters to test deer harvested anywhere in the state if they would like to,” said Erik Hildebrand, wildlife health supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Following the detection near Wheaton, the Minnesota DNR will implement measures outlined in its CWD response plan, which calls for three consecutive years of testing to help determine the potential prevalence of the disease in DPA 271 and surrounding DPAs.

The Minnesota DNR also will work with the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department to coordinate CWD surveillance and management activities in the vicinity.

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Within DPAs where CWD has been detected and confirmed, the Minnesota DNR uses multiple management actions designed to help mitigate disease spread, including carcass movement restrictions, a deer feeding and attractants ban and, sometimes, increased hunting opportunities with increased bag limits.

In 2024, DPA 271 will not be included in the CWD late-season management hunt that takes place Dec. 20-22. The adult male deer in DPA 271 that tested positive for CWD was harvested during the breeding season when deer are known to travel longer distances. Before deciding whether to remove additional deer in a CWD management hunt, the DNR will conduct surveillance in the fall of 2025 to better understand disease prevalence in the DPA.

CWD late-season hunt is Dec. 20-22 in select DPAs

Deer hunters can participate in a late-season CWD management hunt Friday, Dec. 20, through Sunday, Dec. 22. Deer permit areas open to this CWD management hunt are 605, 642, 643, 645, 646, 647, 648 and 649.

The Minnesota DNR establishes CWD management hunts to assess disease prevalence and to help mitigate the risk of CWD transmission by reducing the number of deer. To encourage participation in the management hunt, there is flexibility in the licenses and permits that are valid and there are no restrictions on the number of deer that a hunter may take.

Although the bag limit for this hunt is unlimited, 98% of successful hunters during the late-season CWD hunt in 2023 took only one or two deer.

Details about licenses and permits, mandatory CWD sampling, and other important information for hunters, is available on the Minnesota DNR website.

More information about CWD

Results of CWD tests completed thus far are available on the Minnesota DNR’s CWD test results webpage. Additional test results for deer harvested in 2024 will be added to this webpage as they become available. The DNR will directly notify any hunter who harvests a deer that tests positive.

CWD affects cervids, which include white-tailed deer, moose and elk and has no known cure. It has been found in more than two-thirds of the states in the U.S.

More information about CWD and what the DNR is doing to limit disease spread and protect the health of Minnesota’s white-tailed deer is available on the Minnesota DNR website.