Fish & Game opens check stations for CWD

Idaho Department of Fish & Game will be collecting lymph node samples from deer at hunter check stations across the Panhandle this month to monitor for chronic wasting disease.

Chronic wasting disease is a contagious, fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose. Samples are collected on a voluntary basis by removing lymph nodes from deer, located near the base of the jaw. The disease has not been detected in Idaho, according to Fish & Game.

The check stations will be operated on Nov. 14, 15, 21 and 22 from 10 a.m. to sunset. Check stations can be found in Priest River (along Highway 57), Samuels (along U.S. Highway 95), St. Maries (south on Highway 3).

Hunters can also collect and submit their own lymph node samples or deer heads at drop-off locations throughout the region. Each freezer has instructions attached to it and information tags are to be filled out for each head or sample.

The freezers are located at Far North Outfitters in Bonners Ferry, 6791 S. Main St.; the WaterLife Discovery Center, 1591 Lakeshore Drive, Sagle; Heyburn State Park, 57 Chatcolet Road, Plummer; and the Kwikstop convenience store, 123 Stemm Loop, in Kingston.

Hunters can also bring their own lymph node samples or deer heads into the Fish & Game Regional Office, 2885 West Kathleen Ave., in Coeur d’Alene from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Fish & Game is offering online instruction on how to collect the samples (https://bit.ly/3eSTJ5q).

Testing will take approximately four to six weeks after samples are submitted. For deer sampled at check stations or the regional office, hunters will be given a business card with a unique barcode number on it. This number can then be entered into the IDFG sample results website, where status updates and final testing results will be posted. Hunters that submit samples at freezers locations throughout the region will only be contacted if a sample is positive.

Fish and Game began testing for CWD in 1997 and has never detected the disease in Idaho. Neighboring states Montana, Utah and Wyoming have confirmed CWD-positive animals close to the Idaho border. In the summer of 2019, several white-tailed deer sampled in Libby, Montana tested positive for CWD.