ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Department of Conservation has reported that hunters harvested 11,705 deer during the state’s chronic wasting disease firearms deer hunting season. In order to control and monitor the illness, the MDC introduced the season to help with the management of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) within designated management zones.
The firearm CWD season ran from November 22–26 in counties within the CWD Management Zone. Of the 11,705 deer harvested, 4,707 were antlered bucks, 1,074 were button bucks, and 5,924 were does.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic wasting disease is a prion illness that affects deer, elk, reindeer, sika deer, and moose. Infected animals may take over a year to develop symptoms, including drastic weight loss (wasting), stumbling, listlessness, and other neurological symptoms.
CWD can affect animals of all ages, and some infected animals may die without ever displaying the disease. It is fatal to animals, and there are no known treatments or vaccines.
The new hunting season was strategically timed to coincide with the end of the primary rut, when deer movement is typically high and hunter interest remains strong.
Hunters were permitted to use any unfilled firearms’ deer hunting permits during the CWD portion but had to adhere to the statewide limit of one antlered deer during the firearms’ deer season.
Hunters were also required to follow county-specific firearms and antlerless permit numbers. While CWD testing was not mandatory during the CWD portion, voluntary CWD testing is available throughout the entire deer season.
The MDC initiated this new season to boost deer harvests in the CWD Management Zone, aiming to slow the spread of the disease.
