Hunters can participate in two special deer hunts to help limit the spread of chronic wasting disease in wild deer in southeastern Minnesota.
Residents and nonresidents can participate in the hunts from Friday, Dec. 20, through Sunday, Dec. 22, and Friday, Dec. 27, through Sunday, Dec. 29, in deer permit areas 643, 646, 647 and 648, which are the only permit areas where the disease has been found to be persistent in wild deer.
Additional permit areas (and their included public hunting lands) may be added to this hunt, as pending CWD sampling results come in. Any added areas will be noted on the CWD webpage at mndnr.gov/cwd by Nov. 28.
These hunts are part of the DNR’s three-pronged approach to limit the spread of CWD. Because the disease is spread through direct contact with an infected deer’s saliva, urine, blood, feces, antler velvet or carcass, reducing deer numbers in localized areas helps lower deer densities and remove CWD-positive animals. In some areas, the DNR has also implemented deer feeding and attractant bans to reduce the human-facilitated contact between deer, and restricted how hunters are allowed to move deer they harvest.
Hunt details
Hunters must plan ahead and should check the DNR’s website at mndnr.gov/cwd for complete details about the special hunts, including hunt rules, locations for registration and CWD sampling, carcass movement restrictions, a map of the hunt area, and information about the DNR’s efforts to keep Minnesota wild deer healthy.
During these hunts, hunters may tag deer of either sex with disease management tags or unused tags from a 2019 landowner license, youth or adult firearm license, youth or adult muzzleloader license, or youth or adult archery license. Only antlerless deer may be tagged with bonus tags or early-season antlerless tags. Hunters may purchase an unlimited number of
