The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is asking deer hunters to review the regulations for Chronic Wasting Disease Management zones before heading to the field. Deer Program Manager, Brad Kennon, says CWD Management Zones are smaller this year.
“At one time the boundaries for those zones were set at 25 miles from a known positive, whereas now they are at 15 miles from a known positive,” Kennon noted.
There are four CWD management zones, located in northeast and central Louisiana. Kennon says this season, hunters may place bait and supplemental feed within a CWD Management Zone from now through March 31st. Kennon says whether baiting is allowed in future seasons depends on the results of CWD sampling.
“We would need to, one, get a quota and meet that quota as far as sampling goes; and of that quota, we would have to have an apparent prevalence below 2.5% positive,” Kennon explained.
The CWD sampling goal is 145 samples, which would be deer heads, for each CWD Management Zone. Kennon says on LDWF’s website, hunters can find the location of coolers where they can submit samples. Kennon says two new location sites for coolers have been added this year.
“One will be just right at the Union-Ouachita Parish line in Area 2, and then another one will be near Lake Ophelia National Wildlife Refuge in Avoyelles Parish,” Kennon said.
More information on the drop off sites can be found at wlf.louisiana.gov.
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