(undated) Deer hunters in designated southern Minnesota permit areas will be required to have adult deer tested for Chronic Wasting Disease during this opening weekend of the firearms season. The Minnesota D-N-R says the mandatory testing is part of a rotating C-W-D surveillance program covering 36 deer permit areas across southern Minnesota. Hunters who harvest a deer age one year or older in those areas must have it sampled. Deer must be registered before testing, and hunters will need their D-N-R license number and the township, range and section or GPS coordinates of where the deer was harvested. Staffed sampling stations will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and from 9 a.m. until noon Monday, November 9th. Hunters can also use participating meat processors and taxidermists or available mail-in testing kits. The D-N-R encourages hunters to check its website, dnr.state.mn.us, for surveillance area boundaries, sampling locations and additional information before heading out.
