Central Wisconsin hunters asked to watch for CWD

The Brillion News

WISCONSIN RAPIDS –  The Department of Natural Resources is asking deer hunters in Adams, Juneau, Portage, and Marathon counties to assist in chronic wasting disease surveillance during the upcoming gun deer season that begins Saturday morning.

On opening weekend of the upcoming nine day gun deer season, DNR staff will collect lymph nodes from harvested deer at three locations in Adams, Juneau and Portage Counties.  Hunters can bring harvested deer to participating locations and DNR staff will determine the age of the deer, collect harvest information from the hunter and remove lymph node samples.

These four counties draw deer hunters from throughout the state because of the high deer population and excellent habitat.

The stations will be staffed from 2 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19 and from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20.  The sample collection process takes less than 10 minutes, and CWD testing is free to hunters. Lymph node samples will be collected at the following locations:

1. Mead Wildlife Area Headquarters, S2148 CTY Road S, Milladore (12-6 p.m. Nov. 19 and 20;

2. Hartnell’s Wild Game Processing, 1925 Cypress Avenue, Arkdal (12-7 p.m. Nov. 20);

3. Wisconsin River Meats, N5340 CTY Road HH, Mauston (2-8 p.m. Nov. 19 and 12-7 p.m. Nov. 20);

4. Rockie Top Meats, N3825 Cty HWY P, Elroy (2-8 p.m. Nov. 19 and 12-7 p.m. Nov. 20).

Department staff work with a network of cooperating taxidermists, meat processors and utilize self-serve kiosks to collect deer heads and lymph nodes from hunter harvested adult deer for testing during the archery season and gun season. This is another option that hunters can take advantage of throughout the gun season and the remainder of the 2016 archery season.  Hunters can bring the whole deer to one of the listed cooperators or remove the head with at least three inches of neck attached and bring it in for sampling. Please respect the time of the cooperators and call ahead to set up an appointment.

The following cooperating businesses and locations are available for deer head drop-off:

1. Hartnell’s Wild Game Processing – 1925 Cypress Ave., Arkdale (608-339-7288);

2. Rockie Top Meats – N3825 Cty HWY P, Elroy (608-462-4400);

3. Strictly Wild Processing – 140 Buffalo St., Wisconsin Rapids (715-459-2538);

4. People’s Meat Market- 6811 Burr Oak Road, Custer (715-592-6328);

5. Almond Rod and Gun Club – 8092 Cty Road GG, Almond (715-570-1147);

6. Roche-A-Cri Bowman – 2021 14th Drive, Friendship (608-339-6460);

7. Mama’s Place – 9312 Main St., Wittenberg (715-454-6822);

8. Buena Vista DNR Field Station – 8310 Cty Road F, Bancroft (24-hour self-serve kiosk);

9. Wisconsin Rapids DNR Service Center – 473 Griffith Ave Wisconsin Rapids (24-hour self-serve kiosk);

10. Adams-Friendship DNR Ranger Station – 532 North Main St., Adams (24-hour self-serve kiosk);

11. Mead Wildlife Area – S2148 Cty Road S, Milladore (24-hour self-serve kiosk); and

12. Plover DNR Ranger Station – 2510 Maple Dr., Plover (24-hour self-serve kiosk).

Cooperating taxidermists for lymph node removal:

1. Froh’s Taxidermy – W9650 Jacobsen Road, Camp Douglas (608-547-1279);

2. Field and Stream Taxidermy – 217 South Front St., Coloma (608-547-1565);

3. Todd’s Wildlife Taxidermy – N2148 State Road 58, Mauston (608-847-7693);

4. Bob’s Critter Shack Taxidermy – 310 Main St. Friendship (608-350-9022);

5. Vollmer Taxidermy – 3631 Plover Road, Plover (715-345-1934);

6. All Seasons Taxidermy – W9711 Beechnut Dr., Wautoma (920-765-1078); and