SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is reminding deer hunters about locations where deer can be tested for chronic wasting disease (CWD) free of charge.
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal disease of the central nervous system in deer and elk. It was first detected in a suspect adult female deer from northwest Boone County in 2002. Since then, 173,486 wild deer have been sampled statewide, and 2,188 individual deer have tested positive for CWD. The disease is currently confined to a 21-county area in the northern third of Illinois.
Wildlife biologists monitor the geographic distribution and intensity of CWD primarily through testing of hunter-harvested deer. CWD is not known to be transmissible to humans; however, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization do not recommend consuming CWD-positive venison (deer meat).
Hunters can visit participating vendors, including taxidermists and meat processors, or leave deer heads at self-serve drop-off sites. Search for locations online, on the Hunt Illinois app, or at IDNR’s interactive map.
Hunters in CWD counties are strongly encouraged to have their deer tested. Hunters who plan to have their deer mounted can have a cooperating taxidermist collect the sample; testing procedures will not damage the deer skull. Hunters not using a cooperating taxidermist can take the caped-out head to an IDNR sample drop-off site.
Firearm deer hunters in CWD counties can get a voluntary sample taken by a biologist when they bring harvested deer to mandatory physical check stations during the 2024 regular firearm seasons Nov. 22-24 and Dec. 5-8. Go online for the locations of check stations.
Hunters in non-CWD counties can use sample drop-off barrels or sampling vendors to have samples submitted for testing.
Hunters can view the results of their CWD tests online. Please allow two to four weeks for results to post. Priority is given to samples from counties with known CWD cases. Hunters will be contacted by an IDNR wildlife biologist if their deer tests positive for CWD.
Between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, IDNR’s Wildlife Disease Program identified 459 CWD-positive deer in 21 Illinois counties, including Boone, Bureau, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Ford, Grundy, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, Livingston, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Will, and Winnebago.
Go online for more information about CWD management in Illinois.