WYG&F to Focus CWD Sampling in Big Horn Basin Hunt Areas

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is requesting hunters to submit samples from mule deer and elk harvested in targeted Big Horn Basin hunt areas this year. These samples help the department track chronic wasting disease (CWD) as part of its statewide monitoring plan. 

Game and Fish is seeking samples from the following herds and hunt areas:

Species    Herd                  Hunt areas

Elk      North Bighorn            39 and 40

Deer      Shoshone River    121, 122 and 123

Deer      Clarks Fork            105, 106 and 109

Deer      Southwest Bighorns    35-37, 39, 40 and 164

Sample submission is mandatory for these deer hunt areas and license types:

Hunt area License types

164              – General and Types 1, 6 and 7

105              – Types 1 and 8

106              – Types 1 and 8

109              – Types 1, 3 and 8

In the other targeted areas, Game and Fish asks hunters who harvest mule deer bucks or adult elk to submit samples voluntarily. The department encourages samples from does and white-tailed deer in focus areas. Hunters may request testing for other deer, elk and moose harvested throughout the Big Horn Basin.

Hunters can bring animals to a game check station or the Game and Fish Cody Regional Office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Other options include participating meat processors and taxidermists, and head drop barrels at the Cody office, Medicine Lodge State Park near Hyattville and Northwest College in Powell. The Powell barrel is on the south side of the Science and Math Building at Sixth and Division streets.

Area 164: A check station across from the Wyoming Sugar Co. plant at Washakie Avenue and South Flat Road will be open Oct. 1, 3 and 4 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. for general-season and Type 6 license holders. It will reopen Nov. 15 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Nov. 16 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. for late-season license holders. Field personnel will also collect samples Oct. 1-14 for general and Type 1 license holders, and Nov. 15-30 for Type 1 and 7 license holders. The effort focuses on a known CWD hot spot in the northwestern part of the hunt area.

Areas 105, 106 and 109: Check stations will operate Oct. 24-31 in the Sunlight Basin area along the Chief Joseph Highway. Field staff will be available during the applicable hunting seasons. Hunters can also use the Cody office during business hours or its head drop barrel after hours.

Game and Fish has a video showing hunters how to collect a sample. Hunters should consult Page 7 of the 2026 antelope, deer and elk hunting regulations for rules on transporting harvested animals. Test results are available through a hunter’s Game and Fish account.

Game and Fish advises hunters to wear gloves when dressing carcasses, avoid handling brain and spinal tissue, bone out meat and avoid consuming animals that appear sick. Hunters should also avoid consuming the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen or lymph nodes, and wash their hands and equipment after handling a carcass. Game and Fish recommends that knives and other equipment be disinfected by soaking in a solution of 40% bleach and 60% water for five minutes.