Mandatory CWD testing this weekend for deer in Lauderdale, Colbert counties

MONTGOMERY — This weekend, all deer harvested in Lauderdale and Colbert counties must be tested for Chronic Wasting Disease. according to a news release from the Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources.

Under Alabama’s CWD Management Zone Regulation, all deer harvested in the High-Risk Zone and the Buffer Zone of the state’s CWD Management Zone must be submitted for testing during specific weekends of the 2022-2023 white-tailed deer season. the state agency said.

The mandatory sampling weekends in the High-Risk Zone are Nov. 19-20 and Dec. 3-4. The mandatory sampling weekends in the Buffer Zone are Nov. 19-20 and Jan. 7-8. The mandatory CWD sampling weekends apply to all of Lauderdale and Colbert counties in northwest Alabama.

For sampling locations within the management zone, visit www.outdooralabama.com/cwd/cwd-zone-map.

Mandatory weekends for the High-Risk Zone and Buffer Zone correspond with peaks in Alabama’s deer harvest – the season’s opening weekend and the rut in northwest Alabama. Outside of those weekends, hunters are encouraged to drop off samples for testing at the self-service freezers in the appropriate management zone.

However, all deer harvested by hunters on public land in the management zones are required to be sampled throughout the season. Those public lands include the Freedom Hills WMA, Lauderdale WMA, Seven-Mile Island WMA and Riverton Community Hunting Area.

Carcass restrictions are also in place under the CWD regulation that prohibit the transport of deer carcasses and deer parts in the zone. Deer harvested within the High-Risk Zone must remain and be disposed of within the High-Risk Zone. Deer harvested within the Buffer Zone must remain and be disposed of within the management zone.

Deboned meat, cleaned skull plates and raw hides with no visible brain or spinal cord tissue may be taken outside of these zones. Transporting deer carcasses out of the management zone can potentially spread CWD to currently unaffected areas.

Hunting license and Game Check requirements apply to all white-tailed deer harvests statewide.

CWD is a contagious neurological disease of white-tailed deer and other deer species. It is always fatal for white-tailed deer. The first case of CWD in Alabama’s deer herd was detected in Lauderdale County last January.

The sampling stations are:

• Lauderdale WMA (9 a.m. – 7 p.m.) – High Risk Zone
  7001 County Road  14
  Waterloo 
• Florence Frozen Meats (9 a.m. – 7 p.m.) – HRZ
  1050 S. Court St.
  Florence 
• Cloverdale VFW (9 a.m. – 7 p.m.) – HRZ
  11370 Highway 157
  Florence
• Freedom Hills WMA (9 a.m. – 7 p.m.) – Buffer Zone
  4200 White Pike
  Cherokee 
• Cherokee VFW (9 a.m. – 7 p.m.) – BZ
  1455 6th St.
  Cherokee 
• North Alabama Deer Shack Processor (9 a.m. – 7 p.m.) – BZ
  407 Tracey Ln
  Rogersville 
• Highway 247 VFW (9 a.m. – 7 p.m.) – BZ
  4655 Highway 247
  Tuscumbia 

For more information about CWD in Alabama, visit www.outdooralabama.com/cwd-info.