The special chronic wasting disease zone for a large area around around Pine Island will again allow deer hunters to shoot as many antlerless deer as they want in the zone — but no matter what, hunters can only shoot one legal buck.
All deer shot in the zone must be brought to one of registration stations that will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. throughout the season that goes from Saturday through Nov. 25; hunters must bring the animal in person. No one can remove a carcass from the zone until a negative test is reported.
Phone and Internet registration options are not allowed for deer shot in the zone. Hunters are encouraged to promptly register their deer; removing the tissue sample takes only a few minutes and requires the extraction of one pair of lymph nodes from the head.
Samples will be submitted daily, and results will be reported back within three business days. Because of sample volume, the only exception may be the Monday following opening weekend where results could take four business days.
The zone was established after one doe shot by a bow hunter in 2010 was found to have the disease that is fatal to deer. The DNR wants to cull the herd as much as possible to lower chances of other deer getting CWD and to give it more samples.
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Registration stations in the CWD zone include:
• Neptune Bar and Grill, 468 Highway 60, Zumbro Falls.
• Greenway Coop, Pine Island.
• Archery Headquarters, 3440 Northern Valley Place, Rochester.
• Gander Mountain, 3470 55th St N.W., Rochester.
• Kasson Hardware Hank, 11 4th St. S.E., Kasson.
