Hunters to collect 200 Allamakee County deer samples

ALLAMAKEE COUNTY - Local landowners and hunters are collecting about 200 deer samples in an area of Allamakee County where chronic wasting disease has been detected in Iowa's wild deer herd.

The effort will be limited to 30 square miles near Harpers Ferry where a wild deer tested positive for the disease during the 2013 hunting season and three more were found this past fall from hunter-harvested deer.

The samples will be collected under a section of Iowa law that authorizes the Department of Natural Resources to issue special collection permits for scientific purposes, according to Dale Garner, chief of the DNR Wildlife Bureau.

A sample of 200 animals would provide the statistical validity needed to determine the prevalence of CWD in the area, Garner said.

At public meetings Tuesday in Harpers Ferry and Waukon, a majority of the 200 attendees supported the proactive approach of collecting additional samples.

The collection effort started Saturday and will end once 200 samples have been collected or by March 15.

Garner said the additional data will be important in determining he best course of action for slowing the spread of the always fatal disease.

During the past hunting season, the DNR tested 311 deer harvested by hunters in a five mile radius around Harpers Ferry with the three deer testing positive for CWD. More than 57,000 deer have been sampled statewide since 2002.

'Once again, we are relying on assistance from the local landowners and hunters to help us gather the data we need to make the best decisions for the future,” said Garner.