AUTHORS: Aaron Hildreth, Missouri Department of Conservation; Jason Isabelle, Missouri Department of Conservation; Deb Hudman, Missouri Department of Conservation; Sherri Russell, Missouri Department of Conservation
ABSTRACT: Aggressive management of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is critical to slow the spread of the disease and protect Missouri’s white-tailed deer population. Post-season targeted removal, while controversial with some members of the public and expensive in terms of staff and financial resources, is effective at slowing the spread of the disease.
From January 16 through March 15, after the close of the deer hunting season, Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) staff work closely with cooperating landowners to remove additional deer within CWD Core Areas (Core). A Core includes the positive section/land grant along with a 2-section buffer.
Through the voluntary participation of landowners in Cores, 4,658 deer were removed across 33 Cores encompassing roughly 2,450 square miles in 2024. These efforts resulted in the removal of 51 CWD-positive deer and lowered deer density in these localized areas to slow the spread of CWD. Landowners removed nearly 1,600 (34%) of the total and MDC and USDA Wildlife Services staff removed the remainder. Starting in 2024, we established removal goals for each Core. The removal goal was met in 20 of the 33 Cores and at least 75% of the removal goal was met in 25 of the 33 Cores where targeted removal occurred in 2024.
A total of 572 free-ranging CWD positive deer have been detected in Missouri since 2012. Of those CWD positive deer, 213 (37%) have been removed during targeted removal while only accounting for 8% of the total deer sampled. MDC’s approach to aggressively manage CWD is intentional and is necessary to conserve Missouri’s deer and elk populations. This past year, over 80% of Missouri’s CWD positive counties had less than 1% of samples test positive. This low infection rate is a result of MDC working with landowners and partners to aggressively manage the disease through targeted removal.
