Hunting deer in Utah? Help herds by visiting a DWR check station to get deer tested for chronic wasting disease

Salt Lake City — Hunters are again being asked to bring their harvested deer to various stations across Utah during this fall's hunts, so Utah Division of Wildlife Resources biologists can test the animals for chronic wasting disease in an effort to better track the disease in the state.

Chronic wasting disease in Utah

Chronic wasting disease is a transmissible disease that affects the nervous systems of deer, elk and moose. Chronic wasting disease is caused by a misfolded protein, called a prion, that accumulates in the animal's brain and spinal cord. The same type of misfolded protein causes "mad cow disease" in cows and scrapie in sheep.

Infected animals develop brain lesions, become emaciated, appear listless and have droopy ears. They may also salivate excessively and will eventually die. Deer in the early stages of chronic wasting disease appear healthy — including animals that may be harvested by hunters — so the only way to know if your deer is infected is to get it tested.

Infected animals may shed prions in their urine, feces and saliva, even when they aren't showing symptoms. Transmission may occur directly through contact with an infected animal or indirectly through environmental contamination. (A dead carcass can contaminate the soil.) Prions are extremely resilient in the environment and can stay infectious for many years.

"We take the presence of CWD in Utah seriously and will continue to do extensive monitoring to stay on top of the disease and its prevalence in the state," DWR State Wildlife Veterinarian Ginger Stout said. "Surveys have shown that 78% of hunters have never had their deer tested for CWD. We are strongly encouraging hunters to stop at our check stations if they harvest a deer within the sampling hunting units this year. The data collected through this is crucial in helping us stay on top of CWD monitoring in Utah in order to maintain healthy deer populations into the future."

While the Centers for Disease Control says the risk of transmission from animals to humans is considered extremely low, they recommend not consuming meat from animals infected with CWD.

As of Feb. 23, 2026, a total of 435 mule deer and 11 elk have tested positive for CWD in Utah. The disease is found throughout Utah — primarily in the northeastern and southeastern parts of the state. Visit the DWR website to see which hunting units have had positive CWD cases.

Important CWD sampling information

The DWR sets up monitoring checkpoints — rotating between various hunting units across the state on a five-year schedule — in order to sample Utah's deer populations for CWD.

Hunters who go to the check stations will receive a free CWD test if they harvested a deer on one of the units being sampled this year. Here are the hunting units the DWR is requesting samples from this year:

Beaver, East
Beaver, West
Book Cliffs
Diamond Mtn
East Canyon
Fillmore
Kamas
Manti
Morgan-South Rich
Nebo
Ogden
Oquirrh/Tintic
Panguitch Lake
Paunsaugunt
San Juan, Abajo Mtns
San Juan, Elk Ridge
Vernal/Bonanza
Zion

"At the CWD check stations, hunters will need to leave about 6 inches of the animal's neck and windpipe attached below the jaw, so the lymph nodes can be removed for sampling," Stout said. "DWR employees will also ask the hunter a few questions, including the location where the animal was harvested. The entire process will only take a few minutes."

Hunts with mandatory sampling requirements

New this year, hunters in the Ogden unit who have general-season any-legal-weapon buck deer permits are required to submit a CWD sample from any deer they harvest.

Hunters are also required to submit a sample from deer harvested during the limited-entry any-legal-weapon buck deer hunts in the La Sal, Castle Valley and the La Sal, Moab Valley areas.

Hunters who have permits for the three mandatory sampling areas will receive a test kit in the mail, so they can take a lymph node sample themselves. Anyone who wants a DWR biologist to take the sample can schedule an appointment with the nearest DWR office.

Anyone who harvests an animal in a nontarget sampling unit, but who still wishes to have their deer or elk tested for CWD, may do so by providing the head of the animal to the Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Lab in Logan or Spanish Fork and paying a $30 testing fee. Deer and elk must be older than one year of age to be eligible for testing.

Check station details

Here are where the CWD monitoring check stations will be located this year:

Southeastern Utah

The DWR will provide free CWD tests for deer harvested from the Manti; San Juan, Abajo Mtns; and San Juan, Elk Ridge units at the following locations:

In Spanish Fork Canyon (near the Covered Bridge community), from Oct. 18-19 and Oct. 24-25, from roughly 10 a.m. to dark each day.
The Monticello Utah Welcome Center at 216 S. Main St., from Oct. 18-19 and Oct. 24-25, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.
Monson's Quality Meat Processing at 885 E. Pinion Ridge Road in Blanding, from Oct. 18-19 and Oct. 24-25, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.
The DWR Price office (by appointment only) at 319 N. Carbonville Road, Suite A. Call 435-613-3700 to schedule an appointment.

DWR employees also visit local meat lockers in the area and can collect CWD samples from deer harvested on the Manti and San Juan units.

Southern Utah

The DWR will provide free CWD tests for deer harvested from the Beaver (East and West), Fillmore, Panguitch Lake, Paunsaugunt and Zion units at the following locations:

The DWR Cedar City office (by appointment only) at 1470 N. Airport Road. Call 435-865-6100 to schedule an appointment.
Schedule an appointment with a DWR biologist for the Beaver, Fillmore, Panguitch Lake, Paunsaugunt and Zion units. (An email with biologists' contact information will be sent to hunters with permits in those units.)

Hunters can also call the DWR Cedar City office at 435-865-6100 for a list of taxidermists and meat processors in the area that will also take CWD samples, along with processing the meat or doing taxidermy work.

Northern Utah

The DWR will provide free CWD tests for deer harvested from the Ogden, Morgan-South Rich, East Canyon and Kamas units at the following locations:

Highway 101, at the mouth of Blacksmith Fork Canyon in Hyrum, on Oct. 17-18, from roughly 9 a.m. to dusk each day.
Highway 39 at the mouth of Ogden Canyon in Ogden on Oct. 17-18, from roughly 9 a.m. to dusk each day.
Westbound I-84 at the Mountain Green Rest Area on Oct. 17-18, from roughly 9 a.m. to dusk each day.
The DWR Ogden office (by appointment only) at 515 E. 5300 South, from Oct. 19-23 and on Oct. 26. Call 801-476-2740 to make an appointment.

There will also be drop-off locations in northern Utah for hunters to leave samples they have taken themselves from Oct. 17-26. Those locations can be found on the DWR website.

Northeastern Utah

The DWR will provide free CWD tests for deer harvested from the Book Cliffs, Vernal/Bonanza and Diamond Mountain units at the following locations:

The DWR Vernal office (by appointment only) at 318 N. Vernal Ave. from Oct. 19-23, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 435-781-9453 to schedule an appointment.
Just north of Vernal, on U.S. Highway 191 at the Steinaker Reservoir rest stop (near mile marker 358), on Oct. 17-18, from 9 a.m. to dark each day.
For hunters in the Book Cliffs: At the intersection of Highway 88 and 5500 South in Randlett on Oct. 18-19, from 9 a.m. to dark each day.

Hunters can also call the DWR Vernal office at 435-781-9453 for a list of taxidermists and meat processors in the area that will also take CWD samples, along with processing the meat or doing taxidermy work.

Central Utah

The DWR will provide free CWD tests for deer harvested from the Manti, Nebo and Oquirrh/Tintic units at the following locations:

In Spanish Fork Canyon (near the Covered Bridge community) and Santaquin (exit 242 toward Summit Ridge Parkway, east side of I-15), from Oct. 17-19, from roughly 9 a.m. to dark each day.
The DWR Springville office (by appointment only) at 1115 N. Main St., from Oct. 20-23. Call 801-491-5678 to schedule an appointment.
The DWR Salt Lake Office (by appointment only) at 1594 W. North Temple, from Oct. 20-23. Call 385-835-2729 to schedule an appointment.

Hunters can also call the DWR Springville office at 801-491-5678 for a list of taxidermists and meat processors in the area that will also take CWD samples, along with processing the meat or doing taxidermy work.

What to know about carcass disposal

In addition to providing samples for testing, it is critical for hunters to dispose of gut piles and carcasses properly to help slow the spread of CWD — especially when harvesting deer in CWD-positive areas. Here are a few important tips for safe carcass disposal:

If you're in the field, leave the spinal cord and other waste at the harvest location.
If you're processing away from the harvest location, bag leftover remains and place them in a landfill or trash. Do not dump carcasses outdoors away from where the animal was harvested.

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