Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a deadly neurological disease that affects deer and elk. This year, to try to learn more about the disease, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is requiring deer hunters in areas 96 and 97 in Sweetwater County to submit their deer for CWD testing. This is the first time testing is being required in any area. Wyoming Public Radio's Ivy Engel sat down with Lander Region Wildlife Management Coordinator Daryl Lutz to learn more.
In many hunt areas in the Lander Region, the proposals to cut the quota are due to impacts from the harsh winter conditions in 2018-19 and 2019-20 which was followed by persistent drought conditions in the Region through early March 2021.
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âAcross the Lander Region, from Rawlins to Shoshoni, Riverton and Lander, pronghorn numbers have declined, most herds are below objective and doe/fawn ratios are low – some as low as they have ever been,” said Daryl Lutz, Lander Region wildlife coordinator.
âMost of the cuts in license quotas are doe/fawn licenses. Throughout most of the Region, we were able to maintain the ‘any’ antelope licenses because observed buck/doe ratios were appropriate to do so. Assuming we see good fawn production and survival over the next couple of years, we expect antelope numbers to stabilize and increase to the point where we can reinstitute or raise doe/fawn license quotas again.â