Hunters have another opportunity this winter to hunt deer, due to the discovery of chronic wasting disease in a wild deer in northern Houston County in Minnesota.

The special hunt is open from Friday, Jan. 25, to Sunday, Jan. 27, and Feb. 1 to Feb. 3, in Deer Permit Area 346 in parts of Winona and Houston counties.

The hunt is open to both residents and nonresidents.

Hunters must present all deer they harvest, including fawns, for CWD sampling at one of five Minnesota Department of Natural Resources-staffed stations:

• Houston. BP Gas Station, 801 Highway 16

• Rushford. Pam’s Corner Convenience, 107 Highway 16

• Witoka. Witoka Tavern, 27999 County Road 9

• Winona. Mills Fleet Farm, 920 E. Highway 61

• La Crescent. Pump 4 Less (Mannings) Gas Station, 301 Kistler Drive

Rules
DNR officials will be available at the registration locations between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Fridays through Sundays and until noon on Mondays. All deer must be presented the same day of harvest, or no later than 10 a.m. Monday morning.

Hunters can move carcasses out of the permit area once they have brought the deer to a station so that DNR staff can take a sample. Although there are no carcass restrictions, hunters are asked to either leave the carcass in a place where it can be recovered or dispose of the remains in household trash.

Among other rules, center-fire rifles are not allowed, and blaze orange is required.

Private land makes up most of the area within the hunt area, and hunters must have landowner permission to hunt that land.

Public lands, including the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, will be open during the regular season are open during the special hunts. Interactive maps providing details about public lands are available on the DNR website.

Additional details about the hunt, including hunt rules and considerations, station locations for CWD sampling, a map of the hunt area, and information about the DNR’s efforts to keep Minnesota wild deer healthy can be found on the DNR website, mndnr.gov/cwd.

Source: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.