JACKSON — Mississippi is two weeks into the archery season and to date 388 deer have been harvested by hunters and reported to Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Game Check. These are not all of the deer who might have been harvested this season as Game Check is not required. 

Game Check is recommended as the data collected through the hunter harvest survey can help the state wildlife agency with management of the deer population. Hunters have submitted 376 Chronic Wasting Disease samples since June 2022. 

Chronic Wasting Disease is an always fatal, neurological disease caused by an infectious prion, a mis-folded protein. To date, there is no cure for the disease. 

CWD samples are tested at the Mississippi Veterinary Research and Diagnostics lab in Pearl. They detected two CWD suspect positives from a deer harvested in Benton County, which is already in the CWD Management Zone. 

Currently, seven other deer are suspect positives and 127 deer have been confirmed positive by the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Lab since Mississippi’s first detection in 2018. 

Hunters can find a list of Chronic Wasting Disease drop off locations and participating taxidermists by visiting the MDWFP’s Chronic Wasting Disease webpage.