WY Game and Fish Talk Mule Deer & CWD in the Bighorn Basin
Written by Andrew-Rossi on January 27, 2022
Wyoming Game and Fish continues to engage with Bighorn Basin communities in the ongoing effort to spread awareness of chronic wasting disease in the region.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department invites hunters, landowners, and other interested persons to attend one of two public meetings to continue a discussion about chronic wasting disease (C.W.D.) and potential management options for several hunt areas in the eastern portion of the Bighorn Basin.
Two meetings are scheduled in early February to continue a dialogue that started last year. The discussion will focus on three deer hunt areas in the eastern Bighorn Basin.
- 41, east of Worland to the Bighorn Mountains
- 47, from Greybull and Basin east to the Bighorn Mountains
- 164, south of Worland to the Hot Springs County line
C.W.D. has been confirmed in mule deer harvested from all three hunt areas.
Managers will also discuss deer hunt areas 35, 37, 39, and 40. C.W.D. has not been detected in these areas, but they are adjacent to the three areas of concern.
Courtesy WY Game and Fish
Meetings will be held at 6 p.m. on Feb. 9 in the Greybull Town Hall and on Feb. 10 at the Washakie Fairgrounds in Worland.
A similar meeting was held at Northwest College in Powell on Jan. 24 to discuss C.W.D. in Park County deer hunt areas. In addition, Wyoming Game and Fish will conduct a discussion on the same topic at the Cody Club Room this evening, Jan. 27, at 6 p.m.
Game and Fish held a series of meetings in August last year in the same towns regarding the same hunt areas. The sessions presented an overview C.W.D., the C.W.D. management plan, and survey public support for various management options.
“Local Game and Fish managers are interested in continuing conversations about potential management options to slow the spread and reduce the prevalence of the disease,” said Eric Maichak, regional wildlife disease biologist. “We encourage anyone who is concerned about C.W.D. to attend one of these meetings.”
During the meetings, wildlife managers will provide information on current C.W.D. prevalence and distribution in the Bighorn Basin and present results from recent public surveys.
“The goals of these meetings are to discuss potential management strategies in further detail and gauge public support for these strategies so managers can begin actively managing the disease,” Maichak said.
At this time, no changes to the seasons affecting these two deer herds are proposed. However, the department will use feedback from these meetings to develop 2022 season proposals.
