Share The Harvest Deer Require Inspection

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All deer being donated to Missouri’s “Share The Harvest” program must be tested for CWD to be accepted.

“They will be testing at the Clark County Fairgrounds on Saturday and Sunday,” said Eric Young, of Kahoka Meat Processing and Deli.  “We can also do the test here.”

To be tested, the deer must be presented with it’s head still attached.

“We cannot accept any without the heads” Young stressed.

If tested at the fairgrounds or other testing station, hunters will receive card and barcode to give to the meat locker to document that the deer has been tested.

“If you’re keeping the deer for yourself, we don’t need to do the testing,” Young added

More information from the Missouri Dept. of Conservation website.

SHARE THE HARVEST

Missouri’s Share the Harvest program helps deer hunters donate surplus venison to the needy. This program is administered by the Conservation Federation of Missouri and the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Donating is easy. Simply take your deer to an approved meat processor and let the processor know how much venison you wish to donate.

If you wish to donate a deer that was harvested in a county within the CWD Management Zone, the deer must be tested for CWD, and it can only be donated to an approved processor that is participating in the Share the Harvest CWD-Testing Program.

DONATING DEER FROM THE CWD MANAGEMENT ZONE

Deer taken within the CWD Management Zone must be donated to approved processors in one of those counties.

Note: If you harvest a deer within the CWD Management Zone, you don’t have to donate your deer in the county in which it was harvested. You may take the deer to an approved processor in another CWD Management Zone county. For example, a deer harvested in Macon County may be donated to an approved processor in Adair County, because both are within the CWD Management Zone.

Deer harvested from within the CWD Management Zone without proof of CWD sampling or adequate tissue for testing (i.e. the head has been removed) will not be eligible for Share the Harvest.

If your deer is sampled before you go to an approved processor for donation, you must present the CWD barcode number to the processor as proof of sampling.

If a sample has not been collected when you present your deer for donation, the processor will collect the sample or remove the head and submit it to the Conservation Department for sampling.

Processors who are not participating in the Share the Harvest CWD Testing Program cannot accept deer from any CWD Management Zone county.

If you harvested a deer outside of the CWD Management Zone, you may donate your deer to any Share the Harvest processor.

WHAT’S REQUIRED TO COLLECT A CWD SAMPLE?

CWD samples are collected from the neck of the deer and require a large incision through the cape.

The head may be removed from the deer prior to sampling if you leave approximately 4–6 inches of the neck attached to the head and present the head for sampling.

It is OK to remove the cape from a deer before presenting the head for CWD sampling.