The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) thanks the thousands of deer hunters who participated in its mandatory sampling efforts in 43 counties this past weekend to test for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in harvested deer. Thanks to hunter participation, MDC collected tissue samples from more than 18,500 hunter-harvested deer on Nov. 16 and 17 for CWD testing.CWD sampling consists of MDC staff removing lymph nodes from the necks of harvested deer for testing. Tissue samples are sent to an independent lab for testing.“We greatly appreciate the many thousands of hunters who brought their deer to mandatory CWD sampling stations over the weekend,” said MDC Wildlife Health Program Supervisor Deb Hudman. “Hunters who provide samples from harvested deer play a critical role in MDC’s efforts to monitor the spread of CWD and identify new areas of infection.”The opening weekend of the November portion of firearms deer season is the most pop...