Food shelf, landowners to take CWD-tested venison

Venison from deer culled in the Aitkin area for testing for chronic wasting disease will be distributed to landowners and a food shelf after testing is completed.

Last week the DNR began killing deer in a nine-square-mile area around a farm where a captive elk tested positive for the disease. As of Friday morning 66 deer had been taken; 61 by shooters and five by car kill and bowhunter kill.

"We're right on pace with where we want to be," said Dave Schad, DNR incident manager in Aitkin. "It slowed down some this week but we knew that would be the case."

Shooters went out this morning for the final shoot of the week. The culling operation ceases on weekends.

The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association and Farmers and Hunters to Feed the Hungry have arranged a cooperative agreement with the Second Harvest Food Shelf to distribute up to 10,000 pounds of the venison if the deer do not test positive for the disease. Two area meat processors have agreed to process the venison and keep it until test results are in.

Landowners who have allowed DNR sharpshooters on their property are also eligible for venison, Schad said.

"Knowing that the venison will be eaten makes this difficult task a little easier," Schad said. "We're pleased that the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association and Farmer and Hunters to Feed the Hungry were able to make these arrangements."

Tests from brain-stem samples taken last week have been shipped to a USDA-certified laboratory in Ames, Iowa, and results are expected in several weeks.

The DNR will rely on archery and firearms hunters to provide more deer for sampling. Plans call for testing 600 hunter-harvested deer in Permit Area 154, which encompasses the Aitkin area.

In addition, 360 samples will be collected from adjacent Permit Area 247 during the November deer hunting season. The DNR plans to sample more than 5,000 deer from 15 permit areas statewide during the hunting season.