Each year, MDC tests a sample of the state’s deer population for CWD. CWD testing has two main goals: detect the disease as early as possible in new locations and monitor changes in disease occurrence over time.
Taxidermists throughout the state partner with MDC and collect CWD samples from hunter-harvested deer. Focusing testing on adult males increases the likelihood of finding CWD in new areas.
Within designated CWD Management Zone counties (counties within 10 miles of CWD detections), a greater number of samples are collected, due mostly to mandatory sampling on opening weekend of fall firearms season.
This important effort allows MDC scientists to better understand where the disease is on the landscape so that management actions can be applied (especially post-season targeted removal), learn about how the disease is spreading, and keep the public informed.
2025-26 Sampling Results to Date
The table below shows MDC sampling efforts and test results so far for the current sampling season (July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026). These numbers are subject to frequent change.