These videos provide valuable information related to chronic wasting disease, instructions on how to collect lymph nodes for voluntary testing outside of CWD zones or use a self-service sampling station, and demonstrations of how to quarter or cape your deer for legal importation into Minnesota or meet carcass movement restrictions if you have not received a "not detected" test result.
How to collect a lymph node sample
Mail-in kits are available to hunters throughout Minnesota who want to test their deer for CWD – even in deer permit areas where CWD has not been detected. Hunters in any CWD zone who use mail-in kits to meet the mandatory testing requirement Nov. 4-5 must obtain their kits before hunting. Samples must be postmarked within 72 hours of harvest.
How to use a self-service sampling station
Learn what to expect and how to use a self-service sampling station to provide a sample for voluntary CWD testing.
How to quarter a deer
It is illegal to import a whole deer, elk or moose carcass into Minnesota, but you are allowed to transport whole quarters of deer if the head or spinal column is not attached. This video shows how you can properly prepare and quarter a carcass for legal importation to the state or legally remove meat from a deer harvested in a CWD management or control zone before a not-positive test result is received.
Anyone who hunts cervids outside Minnesota should review more information about deer carcass import and movement restrictions.
How to cape a deer
If you would like to mount your deer, but prefer to cape your deer yourself instead of using a taxidermist, this video demonstrates the caping process so that you are able to legally bring your harvest into Minnesota and minimize the risk of spreading CWD. For European mounts, all brain and spinal tissue must be removed prior to bringing the head back to Minnesota.