ATTENTION Cimarron County Hunters!
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) was notified by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) of a road-killed deer infected with chronic wasting disease (CWD) found 2.5 miles south of the Oklahoma-Texas border near Felt, Okla., in southwestern Cimarron County. With the proximity of this infected deer to Oklahoma's border, ODWC activated its CWD Response Plan. This includes the designation of a Selected Surveillance Area (SSA). See details below.
A Selective Surveillance Area (SSA) has been established and includes the area south of U.S. 412 from Boise City to the New Mexico state line and south of U.S. 287 from Boise City to the Texas state line (see map/pdf above)
This SSA now has additional regulations regarding any deer and elk carcass transported out of the SSA area.
Hunters who harvest deer or elk within the boundaries of the SSA must process those animals before leaving the SSA. The following items are the only exceptions:
- (A) Antlers detached from the skull plate, and antlers attached to a clean skull plate or cleaned skulls (all tissue removed)
- (B) Animal quarters containing no spinal materials, or meat with all parts of the spinal column removed
- (C) Cleaned teeth
- (D) Finished taxidermy products
- (E) Hides or tanned products.
These rules have been put in place to mitigate the spread of high-risk materials outside of the SSA.
Voluntary Testing Available
Hunters and landowners in the SSA are encouraged to volunteer their deer or elk heads to be tested. The Wildlife Department is providing a freezer at Moore's Food Pride, located at 201 Main St, Boise City for hunters to drop off deer heads for testing.
How To Submit Your CWD Sample
