Steve Metzer took down a 2 1/2 year old buck early Monday morning on the last day of fall bow hunting season.
Now, Metzner is having the buck tested for chronic wasting disease, or CWD.
"As soon as I got it, the first thing I thought about is do I want to go home and start processing it and bring it back here and I thought this would be the easiest way," says Metzner. "That way once I start working on it, I can do that and then relax the rest of the day."
Chad Stewart of the Michigan DNR says that all deer killed in the core CWD area, which is in parts of Ingham, Clinton, and Eaton counties, are required to be brought to one of the five deer check locations in the area.
"Hunters are a huge tool in managing the deer numbers, getting infected areas off the landscape, and helping us detect where the disease might be located," explains Stewart.
Hunters say they're worried the tests are going to ruin the deer they've killed, but Cory Lucas, who works at a check station, says it's actually not too invasive a process.
"We'll send it into the lab, and then the lab will dissect it and get the lymph nodes," he says.
That requires only the heads, so hunters can bring the body back to their home, but it's important to have deer tested because you shouldn't eat a deer if it's infected with CWD. Which is part of why Metzer brings his to checking stations.
"I'll put this guy in quarters, and put him in the refridgerator and wait for the test results to come back and keep my fingers crossed that I'll have deer for the freezer!" laughs Metzer.
That testing process only takes a few days, so hunters will know quickly.
For more information about CWD and the core CWD area, click here.
