Ogden hunters required to test deer for chronic wasting disease in 2026
Oct 23, 2025, 3:39 PM
DWR biologists are recommending a slight increase in the number of general season buck deer permits available for hunts in Utah this fall.
SALT LAKE CITY — Hunters in Ogden will be required to submit samples of deer harvested during the general-season any-legal-weapon buck deer hunt to test for chronic wasting disease, starting in 2026.
According to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, deer infected with the disease have misfolded proteins called prions accumulating within the deer’s brain and spinal cord.
The misfolded proteins are the same prions that can cause “mad cow disease” in cows and scrapie in sheep.
Deer in early stages of infection appear healthy, but the DWR warned the infected deer will eventually develop brain lesions, become emaciated and appear listless with droopy ears. They may also salivate excessively and will eventually die.
In the winter, deer visit lower elevation areas where food is a little easier to find. (Utah Division of Wildlife Resources)
“Previously, it was only required for hunters to submit a sample from deer harvested in the limited-entry any-legal-weapon buck deer hunts in the La Sal, Castle Valley and the La Sal, Moab Valley areas,” DWR State Wildlife Veterinarian Ginger Stout said. “However, we are seeing a few other hotspot areas for the disease in our deer and elk populations, so we will be implementing mandatory CWD testing for the Ogden unit as well. These additional samples will help us better track the prevalence of this disease and its spread in Utah.”
Infection spreads among the deer population via prions shed in urine, feces and saliva, even when deer are not showing symptoms, DWR said.
Transmission to deer and other animals can come from direct contact with an infected deer, contact with animal waste products or the dead body contaminating the soil.
The Center for Disease Control said no human has ever been reported with CWD, but warns that prions are extremely resilient in the environment and can stay infectious for many years, posing an ongoing risk to deer populations.
The mandatory test for the Ogden unit will run during the general-season any-legal-weapon buck deer hunt from Oct. 17 to 25, 2026. Any hunter who harvests an animal is required to submit lymph nodes from the deer for disease testing.
“The Ogden unit was selected because it has the most recent detection of CWD in the state, with the closest positive on the East Canyon unit,” Stout said. “That detection was in an elk, with no other deer detections nearby, which is abnormal for the typical progression of CWD. We would like to learn more about how CWD is behaving in this unit and determine an accurate prevalence of the disease.”
Following the mandatory testing in 2026, the DWR plans to open up rotating monitoring checkpoints to screen for chronic wasting disease for the next five years. Hunters who voluntarily travel to the checkpoints will receive a free test for the disease, assuming the deer they harvested came from one of the units being sampled that year.
