Frequently Asked Questions with CWD Sampling
Sampling with Kate's Bait
We offer a 24 hour self serve kiosk outside our store door at Kate's Bait & Sporting Goods- 3916 State Road 23, Dodgeville WI 53533. For this service you bring your deer head, fill out the data sheet and leave it in the CWD Drop Box. Kate's Bait then samples the deer as we are able and preps for the weekly DNR pick up. Deer heads should be cut about 1-2 inches below the jaw line for us to collect the correct gland for sampling. Should you want your head back for a euro mount, you may specify on your data sheet and we will call you when the sample is collected. If you are shoulder mounting your deer, you should see your taxidermist first and they will give you the caped out skull/neck for us to extract the glands from. You may also stop in for an In-Person Lymph Node Sample September 16th-November 17th- Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays 8-4 & Saturdays between 8-2:30. We do not offer Lymph Node Sampling on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Sundays. Nine Day Gun Season hours will be posted when it gets closer. We will not be doing Lymph Node Sampling after the Nine Day. We will only offer Head Drop Offs.
How Does Kate's Bait Sample for CWD
The Lymph Nodes that we extract are the Retropharyngeal Lymph Nodes located in the neck of the deer near the jaw line. Please do not shoot the deer in the head or upper neck if you plan on having the deer tested. Also, if you slit the throat of the deer to finish off a kill, please be sure to do so well below the jawline. Disrupting the glands makes testing impossible. These glands are the only glands we are testing.  Do not bring in brains, legs, hooves or other parts of the deer for sampling. We prep the samples for the lab and the DNR picks up the samples weekly.
What is CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease)
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal, infectious nervous system disease of deer, moose, elk and reindeer/caribou. It belongs to the family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases. CWD occurs only in members of the cervid or deer family -- both wild and captive. The Wisconsin DNR began monitoring the state's wild white-tailed deer population for CWD in 1999. The first positives were found in 2002.
CWD Sampling and the 9 Day Deer Hunt
Kate's Bait now offers a convenient 24 hour CWD Head Kiosk.
We will offer In-Person Lymph Node Extractions ONLY during the listed times below:
Saturday (Opening Day) CLOSED- NO Lymph Node Extraction time available.
Sunday Nov.19: 8AM-NOON
Monday Nov. 20: 8AM-2PM
Tuesday Nov. 21: 8AM-2PM
Wednesday Nov. 22: CLOSED- NO Lymph Node Extraction time available.
Thursday (Thanksgiving) CLOSED- NO Lymph Node Extraction time available.
Friday Nov. 24: 8AM-2PM
Saturday Nov. 25: 8AM-2PM
Sunday Nov. 26: 8AM-2PM
Monday Nov. 27: 8AM-2PM
​
*You may use the Kiosk and still ask to get your head back too. Please make note in the comment section and Katie will contact you when ready for pick up. Katie samples each deer head in the kiosk before DNR pick up. ​
​
Result Turn Around Time
Once the sample is sent into the DNR, Kate's Bait & Sporting Goods service is complete. We will not be able to give you status of your results. You can visit the DNR Website and use their convenient "Find Your Test Results" Tab to help monitor the sampling process.