Chronic Wasting stations open for deer season this year

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Hunters heading out for firearm deer season in counties where chronic wasting disease has been detected need to know that deer check stations will be open again this year.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources uses the stations to monitor CWD in Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Grundy, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, LaSalle, Livingston, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Will, and Winnebago counties.

The Illinois Firearm Deer Season opened Friday and runs through Sunday, then continues Dec. 2-5.

The stations were not open last year because of COVID-19 safety precautions.

Hunters may find a list of station locations on the IDNR website. This year there's a Carroll County station at Mississippi Palisades State Park. Hunters in Kane County must take deer to an adjacent county.

Hunters in CWD counties must report deer they take by 8 p.m. the same day at one of the stations. Those in all other counties must report their harvests the same day by 10 p.m. by phone or on IDNR's online check-in system.

Any hunter who harvests a deer may have it checked for CWD by taking it to a participating taxidermist or meat processor or leaving deer heads at designated drop-off sites, which are also listed online.