Tests for fatal deer disease qualify for $1k, $500 drawings

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Deer hunters across Louisiana can qualify for a $1,000 drawing by having the head of a mature white-tailed buck tested for a slow, fatal illness called chronic wasting disease. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says taxidermists in the state can do the same for a chance in a $500 drawing — with permission from the hunter who shot the buck. Chronic wasting disease is always fatal in deer, but symptoms can take 16 months to four years to develop. It has not yet been found in Louisiana but has shown up in all three neighboring states — Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi. The department wants to test deer from around Louisiana.