Another Grand Rapids deer tests positive for chronic wasting disease

A whitetail buck in the late stages of chronic wasting disease. A third CWD-positive deer has been confirmed in the Grand Rapids area, which has been designated a CWD management zone.

By John Myers

October 12, 2023 at 7:41 AM

GRAND RAPIDS 鈥� A deer harvested by an archer during the ongoing city deer hunt has been confirmed as the third Grand Rapids-area wild deer to test positive for chronic wasting disease in the past two years.

The yearling female deer was harvested last month west of the Grand Rapids airport.

Two other wild deer tested positive for CWD in the same area in 2022, leading the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to declare Deer Management Area 679 in and around Grand Rapids as a CWD management zone.

That means feeding deer is illegal and all adult deer harvested there need to be tested for CWD, an always fatal neurological disease. The DNR continues to test road-killed deer in the area as well.

For more information on rules for hunting, carcass transportation, testing and more in CWD management zones, go to .