The deer population in the state has risen, prompting the Missouri Department of Conservation to add two more hunting seasons next fall. Agent Lexis Wilson says it's not only to thin the herd, but to keep chronic wasting disease (CWD) in check.
"Where there's more deer, there's more opportunity for that disease to spread," Wilson said. "Our efforts thus far have done a good job of helping keep those numbers down — we're not like some states that have 40 or more percent prevalence in certain areas of the state — we're keeping it down in single digits percentage."
Wilson says the department is adding two new hunting portions in October of next year to hopefully offset the lack of hunters and fight off the spread of CWD. The deadly infection first showed up in 2010 in the U.S. and continues to be tested for when hunters make a kill.
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