Hunters can track CWD online But it will take time for the DNR to process test results and post them By Michelle Kennedy News-Chronicle Thousands of deer have been killed and donated for chronic wasting disease testing, but there hasn't been a way for hunters to find out if the deer they shot tested positive or not. Beginning Friday, a new section of the Department of Natural Resources' Web site will enable hunters and interested citizens to check the impact CWD is making in the state of Wisconsin. The testing report being published by the DNR will contain the number of samples, how many were analyzed and when. The results will be divided by county and by deer-management unit. A statewide summary report including all results beginning in 1999, when CWD surveillance began, will also be included. Hunters who provided the DNR with samples will be able to use the collection bar code they were given at the collection station, their customer number or their permit number to look up the test results on the specific deer they contributed. Hunters without computers can call the DNR for assistance. The new Web page will be updated every Friday to include any new results. "We urge hunters to be patient as eventually all hunters will find their deer in the system," said Tom Hauge, director of the DNR Bureau of Wildlife Management. "Rest assured that we will be working as hard as time and staffing allow us at the job of testing all these deer. "The process of collecting, recording, transporting, sampling and testing 50,000 deer is enormous, and hunters can expect some delays from the time they visit the collection site until their deer appears in the system." Any hunter who submits a sample will be notified by mail with the results of the testing, and if a deer had CWD, the hunter will be notified by phone. "It's really important to this CWD surveillance effort that we get close to our desired sample size of 500 deer per county," said DNR wildlife veterinarian Julie Langenberg. "Along with the total number it's also important that the samples we get are spread out over the county for the same reasons." DNR Secretary Darrell Bazzell said it is critical for hunters to take part in this deer research effort that hopes to eventually tell wildlife managers and hunters exactly where CWD is lurking in Wisconsin. "Many times over the past 100 years and more, hunters have risen to conservation challenges and I'm confident they can do it again," Bazzell said.