JOPLIN, Mo. — The end of summer is exactly one month away, and deer hunting season is right around the corner.

And that’s something many area hunters look forward to. But depending upon where you hunt, the first weekend of deer season could bring with it additional work: testing for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). CWD is fatal for deer, and this fall, hunters in several area counties, including Jasper, will have to get the animals they kill tested.

“During the opening week of deer season, November 11th and 12th, they will have to bring their deer to a sample collection site, which the information is in the deer regs book in Jasper County there a sample will be pulled,” said Francis Skalicky, Media Specialist, Mo. Department of Conservation.

Skalicky added Jasper County is in the Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone because a deer that tested positive last year was found in southern Barton County, within a ten-mile radius of Jasper County.

In addition to Jasper and Barton, Vernon, Cedar, and Barry counties are also in the zone. Hunters there will also have to get their deer tested that opening weekend.