Game and Fish Tests More Than 5,300 Samples for CWD in 2025

April 1, 2026
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Wyoming's Game and Fish Department just dropped a bombshell from their Wildlife Health Lab: out of 5,370 samples tested in 2025, a whopping 842 came back positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). That's a stark uptick, with mule deer and white-tailed deer herds hit hardest—now infecting 35 of 37 mule deer herds and 24 of 34 elk herd units across the state. This isn't just lab stats; it's a frontline report from the trenches of America's vanishing wild game populations, where prions are rewriting the rules of the hunt faster than bureaucrats can print new regs. For the 2A community, this hits like a mag dump to the gut. CWD isn't some abstract eco-drama—it's the silent killer eroding the core of our hunting heritage, the very reason many of us grip our rifles and head to the backcountry. As prevalence climbs, expect tighter tag quotas, expanded testing mandates, and carcass transport bans that crimp out-of-state hunts, all under the guise of wildlife management. We've seen it before: diseases like this fuel anti-hunting zealots who push for more federal overreach, painting sportsmen as culprits while ignoring root causes like overgrazed public lands and predator imbalances. Hunters are already the best stewards—self-policing with voluntary tests and ethical harvests—but this data arms the case for proactive defenses: invest in resistant herd genetics, expand landowner tags to incentivize surveillance, and fight tooth-and-nail against any new restrictions that chip away at our Second Amendment-rooted traditions of self-reliance and provision. The silver lining? Armed citizens like us are the first responders in this prion apocalypse. Stock up on quality optics for those lymph-node inspections, support groups like the Mule Deer Foundation pushing science-based solutions, and keep the pressure on state agencies to prioritize hunter input over green agendas. Wyoming's wake-up call is nationwide—adapt, advocate, and hunt smarter, because a diseased herd tomorrow means fewer opportunities, higher tags, and more excuses for the gun-grabbers to circle. Stay vigilant, patriots; our rifles and rights depend on it.

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Wyoming’s Game and Fish Department just dropped a bombshell from their Wildlife Health Lab: out of 5,370 samples tested in 2025, a whopping 842 came back positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). That’s a stark uptick, with mule deer and white-tailed deer herds hit hardest—now infecting 35 of 37 mule deer herds and 24 of 34 elk herd units across the state. This isn’t just lab stats; it’s a frontline report from the trenches of America’s vanishing wild game populations, where prions are rewriting the rules of the hunt faster than bureaucrats can print new regs.

For the 2A community, this hits like a mag dump to the gut. CWD isn’t some abstract eco-drama—it’s the silent killer eroding the core of our hunting heritage, the very reason many of us grip our rifles and head to the backcountry. As prevalence climbs, expect tighter tag quotas, expanded testing mandates, and carcass transport bans that crimp out-of-state hunts, all under the guise of wildlife management. We’ve seen it before: diseases like this fuel anti-hunting zealots who push for more federal overreach, painting sportsmen as culprits while ignoring root causes like overgrazed public lands and predator imbalances. Hunters are already the best stewards—self-policing with voluntary tests and ethical harvests—but this data arms the case for proactive defenses: invest in resistant herd genetics, expand landowner tags to incentivize surveillance, and fight tooth-and-nail against any new restrictions that chip away at our Second Amendment-rooted traditions of self-reliance and provision.

The silver lining? Armed citizens like us are the first responders in this prion apocalypse. Stock up on quality optics for those lymph-node inspections, support groups like the Mule Deer Foundation pushing science-based solutions, and keep the pressure on state agencies to prioritize hunter input over green agendas. Wyoming’s wake-up call is nationwide—adapt, advocate, and hunt smarter, because a diseased herd tomorrow means fewer opportunities, higher tags, and more excuses for the gun-grabbers to circle. Stay vigilant, patriots; our rifles and rights depend on it.

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