Macon County deer hunters won't face a mandatory chronic wasting disease check this fall, even though the county has logged more positive deer in the last 10 years than all but three Missouri counties.
The Missouri Department of Conservation will require sampling of deer killed Nov. 14 and 15, opening weekend of the November firearms portion, in 28 counties. In northeast Missouri, the list is Monroe, Pike, and Ralls counties, according to an MDC release Oct. 21. Monroe is the only county bordering Macon on it.
MDC has moved mandatory sampling to a four-year rotation, so every county in the state will get a turn once over the next four years. The release did not say which year Macon County comes up.
The early youth portion runs Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 24-25, for hunters 6 to 15 years old on opening day. The November portion runs Nov. 14-24. The late youth portion is Nov. 27-29, the antlerless portion is Dec. 5-13, and the alternative methods portion runs Dec. 26 through Jan. 5, 2027. Archery season runs through Nov. 13 and picks back up Nov. 25 through Jan. 15, 2027.
Macon County hunters checked 266 deer during last year's early youth weekend, Nov. 1-2, 2025, and 187 of them were antlered bucks, according to MDC harvest figures. The county finished the 2025-26 season with 4,525 deer, seventh in the state.
This year's count was at 376 as of Thursday morning, according to MDC's Telecheck numbers. That's 132 from the early antlerless weekend, which the Chronicle reported Oct. 13, and 244 from archery.
Any hunter can still get a deer tested for free. MDC lists two self-service freezers in Macon County:
- New Cambria Fire Department, 107 W. Jones Ave., New Cambria
- MFA Macon, 1802 N. Missouri St., Macon
The MDC Northeast Regional Office, 3500 S. Baltimore St., Kirksville, has a freezer and takes samples at the office.
To use a freezer, cut off the head, and the antlers on a buck, leaving about 6 inches of neck attached. Fill out the materials at the freezer with your name, contact information, Telecheck ID number, and where the deer was killed. MDC posts results at mdc.mo.gov/cwdresults.
MDC tested 11,223 Macon County deer in the 2016 through 2025 permit years and found 80 with CWD, according to the department's CWD dashboard. That's about 0.7%. Only Ste. Genevieve County, with 160, Franklin County, with 108, and Linn County, with 90, had more.
Here's how the bordering counties compare over the same 10 years:
- Linn: 90 positive out of 8,599 tested
- Adair: 24 out of 8,798
- Chariton: 17 out of 4,193
- Randolph: 8 out of 2,610
- Knox: 0 out of 3,245
- Monroe: 0 out of 1,946
- Shelby: 0 out of 1,580
Macon County's worst year was the 2024 permit year, with 22 positives from 1,305 samples. Testing fell to 219 deer in the 2025 permit year, with two positives. The dashboard does not give a reason for the drop. So far in 2026, eight Macon County deer have been sampled. Two came back clean, and six are pending.
Macon County's history with the disease goes back to Missouri's first cases. MDC tested nearly 33,000 deer statewide before it found a case. The disease turned up in confined deer facilities in Linn and Macon counties in 2010 and 2011, and in two free-ranging bucks in Macon County in 2012, according to the department's timeline.
MDC dropped its CWD Management Zone and the CWD portion of firearms season for 2026. Macon County hunters took 266 deer in that portion last year, Nov. 26-30.
MDC also ended targeted removals, where staff culled deer after the season in areas with CWD, and said it has no plans to bring them back. Hunter harvest is now the main tool. The department said targeted removal in Linn and Macon counties kept infection rates under 2% for 13 years.
MDC still bans placing feed and minerals for deer in counties with confirmed CWD cases and in those within 10 miles of a detection, according to the department. Macon County has had positives as recently as the 2025 permit year. The ban doesn't apply to feed within 100 feet of a home or occupied building, feed deer can't get to, normal farming, forestry, or food-plot practices, or MDC-authorized work.
CWD is always fatal to deer, and there is no cure or vaccine. It has not been shown to infect people, MDC said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends hunters test deer killed where CWD has been found and not eat meat from any deer that looks sick or tests positive.