Yellowstone county MT now under CWD restrictions - seeking advice

[daltrix99]

Hey folks. Yellowstone county has been one of my deer spots for years, so I am making sure I am fully prepared to shoot a deer in a CWD zone this year - never have before.

My main request is, can anyone recommend a taxidermist in Yellowstone county who will hang onto a head while the meat is tested?

Here is the official criteria of what can be removed from the county before testing is done:

''Animal parts that CAN be removed from a CWD Management Zone include:

• Meat cut and wrapped or separated from the bone
• Hides with no heads attached
• Quarters or parts with no spine or head attached
• Skull plates, antlers, or skulls with no tissue''

Does anyone know how strict the skull criteria is? I am going to assume zero tolerance, i.e. the skull must be fully cleaned such as for a euro mount.

Thanks!

 

[Muley_Stalker]

That's the way it sounds.

 

[wytex]

I would call and ask specifically about the skull with no tissue.
Perhaps Hunting Wife might know, she may be hunting or field work though.

 

[406LIFE]

A finished euro would be best, but if you boiled it up in the field and cleaned it that would work. There is a guy in Columbus I've used. The key is that you remove the brain and spinal cord within the CWD zone. You definitely don't want to be the first guy to carry a head with matter on it still out of the zone.

 

[3855WIN]

No other way to interpret that than the skull must be clean or sawed off to transport. This falls under the demand to “do something”, but I doubt it’s making any difference. CWD is scattered all over the country.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Skulls must have brain, eyeballs, and all soft tissue removed. Basically a boiled and scraped skull is good enough. The whole point is to avoid taking a skull from a CWD area with tissue still on it that will be discarded elsewhere.

 

[daltrix99]

Skulls must have brain, eyeballs, and all soft tissue removed. Basically a boiled and scraped skull is good enough. The whole point is to avoid taking a skull from a CWD area with tissue still on it that will be discarded elsewhere.

Thank you! If I kill a deer in the zone I will just leave it with a Billings taxidermist first thorough skull cleaning.

 

[LCH]

I've decided to just skull cap stuff now. Either shoulder mount or hang the rack in the garage.

I do still Euro skulls from stuff I kill locally.