USDA sharpshooters to hunt for CWD-infected deer

Sharpshooters with the U.S. Department of Agriculture will be out this weekend hunting deer north of Rochester to test for chronic wasting disease.

Officials with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources contracted with sharpshooters to help speed up the process of hunting 900 deer to test for the disease.

Only sharpshooters are out collecting samples now. A special permit for landowners to hunt for deer expired at the end of February.

So far, the DNR has received 645 deer and tested 603 of those. All samples have come back negative.

Officials are testing all the deer they harvest, even though they're not counting those less than 12-months-old toward the final survey tally.

The hunt will continue until the DNR gets all the adult deer samples it needs.