BARABOO — The Devil's Lake State Park area is a frontier for the spread of chronic wasting disease, and state deer management officials are appealing to hunters to allow testing of the animals they shoot locally as part of the effort to track and control the illness.

So far, 11 deer with CWD have been found either in the park, or in a nearby area along the Sauk County-Columbia County line, north of Durward's Glen, said Don Bates, a biologist with the Department of Natural Resources.

"(The prevalence) is as high as it is in some of the original areas where we found it over by Mount Horeb," Bates said.

DNR officials estimate 4 percent to 8 percent of deer in the Devil's Lake area are afflicted with the brain disease of deer and related animals such as elk, he said. CWD has not been found in areas further south of Baraboo, such as within the Badger Army Ammunition Plant grounds, so it is a bit of a mystery why the disease has a relatively strong presence here.

"We need to get a better handle on what's going on there by taking more samples," Bates said.

DNR officials are watching extra close in an area south and east of Baraboo called the Baraboo Range CWD Monitoring Area. Its boundary is Highway 12 south of Baraboo to Spear Road, then east along Highway 78 to Highway 90/94, and then back west along Highway 33 to Baraboo.

Bow hunting season began Sept. 13 and continues through Jan. 4, Bates said. A youth hunt was held Saturday and Sunday, followed by an early antlerless-only gun deer season Oct. 16 to 19.

The traditional November gun deer season is Nov. 22 to 30 followed by a muzzle loading gun season Dec. 1 to 10.

New this year are a Dec. 11 to 14 antlerless-only hunting season and a holiday gun-deer season Dec. 24 to Jan. 4, Bates said. Unlimited Earn-A-Buck regulations apply in all hunting seasons, except during the two antlerless deer seasons.

During the October early hunting and the November gun deer season, DNR personnel will collect deer samples at the Viking Express Market in Baraboo, Lakeside Country Store near Merrimac and Blystones Repair near Portage, he said. The DNR will be at these sites Oct. 18 and 19 and Nov. 22 and 23, Bates said.

From now through the end of deer hunting Jan. 4, hunters can submit their deer for testing at the Gander Mountain store in Baraboo, he said.

Bates said he knows some hunters are skeptical about the state's efforts to track and control CWD. However, he argues steps must be taken to limit its spread in Wisconsin.

"We're charged with managing the health of the deer herd," he said.

"CWD is an always-fatal disease that has no cure right now ... and there is no natural immunity. Every deer that gets CWD will die of it.

"If they live outside of a CWD zone, hunters are almost unanimous they don't want it to spread to the rest of the state," Bates said.

Deer hunters can get more information about hunting season, rules and CWD issues by calling the DNR information line at (888) 936-7463, or by going to the DNR Web site at www.dnr.state.wi.us.

CWD testing locations

* Gander Mountain Baraboo - seven days a week now through Jan. 4.

* Viking Express Market Baraboo - Oct. 18 and 19 and Nov. 22 and 23

* Lakeside Country Store Merrimac - Oct. 18 and 19 and Nov. 22 and 23Blystones Repair Portage - Oct. 18 and 19 and Nov. 22 and 23

CWD Information

• Department of Natural Resources Web site: htp://www.dnr.state.wi.us.

• DNR chronic wasting disease page: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/wildlife/whealth/issues/CWD.

• DNR e-mail for questions on CWD: ErinS.Larson@Wisconsin.gov.

• DNR toll-free information line:  888-936-7463.