Narveson said he suspects most hunters he knows would test a deer if it looked sick.

To the southeast in central Green County, Kenneth Risley said he tests as a precaution even though there have been no cases in his area, away from the Iowa County and Dane County borders.

Risley said he is aware of research showing that prions can linger indefinitely in soil, animal scat or urine, and in plants. A crow could pick at the carcass of an infected deer, and then fly miles before depositing the disease in a new place, Risley said.

Risley is chairman of the County Deer Advisory Council in Green County, but he said he wasn’t speaking on behalf of the group. The councils were set up to advise the DNR on deer hunting.

“Most people don’t get it tested because testing isn’t always so handy to do,” Risley said. “You have to drive a ways.”

The DNR allows hunters to drop off deer tissue for testing at sites determined each year by budget limitations and changing surveillance goals.