As required by Administrative Rule 8.2, all permitted high-fenced enclosures containing white-tailed deer must be enrolled in the Enclosure Management Assistance Program (EMAP). The owner of a permitted high-fenced enclosure must work with an MDWFP-approved wildlife biologist to manage the white-tailed deer herd within the enclosure.
Biological data, including one of the lower jawbones, must be collected and submitted from all harvested deer inside the enclosure annually and recorded on data sheets supplied by MDWFP. Enclosure owners will receive notification via email in February with instructions on submitting the data.
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) samples must be collected from all target deer inside the enclosure and all deer that die within a breeding pen. Additionally, each high-fenced enclosure shall submit viable samples for CWD testing, annually, in a number equal to one (1) deer per each two hundred (200) acres of fenced land, whether the deer's mortality was due to natural causes, as set forth above, or harvested by means of hunting.
Enclosures with acreages not evenly divisible by 200 will round up to nearest 200 acres (e.g., 315 acres would be 400). For the purpose of this rule, to be a "viable sample", the sample must include two (2) retropharyngeal lymph nodes from each deer. Collection supplies are mailed to each enclosure prior to each deer season. These supplies, along with the EMAP supplies, are mailed to the owner address provided on the most recent Enclosure Permit Application submitted for the enclosure.
Failure to submit samples pursuant to the rules and regulations promulgated by the commission shall be a violation of those regulations. A first violation of such regulations shall be punishable by a fine of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00). Each second or subsequent violation shall be punishable by a fine of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).
A list of MDWFP-approved wildlife biologists for enclosures can be obtained by emailing Lt. Trent Myers, MDWFP Enclosure Program Contact, at trent.myers@wfp.ms.gov.