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A Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD ) Surveillance Zone is in effect for Ballard, Calloway, Carlisle, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Marshall, and McCracken counties. Special regulations regarding check stations, a ban on deer baiting, and carcass transportation restrictions apply in this zone. Inclusion in a CWD Surveillance Zone does not change deer seasons or bag limits in the county.
All deer harvested within the CWD Surveillance Zone by any method on Nov. 9-11, Nov. 16-17 and Nov 23-24 (weekends during modern gun, plus the Monday after opening weekend) must be brought to a CWD Check Station or CWD Sample Drop-off site. See section below for more information.
Grain, feed, mineral blocks, salt blocks and other baits used to attract deer cannot be used in CWD Surveillance Zone. This helps prevent deer from concentrating, which increases spread of disease. Bird feeders in yards, planted food plots and normal agricultural practices such as mineral blocks or feed for cattle are allowed. Hunters can use products that are not ingested by deer, such as scent attractors and deer urine products.
Whole carcasses or high-risk parts (head, skull cap or skull with any brain material, or spine) of any deer, elk, moose or caribou harvested in another state cannot be brought back into Kentucky. For further information please review KAR 2:095 Importation of Cervid Carcasses and Parts.
Carcasses or high-risk parts of deer harvested within the 8-county CWD Surveillance Zone may not be taken outside of the zone. Only de-boned meat, antlers, antlers attached to a clean skull cap, a clean skull, clean teeth, hides and finished taxidermy products may be taken out of the CWD Surveillance Zone.
All deer harvested within the CWD Surveillance Zone counties on Nov. 9-11, Nov. 16-17, and Nov. 23-24 (weekends during modern gun season, plus the Monday after opening weekend) must be brought to a staffed CWD check station or a CWD Sample Drop-off site. Only sample drop-off sites in the CWD Surveillance Zone may be used for deer taken within the zone. CWD testing is free of charge.
Mandatory check-in requirements apply to all hunters, including license-exempt hunters, such as youths under 12 or landowners hunting on their own property, and those who take deer during these dates by other methods, such as muzzleloader or archery equipment. Deer given to others by a hunter during mandatory check dates must also be taken to a staffed CWD check station or a CWD Sample Drop-off site. All deer must be telechecked before coming to a check station.
Choose Your Preferred Mandatory Check Station
Hunters can either visit a staffed CWD Check Station or one of the self-service CWD Sample Drop-off sites to fulfill mandatory check requirements.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife staff will be operating CWD Check Stations from 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. (Central) on Nov. 9-11, Nov. 16-17 and Nov. 23-24.
Hunters can fulfill mandatory check requirements by dropping off the heads of their legally harvested and telechecked deer at CWD Sample Drop-off sites located throughout the CWD Surveillance Zone. These sites are self-service only. See the list below for specific locations.
Before you hit the woods, check this map to determine the location of your potential harvest. This location number can be used when you visit a check station or a CWD Sample Drop-off site.
On Sept. 8, 2021, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources activated its Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Response Plan and established a CWD Surveillance Zone in Hickman, Fulton, Graves, Calloway, and Marshall counties. This action was prompted by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency's detection of CWD in a 3 and a half year old female deer from Henry County, Tennessee. The detection was located approximately 7.8 miles south of the Tennessee state line, southwest of Murray, Kentucky. Following Kentucky's first in-state detection of CWD in Ballard County in December 2023, the CWD Surveillance Zone expanded to include Ballard, Carlisle, and McCracken counties, and remains in effect for Hickman, Fulton, Graves, Calloway, and Marshall counties.
Recorded meetings of the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission provide comprehensive details of the CWD Response Plan and the department's response. These are available in the "Commission Meetings" playlist on the department's YouTube channel at youtube.com/FishandWildlifeKY.
Please contact our Information Center at 1-800-858-1549 or Info.Center@ky.gov if you have any questions not answered below.
A deer harvested within the CWD Surveillance Zone may be checked at any of the staffed CWD Check Stations or CWD Sample Drop-off sites within the CWD Surveillance Zone.
CWD check stations will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Central) on Nov. 9-11, Nov. 16-17, and Nov. 23-24.
An intact or gutted carcass, or the entire head with the proof of sex, and a completed harvest log.
If a hunter would like to provide only the head as a sample, the department asks that you sever the head with 5 inches of the neck included. This ensures that the lymph nodes needed to test for CWD are included. Heads can be dropped of at CWD Sample Drop-off sites in the CWD Surveillance Zone. Please note that deer parts dropped off at Drop-off sites are not returned. Visit a staffed CWD Check Station if you wish to keep any deer parts.
No, just the proximity. Hunters are welcome to share the exact location, but that information is not required. This information is only used to identify areas of adequate or insufficient surveillance of CWD.
Hunters have two options: they can either bring their deer to a staffed CWD Check Station the next day or drop off the deer’s head at a CWD Sample Drop-off site within the CWD Surveillance Zone. If you want to have your deer taxidermied or mounted and the check stations are closed, contact a local biologist for help by calling 1-800-858-1549. Please note that if you wish to keep any deer parts, do not drop off the head at a CWD Drop-off site, as parts left there will not be returned.
Hunters should visit a staffed CWD check station. Department staff will work with hunters to ensure your deer can still be processed by a taxidermist. Do not visit a CWD Sample Drop-off site if you intend to get your deer taxidermied. Deer heads and parts and cannot be returned after being dropped off. If you want to have your deer taxidermied or mounted and the check stations are closed and not open the next day, contact a local biologist for help by calling 1-800-858-1549.
Hunters can use the CWD Sample Drop-off sites or participate in the DIY CWD Sample Mail-in Kit program.
Early detection can help prevent CWD from spreading. In order to detect the disease as early as possible, the department needs many samples from the area. The more samples received, the more reliable the testing results are.
Hunters should expect results to be online within 4-6 weeks. If any sample results are positive, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife will contact the hunter as soon as possible. Look up CWD test results.
Concentrating deer at particular sites can speed up the spread and intensity of disease. Deer cannot be vaccinated against CWD, so adding a vaccine to bait is not an option or solution.
Infected deer can spread the prions that cause CWD throughout the landscape. CWD prions trigger abnormal reactions in brain cells of deer, elk, and other cervids. Prions are highly resistant to destruction and normal means of disinfection do not destroy prions. Prions can survive on the landscape for years, therefore it is important not to congregate animals and increase the concentration of prions because the risk of transmission to other animals increases.
The best way to stop the spread of prions is keeping infected deer contained and minimizing concentrations of animals. Prohibited baiting includes putting out grains, minerals, and salt. Scents and deer urine-based products used in hunting will still be allowed.
Yes, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies lists bans on baiting and feeding as a "best management practice." Congregating animals raises the chance of the disease spreading. Studies on mineral licks in Minnesota demonstrated that prions were present and acting as a source of infection in these locations. Anything that increases the concentration of prions can increase the spread. The department wants to have deer hunting opportunities for future generations and "chronic" diseases like CWD are a long-term concern. It takes a long time for the disease to become noticeable, so the department is trying to preserve and conserve the resource before it gets to that point. Deer are social and congregate; they interact and communicate with each other - so for the department, it's all about diluting those opportunities. The department can't control how often deer groom each other or where they travel, but it can control how much we encourage deer to congregate in one spot. Deer behavior and biology won't change, but doing what we can to restrict congregation is the goal. At a corn pile, hundreds of deer can come to that one spot. In nature, you don't see that kind of behavior or congregation of deer happening in any other situation.
Yes, all bait must be removed from the landscape.
No, homeowners may have birdfeeders that hang above ground, kept within the curtilage of their homes. Please refer to the special regulations for the 8-county CWD surveillance zone.
Violations of special regulations will be taken very seriously, and penalties could range anywhere from a warning to losing hunting or firearm rights, or ultimately jail time.
Anyone can use the KFWLaw app or text the keyword "KFWLAW" along with the rest of their message or tip to 847411 (tip411). Tips can also be reported by calling 1-800-25-ALERT (1-800-252-5378).
Currently, all counties in the CWD Surveillance Zone are in Zone 1.
Hunters are encouraged to continue hunting with a few modifications if harvesting animals in the CWD Surveillance Zone. These modifications include following CWD regulations aimed to reduce transmission and the spread of disease. The department asks that you make the adjustments previously outlined regarding baiting and visiting CWD check stations when mandatory check is required. Reducing any potential spread of the disease is our primary concern and hunters should follow routine health and safety precautions, including not moving carcasses out of the CWD Surveillance Zone, and not harvesting or consuming any game animal found sick or dead. The CDC recommends not eating meat from an animal that tests positive for CWD.
Yes, hunters can visit CWD Sample Drop-off sites to fulfill mandatory check requirements. Note that drop-off sites only accept deer heads, including caped out or skull capped. Deer parts that are dropped off are not returned. If you wish to retain any parts or to have your deer taxidermied, visited a staffed CWD Check station.
No, mail-in kits do not fulfill mandatory check requirements. Hunters must visit a staffed CWD Check Station or a CWD Sample Drop-off site if they harvest a deer on the following dates: Nov. 9-11, Nov. 16-17, and Nov. 23-24.
Chronic Wasting Disease Response Plan DOWNLOAD
Commissioner's Authorization of CWD Restrictions DOWNLOAD