CWD reaches eastern NC
More NC hunters will be impacted by Chronic Wasting Disease this upcoming deer hunting season. While numerous special rules were in place across Primary and Secondary Surveillance Areas in the northwestern part of the state during the 2022 season, the same special rules will now also apply to hunters in several counties in the eastern part of the state.
These changes are due to the fatal disease being detected in a hunter-harvested deer from Cumberland County.
The special rules “govern the transportation of deer carcasses and carcass parts, prohibit the placement of minerals and salt licks to congregate wildlife at any time, and prohibit the placement of bait, food, or food products to congregate wildlife outside of the hunting season.”
Having harvested deer tested by NCWRC is another requirement for hunters during certain dates and in certain counties for the upcoming deer season.
These same rules also prohibit fawn rehabilitation in the Surveillance Area counties.
A handful of other harvested deer also tested positive in the northwestern part of the state, including in Wilkes County, expanding the surveillance areas in that part of North Carolina.
As of May 4, 2023, a total of 10 deer have tested positive for CWD within North Carolina’s borders.
In Surry County, five deer have tested positive. Yadkin County has had two positives. Cumberland, Stokes and Wilkes have each had one deer test positive for the disease.
Hunters in the following counties are impacted by these rules:
Northwestern NC
- Alleghany
- Ashe
- Davie
- Forsyth
- Guilford
- Iredell
- Rockingham
- Stokes
- Surry
- Wilkes
- Yadkin
Eastern NC
- Bladen
- Cumberland
- Harnett
- Hoke
- Robeson
- Sampson
For more information on how these new rules will apply to the upcoming deer hunting season, visit ncwildlife.org/hunting/chronic-wasting-disease.
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