Mandatory testing in 8 counties for NC 2022 deer season

Testing will be mandatory in Primary and Secondary Surveillance Areas.

With the discovery of a CWD-infected deer in Yadkin County earlier this year, the NCWRC is implementing some new rules for hunters in eight counties. These counties are in what the NCWRC has named the Primary and Secondary Surveillance Areas. Those areas were named according to their proximity to the harvest location of the infected deer.

These areas include the entirety of Yadkin, Surry and Stokes counties and portions of Alleghany, Wilkes, Iredell, Davie and Forsyth counties. The boundaries of the Secondary Surveillance Area stretch out 30 miles from the site of the infected deer harvest. This is the maximum distance a whitetail deer is known to travel. Most travel no more than 5 miles in their lifetimes, making the Primary Surveillance Zone (portions of Yadkin and Surry counties) much smaller than the secondary.

Hunters in the PSA (areas in Surry County east of US 601, south of NC 268 and west of Quaker Church Road and the Ararat River; and areas in Yadkin County east of US 601, north of NC 67, west of Shoals Road to the intersection with Shady Grove Church Road and west of Fairground Road) must have harvested deer tested by NCWRC during the blackpowder season (Nov. 5 – Nov. 18) and gun season (Nov. 19 – Jan. 2).

CWD testing spots will be named

Hunters in the SSA (the entirety of Surry County, Yadkin County, Davie County, Forsyth County, Stokes County, Alleghany County East of US 21 and NC 18, Wilkes County East of NC 18 and NC 115, and Iredell County East of NC 115 and North of I-40) must have harvested deer tested by NCWRC during blackpowder season and the first 9 days of gun season (Nov. 19 – Nov. 27).

Hunters will be required to drop off samples (not the entire deer carcass) at locations to be named by Sept. 1, 2022.

Another change hunters face involves transporting the carcass or parts of a carcass from deer harvested in the PSA or SSA. Hunters will not be allowed to transport these outside of the PSA or SSA, with these exceptions:

Double-bagged carcass or parts transported directly from within the PSA to a Cervid Health Cooperator in Surry or Yadkin County

Meat that has been boned out such that no pieces or fragments of bone remain

Caped hides with no part of the skull or spinal column attached

Antlers, antlers attached to cleaned skull plates, or skulls free from meat or brain tissue

Cleaned lower jawbones with teeth or cleaned teeth

Finished taxidermy products and tanned hides.

For more information on CWD, click here.