Chris Maroldy
North Carolina hunters have been adjusting to new regulations aimed at preventing the nervous system affliction known as Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) from devastating the deer herd, and so far things are looking pretty decent.
According to the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, roughly 19 percent of the state’s total reported deer harvest was tested for the disease last year and only 13 animals returned positive results, all from counties which were known to have CWD already. In other words, the disease does not appear to have spread geographically, and the effect on the deer herd overall so far is minimal.
Chronic Wasting Disease has caused major upheavals to cervid populations (deer, elk, caribou, moose, etc.) and hunting regulations in many states and in Canada over many years, and is a latecomer to North Carolina, having been identified here in March 2022.
However, the disease has been on state biologists’ radar for some time as they watched it spread across the country from its point of origin, presumably in the West. They moved quickly to prepare a plan to slow the spread or contain the outbreak, particularly after CWD made its appearance in Virginia in 2009, and parts of that plan are now being executed.
A primary tactic is the aforementioned testing. Since it’s nearly impossible to tell if a deer or other cervid has CWD from mere observation and because there is no USDA-approved live test, biologists must rely on samples provided by hunters, taxidermists and meat processors.
And since the disease apparently spreads between deer by direct contact and by exposure to infected saliva, urine and feces, human behavior may play a part in prevention. For instance, baiting and supplemental feeding may encourage deer to congregate in a small area, increasing the likelihood that an infected deer could pass the disease. The use of deer lures such as urine and glandular secretions may introduce the abnormal proteins which cause CWD to healthy deer or to the soil if those lures originated from infected animals.
According to biologists, transportation of cervid carcasses or carcass parts may also spread the disease from an infected area to a “clean” area unless bones and tissue are removed.
So, North Carolina hunters need to be aware of the current testing regime and regulations concerning lures and transportation, all of which is fairly new.
First, be aware that the Commission has designated certain counties for special surveillance of CWD and the deer harvest. Primary surveillance areas are Cumberland, Stokes, Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin counties. The secondary surveillance areas are Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Bladen, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Harnett, Hoke, Iredell, Robeson, Rockingham and Sampson counties.
Refer to the Rules Digest or follow the links on the Regulations page for information if you’ll be hunting in or transporting deer or other cervids through these counties. Especially note that it will be illegal to
• Transport fawns for rehabilitation
• Place new salt or minerals in existing mineral lick sites or to establish new mineral lick sites
• Put out bait, food, or food products to purposefully congregate wildlife from Jan. 2 through Aug. 31 each year.
Also, any hunter who takes a cervid within the dates and counties listed is required to submit a sample for testing to the Commission not later than two weeks following the harvest:
November 23–25, 2024 in Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Iredell, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin counties.
November 16–23, 2024 in Bladen, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Robeson, and Sampson counties.
Hunters who operate in other parts of NC must be aware of some statewide regulations as well. You can still use deer lures such as pee and gland juices, but they must be from approved sources, from a deer taken legally in NC, or synthetic and marked as such.
If you hunt outside the state, you may not import any cervid into NC without boning it out and following some identification protocols. Capes are OK as long as skulls and spinal columns are removed. Skulls and antlers must be clean of meat and brain tissue.
All in all, these are fairly non-intrusive regulations, especially compared to the hair-on-fire panic that some other states went through when CWD first became big news in the whitetail woods. Let’s hope things stay on course, and as Barney Fife would say, we can “nip it in the bud.”