DELAWARE - DNREC is adopting emergency regulations for deer hunting to limit the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD).
CWD was first detected in Sussex County back in April. Now, with the start of deer hunting season less than a month away on Sept. 1, DNREC has implemented regulations to confine the disease to the area where it was found.
In July, DNREC worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and local landowners to collect and test additional deer. Environmental officials say a sampling of 100 deer near to the two initial CWD findings did not turn up any more cases of the disease.
DNREC says the new emergency regulations, focused in central Sussex County, are designed to reduce activities that bring deer together, limit the movement of potentially infected animals, and increase CWD testing.
According to DNREC, the new regulations implemented as of Aug. 17 will:
- Establish a CWD Management Zone (CMZ) that encompasses Wildlife Management Zones 14 and 16, including DNREC’s Midlands Wildlife Area and Trap Pond State Park, in lower Sussex County.
- Prohibit the use of bait and feed for attracting deer within the CMZ;
- Requires hunters to check in deer harvested within the CMZ during the November general firearm “shotgun” deer season (Nov. 13-22) at two designated stations:
- Delaware Solid Waste Authority’s Jones Crossroads Landfill near Georgetown
- The Gumboro Service Center, near where the Whitetail Open takes place.
- Defines requirements for hunters moving harvested deer out of the CMZ elsewhere within the state.
- Prohibits the rehabilitation and relocation of “rescued” deer fawns originating within the Sussex County CMZ, and
- Places a statewide ban on the use of natural urine-based “buck lures” to hunt deer. Buck lures are connected to CWD because infectious abnormal misfolded proteins, called prions, that cause the fatal disease are shed in animal bodily fluids – and can be transmitted to other deer either from direct contact or when browsing vegetation grown in CWD-tainted soil.
DNREC says hunters interested in having their deer tested during the hunting season will be able to do so at self-serve drop-off locations throughout the state. More details on that free service will be available on the DNREC website prior to the start of the hunting season.
For more on DNREC's response to CWD, you can visit DNREC's website here.
