Image: dnr_deer_rules

Delaware has enacted emergency hunting regulations after a positive CWD detection earlier this year. (Photo by William T. Smith)

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) has adopted emergency regulations ahead of deer season to limit the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD), which was confirmed in Central Sussex County earlier this year. The new emergency regulations are designed to reduce activities that draw deer together, limit the movement of potentially infected animals and increase CWD testing during the upcoming season.

According to wgmd.com, in July, DNREC and the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Wildlife Services, along with local landowners, collected and tested 100 additional deer adjacent to the two initial CWD findings, but did not turn up any more cases of the disease.

DNREC will continue CWD surveillance, while state and federal wildlife disease experts evaluate testing results to determine next steps.

“While it comes as a relief that no additional positive samples were found during the focused cluster sampling, the measures in the new regulations aim to help us contain CWD while its range is limited in our state,” DNREC Secretary Greg Patterson said. “Now is the time to get ahead of CWD, because once CWD starts spreading it’s much more difficult to manage.”

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According to delaware.gov, the new regulations implemented by DNREC 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 and 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.

Hunters can take their deer to self-serve drop-off locations located throughout the state to get tested for CWD. Additional details will be available on the DNREC website before the start of the hunting season. Prior to the season, the Division of Fish and Wildlife will distribute an addendum to the 2026 Delaware Hunting and Trapping Guide with expanded information about CWD. This pamphlet will be available when hunters pick up their guide in hard copy and also will be found on the de.gov/cwd webpage.

Emergency regulations last for 120 days with a potential 60-day extension. To make the changes permanent, DNREC will need to go through the normal regulatory process, including public comment.

For information about CWD, including the state response plan to the disease, a map of the management area where CWD was confirmed, and public guidance for hunting deer in Delaware and eating venison from harvested animals, visit de.gov/cwd webpage. For more insights into CWD and living in a state where it exists, see DNREC’s Outdoor Delaware online magazine.