Delaware Adds New Deer Hunting Rules to Fight CWD
State of DE - Delaware wildlife officials have put new rules in place to try to stop Chronic Wasting Disease from spreading. The move comes after the disease was found in the state for the first time earlier this year, with deer hunting season set to start in less than a month.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, known as DNREC, activated its CWD response plan once the disease was confirmed. In July, the agency worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and local landowners to test more deer near the two areas where CWD was first found.
That testing checked 100 deer close to the original cases. None of them tested positive for the disease.
DNREC says the new rules are meant to slow the spread of CWD and keep it limited to the area in Central Sussex County where it was found. The rules focus on cutting down activities that bring deer together and limiting how infected deer or deer parts can move around.
DNREC Secretary Greg Patterson said the clean test results were good news, but the state cannot let its guard down. "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," Patterson said. "Now is the time to get ahead of CWD, because once CWD starts spreading it's much more difficult to manage."
The new rules took effect Aug. 17. They create a CWD Management Zone covering Wildlife Management Zones 14 and 16, which includes DNREC's Midlands Wildlife Area and Trap Pond State Park in lower Sussex County.
Inside that zone, using bait or feed to attract deer is now against the rules. Hunters who harvest a deer in the zone during the November shotgun season, which runs Nov. 13-22, must check it in at one of two stations. Those stations are the Delaware Solid Waste Authority's Jones Crossroads Landfill near Georgetown and the Gumboro Service Center.
The rules also spell out steps hunters must follow if they move a harvested deer out of the zone to another part of the state. Rehabilitating or relocating rescued deer fawns from within the zone is no longer allowed. Across the entire state, hunters can no longer use natural urine-based buck lures, since the fluids can carry the proteins that cause CWD.
Hunters who want their deer tested this season will be able to use self-serve drop-off locations around the state at no cost. More details on that service will be posted on the DNREC website before the season begins. The Division of Fish and Wildlife also plans to hand out an addendum to the 2026 Delaware Hunting and Trapping Guide with more information on CWD.
The emergency rules last 120 days, with a possible 60-day extension. For them to become permanent, DNREC will need to go through the state's normal rulemaking process, which includes a public comment period.
More information on CWD in Delaware, including a map of the management zone and guidance on hunting and eating venison, can be found at de.gov/cwd.
