WAYNE COUNTY, Tenn. — Chronic wasting disease (CWD) in whitetail deer continues creeping in an eastward direction in Tennessee.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) has received the first-ever positive chronic wasting disease (CWD) test result in a road-killed deer found in Wayne County. Since Wayne County is already within the current CWD Management Zone, wildlife feeding and carcass transportation restrictions are already in place.
This means CWD has now been confirmed in 20 of Tennessee’s 95 counties. This is the third county where CWD has been confirmed East of Kentucky Lake, what some people hope might provide at least a partial impediment to CWD’s eastward expansion. The first CWD case confirmed in Tennessee came in 2018. Of course several cases have also been more recently identified in the northwest corner of Alabama.
In Wayne County, there are no changes to the deer hunting season dates and regulations. However, hunters are now eligible for the Earn-a-Buck Program. Hunters can earn additional bucks by harvesting antlerless deer in Wayne County and submitting them for testing. Hunters who have already submitted antlerless deer for testing this fall will be provided an earned buck. For more details on the CWD Management Zone and Incentive Programs, visit CWDinTN.org.
As a reminder, Wayne County is subject to the following wildlife feeding and carcass transportation restrictions:
- Deer carcasses can move within and between counties in the CWD Management Zone.
- Hunters may not move whole or field-dressed deer carcasses or unapproved parts outside of the CWD Management Zone. Only approved parts may be moved out of the CWD Management Zone.
- Once a carcass is brought into the CWD Management Zone, it cannot be moved out of the zone.
- Approved parts are free to be transported anywhere statewide. Approved parts are listed below:
- Deboned meat
- Antlers, antlers attached to cleaned skull plates, cleaned skulls (where no meat or tissues are attached to the skull)
- Cleaned teeth
- Finished taxidermy and antler products
- Hides and tanned products
- Within the CWD Management Zone, the placement of grain, salt products, minerals, and other consumable natural and manufactured products is prohibited.
- Feeding restrictions do not apply if the feed or minerals are:
- Placed within one hundred (100) feet of any residence or occupied building; or
- Placed in such a manner to reasonably exclude access by deer; or
- Placed as part of a wild hog management effort authorized by the agency; or present from normal agricultural practices, normal forest management practices, or crop and wildlife food production practices.
Hunter’s participation in CWD testing is critical for the continued surveillance and monitoring of CWD throughout the state.
Hunters can access CWD testing through participating taxidermists and meat processors or by using drop-off freezers.
The Wayne County drop-off freezer is available at: Beech Creek Fire Hall, 5775 Beech Creek Road, Waynesboro, TN 38485.
CWD is a progressive, fatal disease of the nervous system of cervids, including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and moose.
The agency partners with certified laboratories to test samples, and TWRA has already submitted approximately 8,400 samples for testing this hunting season.
