DNREC Implements New Emergency Regulations for Deer Hunting Season after CWD Found

August 17, 2026/Mari Lou

Emergency regulations have been adopted by DNREC ahead of the start of deer hunting season. These regulations are to try to limit the spread of chronic wasting disease, which was confirmed in Central Sussex County earlier this year. The new emergency regulations are designed to reduce activities that bring deer together, limit the movement of potentially infected animals and infectious material and increase CWD testing during the upcoming season.

In July DNREC and the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Wildlife Services and local landowners collected and tested additional deer – the sampling of 100 deer adjacent to the two initial CWD findings did not turn up any more cases of the disease.

Additional information from DNREC:

DNREC will continue CWD surveillance, with state and federal wildlife disease experts evaluating 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.”

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
    • 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.

Hunters interested in having their deer tested during the hunting season will be able to do so at self-serve drop-off locations located throughout the state. More details for this service, to be provided at no cost to hunters, will be available on the DNREC website prior to the start of the hunting season. Also, before the season begins, 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 are good for 120 days with a potential 60-day extension. However, in order to make the changes permanent, DNREC will need to go through the normal regulatory process, including public comment.

More 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 – can be found on the de.gov/cwd webpage. For more insights into CWD and living in a state where it exists, see DNREC’s Outdoor Delaware online magazine.

 

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