Chronic Wasting Disease Laws in Montana Every Hunter Needs to Know

Chronic wasting disease has expanded its footprint across Montana faster than wildlife managers had hoped. Four new hunting districts across the state recorded a detection of CWD since July 2025, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. That kind of spread means the rules governing how you hunt, handle, and transport deer, elk, and moose are more important than ever — and the consequences for ignoring them are real.

If you hunt in Montana or plan to bring a carcass into the state from elsewhere, you need to understand exactly what the law requires. This guide walks you through every major CWD regulation in Montana, from baiting restrictions to captive cervid requirements, so you can stay compliant and help protect the herds that define the state’s outdoor heritage.

CWD Status and Affected Areas in Montana

CWD is a fatal disease that infects members of the deer family, including elk, moose, mule deer, and white-tailed deer. It is not a virus, bacteria, or fungus — it is caused by infectious, misfolded proteins called prions that spread throughout the animal and result in neurological damage and eventual death. These prions are “super-hardy misfolded proteins that remain infectious in the environment for at least two years and likely even longer,” according to FWP wildlife health biologist Austin Wieseler.

Montana documented its first case of CWD in free-ranging wildlife in 2017, after a mule-deer buck south of Billings tested positive. In 2019, CWD inexplicably leapt 300 miles across Montana’s portion of the Continental Divide to the northwestern Montana town of Libby, where a whitetail doe tested positive inside city limits. The disease has continued to expand since then.

FWP continues CWD surveillance and monitoring in specific areas known as Priority Sampling Areas across central-western, eastern, and portions of north-central Montana. As of January 2026, FWP reported 433 positive CWD tests out of 8,574 tests conducted since July 2025 — an increase from the prior year, though FWP noted it was too early to make any authoritative determination on new trends.

In southwest Montana, FWP has conducted a special CWD hunt known as the Southwestern Montana CWD Management Hunt. In northwestern Montana, FWP continues CWD management in the Libby CWD Management Zone with the Libby CWD Hunt. FWP has also liberalized harvest in certain CWD-positive hunting districts, with the goal of reducing herd densities and mule deer buck densities to reduce CWD transmission.

Baiting and Feeding Restrictions in Montana

Feeding wildlife such as deer is illegal in Montana and can congregate animals, leading to the rapid spread of disease. This prohibition is not limited to CWD zones — it applies statewide and covers any action that draws deer, elk, or moose into concentrated groups.

Montana law also restricts the use of hunting scents and lures. The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted regulations on scent usage, and you are safest using artificial scents. You can also use scents certified by the Responsible Hunting Scent Association, identifiable by the DPP or RtQUIC labels.

The baiting prohibition extends to how you set up your hunt. Montana law makes it unlawful to hunt any game animal or game bird by the aid of or with the use of any bait, salt lick, trap, snare, or set gun. Baiting means the placing, exposing, depositing, distributing, or scattering of food sources or salt so as to constitute a lure or attraction.

• Feeding deer, elk, or moose is illegal statewide
• Salt licks placed to attract game animals are prohibited
• Scattering food sources that serve as lures violates baiting laws
• Only artificial scents or Responsible Hunting Scent Association-certified products may be used
• Urine-based scents from states with documented CWD are prohibited

FWP continues to enforce laws banning baiting, feeding, and illegal carcass dumping to help prevent human-caused CWD spread. Violations are actively pursued, so there is no gray area when it comes to attractants near deer, elk, or moose habitat. For a broader look at how these rules fit into hunting laws in Montana, it helps to review the full regulatory picture before your season.

Carcass Transportation Rules in Montana

Montana’s carcass rules apply to every hunter in the state, regardless of where you harvested your animal. A carcass may be transported within the state regardless of where it was harvested, as long as the carcass parts are disposed of in a landfill after butchering and processing. Dumping carcasses is illegal, unethical, and can spread diseases, including CWD. This requirement applies to all deer, elk, and moose carcasses wherever in the state they are harvested by hunters or possessed through vehicle-killed salvage.

Carcass parts such as brain, eyes, spleen, lymph nodes, and spinal cord material should be left at the kill site when possible. If the animal is transported for taxidermy or meat processing, the brain and spinal tissue must be bagged and disposed of in a Class II landfill.

Bringing a carcass into Montana from another state is a separate issue governed by statute. Under MCA 87-6-420, it is unlawful to transport into Montana the whole carcass or certain carcass parts of white-tailed deer, mule deer, moose, or elk from states or provinces with documented occurrences of CWD, as determined by the Fish and Wildlife Commission, in wild populations or on private game farms.

The following carcass parts may be transported into Montana from CWD-affected states or provinces: meat that is cut and wrapped or meat that is boned out, and quarters or other portions of meat with no part of the spinal column or head attached.

What many hunters do not realize is that illegal carcass disposal creates a disease vector. Class II landfills bury refuse deep in the soil, which shields it from contact with wild animals. For people in rural locations without trash pickup, FWP has a map of Class II landfills across the state on its website, as well as designated drop-off dumpsters where hunters may safely and legally dispose of carcasses.

If you salvaged a roadkill deer or other cervid, these same rules apply. You can learn more about how roadkill laws in Montana interact with carcass disposal requirements before you take possession of a vehicle-killed animal.

CWD Testing Requirements for Hunters in Montana

FWP conducts annual CWD surveillance in high-priority areas across the state known as Priority Sampling Areas. Hunters who harvest a deer, elk, or moose in these areas are asked to voluntarily submit their animal for sampling so FWP can gather additional data. FWP uses the information from these samples to track where CWD is found in Montana, monitor changes in CWD prevalence, and inform the best management strategies for affected hunting districts.

While testing is currently voluntary for most hunters, FWP strongly recommends it — and the practical consequences of skipping it can be significant. FWP recommends receiving a “not detected” CWD result before dropping your animal off at a meat processor or food bank, which helps prevent contamination of equipment and human consumption of CWD-positive meat.

Hunters can either take the samples themselves, fill out the online hunter submission form and mail them to FWP’s Wildlife Health Lab in Bozeman, or they can bring the animal or head to an FWP regional office or CWD Sampling Station. On average, hunters received their test results back in an average of 7.6 days during the 2025 season.

If you receive a “suspect” or “positive” test result, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that you do not eat the meat. With a CWD suspect or positive test result, FWP authorizes the disposal of the meat and asks that you ensure all carcass waste — meat, bones, trimmings, hide — is disposed of in a landfill.

If you have already sent your animal to a commercial processor or donated it to a food bank, contact the Wildlife Health Program at 406-577-7883, 406-577-7895, or 406-577-7881. If you choose not to consume the meat and wish to request a new license, call your local FWP regional office or the Licensing Call Center at 406-444-2950 to coordinate next steps.

Captive Cervid and Deer Farming Rules in Montana

Montana operates a dual-agency oversight system for captive cervids. Fish, Wildlife and Parks has jurisdiction over licensing, reports, record keeping, exterior fencing, classification, unlawful capture, inspection, and enforcement of those activities. The Department of Livestock has authority over marking, inspection, transport, importation, quarantine, hold orders, interior facilities, health, and enforcement of those activities.

In Montana, a person may not operate an alternative livestock ranch without a license. Such ranches are defined as enclosed land upon which animals such as privately owned caribou, white-tailed deer, and similar species are kept for purposes of obtaining, rearing in captivity, keeping, or selling. Montana is not licensing new captive facilities, licensees may not charge a fee or remuneration for the shooting of captive animals, and no transfer of existing licenses is allowed.

Importing cervids into Montana for captive operations is tightly controlled. No wild or captive imports are permitted from any geographic area where CWD is endemic or has been diagnosed. Cervids must originate from a herd that has participated in an approved CWD surveillance program for at least 60 months prior to import, and no cervids may have been added to the exporting herd within the last 60 months from a herd of lesser CWD status.

All captive cervid farms in Montana are subject to mandatory CWD surveillance requirements. Game Farm Regulation 32.4.1301 requires annual whole-herd inspection, ID verification and inventory. Operators must report all animal deaths within one working day of discovery and request inspection with CWD samples submitted for testing. The test-eligible age is 16 months and older.

In January 2020, the Montana Department of Livestock announced a single CWD-positive elk in a small captive herd in eastern Montana. This was not the first time: historically, one captive elk herd was diagnosed as CWD positive in 1998. That herd of 87 elk was depopulated with 9 animals diagnosed as CWD positive. A trace forward herd of 29 elk was also depopulated, with no CWD-positive animals detected.

These cases underscore why Montana’s captive cervid rules are among the strictest in the region. If you are involved in goat ownership in Montana or other livestock operations, understanding how the Department of Livestock’s disease oversight programs work can help you stay ahead of compliance requirements that may affect neighboring operations.

Reporting Sick or Suspected Deer in Montana

FWP asks hunters and the public to report sick-looking deer, elk, or moose. You should avoid shooting animals that look diseased or sick. Instead, take a GPS point, record the animal’s symptoms, and report it to FWP.

If you have already harvested an animal that appears sick, the protocol changes immediately. If you shoot an animal that looks diseased or sick, report it immediately to your local FWP office for further instructions and limit handling it. FWP staff will need to evaluate diseased or sick harvested animals to determine whether an animal may be disposed of or eligible for a replacement tag.

Recognizing the signs of CWD is an important part of responsible hunting. For much of the infection, deer and elk appear outwardly healthy. At the later stages of infection, poor body condition, neurologic symptoms, and secondary infections are common. There have been no documented recoveries from infection. The name comes from the appearance of symptomatic animals, which become very skinny and sick-looking in the last stages of infection just before they die.

• Extreme weight loss or emaciation
• Stumbling or loss of coordination
• Blank facial expression or drooping head
• Excessive salivation or drooling
• Abnormal behavior such as lack of fear of humans
• Drinking or urinating excessively

There is no known transmission of CWD to humans. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that hunters harvesting a deer, elk, or moose from an area where CWD is known to be present have their animal tested. This is a precautionary recommendation, not a legal requirement — but it is one that FWP strongly supports. If you notice unusual animal behavior on your property involving multiple species, resources on disease transmission in animals can provide helpful context on how wildlife diseases interact with domestic animals.

Penalties for CWD Violations in Montana

Montana takes CWD-related violations seriously, and the penalties are designed to deter both negligence and intentional misconduct. The most straightforward penalty structure applies to illegal carcass importation from CWD-affected states.

Under MCA 87-6-420, a person convicted of illegally transporting a prohibited carcass or carcass parts into Montana shall be fined up to $500 or, upon conviction or forfeiture of bond or bail, may be subject to forfeiture of any current hunting, fishing, or trapping license issued by the state and the privilege to hunt, fish, or trap in this state or to use state lands.

For captive cervid operators, the consequences of non-compliance go further. Alternative livestock ranch operators have reporting requirements, and failure to comply with provisions of the act may result in revocation of the license. A license revocation effectively ends a farming operation, making compliance with annual herd inspections and death-reporting requirements essential for any captive cervid business.

Montana State Law prohibits dumping dead animals or refuse on public property, including all state-owned land. This means that even a well-intentioned hunter who leaves a carcass pile in the woods — a practice that was once common — is breaking the law. The prohibition is not limited to CWD-positive zones; it applies everywhere in the state.

Beyond the legal penalties, there are practical consequences when violations contribute to CWD spread. “Reducing deer numbers in key areas is one of the most effective tools we have to slow the spread of CWD,” said Region 3 wildlife manager Warren Hansen. When hunters circumvent the rules, they undermine the management tools that keep hunting seasons open and herd populations viable.

If you are involved in other regulated animal activities in Montana — from backyard chickens to kennel operations — you will find that Montana’s approach to disease management and animal regulation reflects a consistent philosophy: proactive compliance protects both the animals and the people who depend on them. For those who keep or work with animals beyond cervids, resources on common wildlife and bird diseases and animal health conditions can provide useful background on disease management more broadly.

Conclusion

Montana’s CWD regulations are built around a few core principles: do not feed or bait deer, dispose of carcasses properly in a landfill, test voluntarily when hunting in priority areas, report sick animals immediately, and follow strict import rules when bringing carcasses in from other states. For captive cervid operators, the bar is even higher, with mandatory annual inspections, death reporting within one working day, and a freeze on new facility licenses.

Hunting is the primary tool for monitoring and managing the spread of CWD. FWP uses sample data from harvested animals to determine the estimated CWD prevalence in positive hunting districts and to understand if CWD has spread to new districts. Your participation in voluntary testing directly supports that effort.

Regulations in this area change frequently as new districts test positive and management strategies evolve. Always verify current rules with Montana FWP’s official CWD management page before each hunting season, and check the latest CWD FAQ from FWP for the most current guidance. For questions about specific hunting district rules, contact your local FWP regional office or call the Licensing Call Center at 406-444-2950. You can also explore related regulations through Montana’s broader hunting laws to make sure your entire season is fully compliant.