Chronic Wasting Disease Laws in North Dakota: What Hunters and Landowners Need to Know

Chronic wasting disease is one of the most serious threats facing North Dakota’s deer, elk, and moose populations. It is a fatal disease of deer, moose, and elk that can cause long-term population declines if left unchecked — and there is no treatment or cure. Once established in an area, it remains indefinitely. That reality is exactly why North Dakota has built a detailed legal framework around CWD prevention, detection, and containment.

Whether you are a deer hunter planning a season, a landowner managing wildlife habitat, or someone raising captive cervids, understanding the chronic wasting disease laws in North Dakota is not optional — it is a legal requirement. Violations carry real financial consequences, and the rules change regularly based on surveillance results.

Regulations related to CWD are set annually by proclamation by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, so reviewing the most current version before each hunting season is essential. This guide walks you through every major regulatory category as established under the 2025–2026 CWD Proclamation and related state law.

CWD Status and Affected Areas in North Dakota

CWD was first detected in North Dakota in Grant and Sioux counties — hunting unit 3F2 — in 2009, and positive deer have been found there ever since. In 2018, it appeared for the first time in Divide County (unit 3A1), and has since spread farther south into Williams County (unit 3B1) and unit 4B.

During the 2025 sampling season, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department tested 1,224 animals for CWD and confirmed 16 deer tested positive, all of which were taken by hunters. CWD was not previously detected in units 2B and 3D2, making those new positive detections as of the 2025 results.

According to the state’s wildlife veterinarian, infection rates can hover in the 0–5% range for years, but once prevalence climbs toward 5–10%, it can accelerate significantly within a matter of single years. That trajectory makes early detection and compliance with CWD laws especially critical for the long-term health of North Dakota’s deer herd.

The Game and Fish Department conducts CWD surveillance by region on a four-year rotation. The 2024–25 surveillance effort focused on deer gun units in northeastern North Dakota. You can check the current map of affected units directly on the North Dakota Game and Fish CWD page before your hunt.

Baiting and Feeding Restrictions in North Dakota

Baiting restrictions are one of the most visible components of North Dakota’s CWD prevention strategy. The rules distinguish between hunting over bait and general wildlife feeding — a distinction that has generated significant debate in the state legislature.

Under the 2025–2026 CWD Proclamation, it is unlawful for an individual to hunt big game over bait or place bait on any North Dakota Game and Fish Department Wildlife Management Area (WMA). This WMA prohibition applies statewide, regardless of which deer unit you are hunting.

Beyond WMAs, baiting restrictions apply to a broad list of specific deer gun hunting units. It is unlawful to hunt big game over bait, or place bait to attract big game for the purpose of hunting, in deer units 1, 2B, 3A1, 3A2, 3A3, 3A4, 3B1, 3C, 3D1, 3D2, 3E1, 3E2, 3F1, 3F2, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, and 4F.

Hunting big game over bait or baiting for any purpose is also prohibited on all U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service national wildlife refuges and waterfowl production areas, U.S. Forest Service national grasslands, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers managed lands, and all North Dakota state trust, state park, and state forest service lands.

Under the proclamation, “bait” includes grain, seed, mineral, salt, fruit, vegetable, nut, hay, any naturally derived scent or lure (such as urine), or any natural or manufactured food placed by an individual. However, “baiting” does not include agricultural practices, gardens, wildlife food plots, agricultural crops, livestock feeds, fruit or vegetables in their natural location, or unharvested food or vegetables in a garden.

If you are a North Dakota landowner interested in how these rules interact with other wildlife-related regulations, you may also want to review roadkill laws in North Dakota and leash laws in North Dakota, which cover additional state-level animal management requirements.

Carcass Transportation Rules in North Dakota

Carcass transportation rules are among the most detailed — and most frequently violated — components of CWD law in North Dakota. The rules apply both to animals brought into the state from elsewhere and to animals harvested within specific North Dakota hunting units.

Importing Carcasses From Out of State

It is unlawful to transport into North Dakota the whole carcass or carcass parts of white-tailed deer, mule deer, moose, elk, or members of the cervid family harvested outside of North Dakota, except for the following lower-risk portions: meat that is cut and wrapped either commercially or privately, and quarters or other portions of meat with no part of the spinal column or head attached, and meat that has been boned out.

Additional lower-risk parts that may legally cross into North Dakota include:

• Hides with no heads attached
• Skull plates with antlers attached having no brain tissue present
• Intact skulls with no visible brain or spinal cord tissue present that have had the eyes, lower jaw, tongue, salivary glands, tonsils, and lymph nodes removed
• Antlers separated from the skull plate
• Upper canine teeth, also known as “buglers,” “whistlers,” or “ivories”
• Finished taxidermy heads

Transporting Carcasses Within North Dakota

Carcass waste — meaning material not used for consumption, preserved for taxidermy, or defined as a lower-risk portion — from a white-tailed deer, mule deer, moose, or elk harvested in North Dakota and transported out of its respective gun unit of origin must be disposed of via landfill or waste management provider. This requirement does not apply to heads dropped off at Game and Fish Department CWD collection sites or lymph nodes submitted for CWD surveillance.

Taxidermists or game processors may accept intact carcasses harvested within North Dakota but assume responsibility for the disposal requirements.

Hunters are encouraged to plan accordingly and be prepared to quarter a carcass, cape out an animal, or clean a skull in the field, or find a taxidermist or meat locker within the unit or state who can assist. Game and Fish maintains several freezers throughout the region for submitting heads for CWD testing. For questions about how to comply with this regulation, contact a district game warden or other department staff ahead of your planned hunt.

CWD Testing Requirements for Hunters in North Dakota

CWD testing in North Dakota is voluntary for hunters — there is no statewide mandatory testing requirement for individual deer harvests. However, voluntary participation is strongly encouraged, and the data collected directly shapes how the state manages the disease going forward.

A deer with CWD will only begin to look sick in the late stages of the disease, several months after infection. Most positive deer found in North Dakota appeared healthy when they were harvested. The only way to determine if your animal is infected with CWD is by getting it tested.

Testing information is critical for determining the distribution of CWD and evaluating the success of the Department’s management strategy. Sampling kits are available for those who wish to have their animal tested but are unable to drop the head off at a collection site. The kits allow you to remove the lymph nodes yourself and ship them to the Department’s Wildlife Health Lab for testing.

Fawns and head-shot animals cannot be tested. If you are unsure of the age or condition of your animal, submit it and the department will assess it. Test results can be expected within approximately four weeks.

You can request a sampling kit or find collection site locations through the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s CWD page. Hunters in neighboring states should also be aware that South Dakota has its own CWD-related roadkill and transport rules that differ from North Dakota’s requirements.

Captive Cervid and Deer Farming Rules in North Dakota

If you own or operate a captive cervid facility — including a deer farm or elk operation — you face a separate and more detailed set of requirements under North Dakota law. These rules are administered jointly by the North Dakota Board of Animal Health and the Game and Fish Department.

Deer owners must obtain a non-traditional livestock license, and facilities must be approved prior to ownership of deer and elk. Captive cervids must meet standards of risk assessment and must be free of all contagious and infectious disease.

Genetic testing for purity is required for elk in North Dakota zones 1 and 2. Animals must not be infected with or exposed to Johne’s disease.

Importing Captive Cervids Into North Dakota

For importation, operators must complete a CWD 5-Year Risk Assessment Questionnaire (or demonstrate 5-year status) and submit it to the Board of Animal Health prior to entry permit issuance. Cervids and their originating herds must have no history of emaciation, depression, excessive salivation or thirst, or neurological disease. If symptoms arise after entry, diagnostic measures must be taken to rule out a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE).

Mandatory Inventory and Testing History

The Board of Animal Health has maintained a mandatory inventory of captive cervids since 1993. CWD testing was mandatory since 1998 for farmed elk, white-tailed deer, and mule deer over 12 months of age that die for any reason.

As of October 2017, participation in the CWD testing program for captive cervids became voluntary. However, voluntary does not mean unregulated — facilities are still subject to inventory requirements, risk assessments, and disease reporting obligations.

Any animal determined by the board to pose a significant threat to the state’s wildlife resources, domestic animals, or human health must be held in quarantine at the owner’s expense until disposition is determined by the board or the state veterinarian.

If you raise or keep animals in North Dakota more broadly, you may find related guidance in these state-specific resources: beekeeping laws in North Dakota, kennel zoning laws in North Dakota, and pet import laws in North Dakota.

Reporting Sick or Suspected Deer in North Dakota

Reporting deer that appear sick or behave abnormally is one of the most valuable things you can do to help contain CWD in North Dakota. Because the disease progresses silently for most of its course, animals displaying obvious clinical signs are typically in the late stages of infection.

Once a deer, elk, or moose is infected with CWD, it can take on average 18 months or longer before the animal rapidly loses body condition, starts to act strange, becomes emaciated, and dies. Studies have shown the disease agent in the saliva, urine, and feces begins appearing a couple of months after infection — meaning an animal can spread the prion long before it looks ill.

Signs that should prompt a report to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department include:

• Extreme weight loss or emaciation
• Staggering, stumbling, or loss of coordination
• Drooping head, ears, or eyelids
• Excessive salivation, drooling, or difficulty swallowing
• Unusual behavior such as loss of fear of humans
• Excessive thirst or urination
• Isolation from the herd

A deer with CWD will only begin to look sick in the late stages of the disease, several months after it has been infected. Most positive deer found in North Dakota appeared healthy when they were harvested. This is why passive reporting of visibly sick animals complements — but cannot replace — active hunter-based surveillance and testing.

To report a sick or suspected deer in North Dakota, contact the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Wildlife Health Lab or reach out to Dr. Charlie Bahnson, the department’s wildlife veterinarian, at gf.nd.gov/wildlife/diseases/cwd. You can also contact the North Dakota Board of Animal Health if the concern involves a captive or farmed cervid.

Penalties for CWD Violations in North Dakota

North Dakota’s CWD proclamation establishes a clear penalty structure for violations. Understanding what you face for non-compliance is important whether you are a hunter, a processor, or a captive cervid operator.

Proclamation Violations

Violations of the CWD proclamation are noncriminal with a fee of $200.00. This applies to infractions such as transporting prohibited carcass parts into the state, hunting over bait in a restricted unit, or failing to properly dispose of carcass waste when moving it out of a gun unit.

While a $200 noncriminal fee may seem modest, it is important to understand that CWD proclamation violations can also trigger broader enforcement consequences. North Dakota Game and Fish Department district game wardens enforce all CWD transportation laws. Wardens have authority to stop hunters transporting carcasses and inspect compliance with unit-specific rules.

Captive Cervid and Licensing Violations

Violations related to captive cervid licensing, importation without proper permits, or failure to comply with quarantine orders carry more serious consequences under North Dakota’s nontraditional livestock statutes. The revocation of a license or denial of a license application must comply with North Dakota Century Code chapter 28-32.

For context on how other nearby states handle related wildlife and animal regulations, see pit bull laws in South Dakota, hedgehog ownership laws in North Dakota, and goat ownership laws in South Dakota.

Staying Compliant With North Dakota CWD Law

North Dakota’s CWD regulations exist because the stakes for the state’s deer herd are genuinely high. Chronic wasting disease is a fatal disease of deer, moose, and elk that can cause long-term population declines if left unchecked. There is no treatment or cure, and once established in an area, it remains indefinitely — posing a major threat to North Dakota’s deer, elk, and moose and the future of hunting these animals.

The most important steps you can take are straightforward: review the current CWD proclamation before each season, follow carcass transport rules precisely when hunting in or returning from restricted units, submit your harvested animal for voluntary testing, and report any deer showing signs of illness to the Game and Fish Department immediately.

Because regulations and surveillance information are updated seasonally and will be revised for the 2026–27 season later in the year, always verify the latest proclamation at gf.nd.gov/regulations/cwd before you head into the field. For additional North Dakota animal law topics, explore neighbor’s cat in my yard laws in North Dakota and pit bull laws in North Dakota.