Chronic Wasting Disease Laws in Oregon Every Hunter and Landowner Should Know

Chronic wasting disease is one of the most serious wildlife health threats in North America, and Oregon sits at the center of a tightening ring of risk. While CWD has not yet been detected in Oregon, it has been found in three bordering states — Idaho, California, and Washington. That proximity has pushed Oregon lawmakers and wildlife managers to build a detailed regulatory framework aimed at keeping the disease out — and if it ever arrives, slowing its spread.

Whether you hunt deer and elk, operate a captive cervid facility, or simply live near wildlife habitat, understanding Oregon’s CWD rules is not optional. Violations can result in confiscation of your harvest, civil penalties, and even criminal charges. This guide walks you through every major regulation, what it requires of you, and why it matters.

CWD Status and Affected Areas in Oregon

CWD is considered the most important wildlife disease in North America — a 100% fatal, infectious, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) of deer, elk, and moose. The disease has not been detected in Oregon. However, that status is under constant pressure from neighboring states.

Chronic wasting disease has been found in three states bordering Oregon — Washington, Idaho, and California. The proximity of confirmed cases to Oregon’s borders has driven the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to maintain an active surveillance and prevention posture. ODFW has a CWD Management Plan that was initially written in 2005 and most recently updated in 2022.

Since the 2002–03 season, a total of 23,310 hunter-harvested and targeted surveillance deer and elk have been tested statewide. To date, 4,480 black-tailed deer, 8,005 mule deer, 452 white-tailed deer, 4,190 Roosevelt elk, and 6,183 Rocky Mountain elk have been tested. All 23,310 samples tested were negative for CWD.

Despite the clean testing record, ODFW continues to expand surveillance efforts. Targeted efforts include increasing sampling to collect high-risk animals in areas where CWD may be likely to enter the state. High-risk groups include herds bordering states with CWD, roadkill animals, and mature adult animals.

Baiting and Feeding Restrictions in Oregon

Oregon currently does not have a statewide ban on baiting or feeding deer and elk for hunting purposes. According to CWD-INFO.org’s Oregon regulations summary, there is no baiting ban and no feeding ban at this time. This stands in contrast to neighboring Washington, which moved aggressively in 2025 — Washington’s director approved rules prohibiting feeding deer, elk, or moose statewide, including baiting while hunting, and requiring mandatory head submission for testing in Eastern Region GMUs. Those rules went into effect May 17, 2025.

Even though Oregon has not enacted a formal baiting ban, ODFW strongly discourages the practice on disease-spread grounds. The more animals are congregated, the easier it is for CWD to pass from one animal to another, which is why baiting and feeding deer and elk is a risky practice and discouraged to prevent disease spread.

What Oregon has banned outright is the use of commercial urine-based deer and elk attractants. In 2019, the Oregon State Legislature passed HB 2294, banning all commercially produced deer and elk urine scents that contain or are derived from naturally occurring urine to reduce the threat of CWD. This is codified in Oregon Revised Statutes under ORS 498.018.

• A person may not possess or use commercial cervid attractants — defined as any marketed product derived from cervid urine designed to lure, attract, or entice a cervid.
• Hunters or businesses holding these products should bring them to an ODFW district office for safe disposal.
• Synthetic scent products not derived from natural cervid urine are not covered by this prohibition.

Carcass Transportation Rules in Oregon

Oregon’s carcass rules operate on two distinct tracks: rules for animals harvested within Oregon, and rules for animals harvested outside Oregon and brought back into the state. Understanding which track applies to your situation is critical.

Animals Harvested Inside Oregon

Resident hunters have no restrictions for carcass transport or disposal if the animal stays within the state of Oregon. ODFW biologists and veterinarians recommend that hunters dispose of waste parts — bones, organs — near the site of harvest, directly in a landfill, or via routine garbage disposal with your service provider.

House Bill 3152, passed in 2021, makes it mandatory for any person transporting harvested wildlife to stop at a CWD check station when you pass one on the highway. If you are transporting animal parts for another hunter, you are required to have a Wildlife Transfer Record. This form can be found online or in the Big Game Hunting Regulations.

Animals Harvested Outside Oregon — The Parts Ban

The Parts Ban makes it illegal for a person to import or possess parts of any member of the deer/elk family containing brain or spinal tissue into Oregon from another state or country. This ban applies to all states and countries — not only those with documented CWD cases.

Hunters who bring illegal parts into Oregon will have those parts — and potentially their entire harvested animal — confiscated and may be liable for the cost of disposal. “While natural animal movement is always a concern for disease spread, human movement is just as concerning, if not more, because of how far and often people travel,” said Ashley Reeder, ODFW’s CWD Coordinator. “By following each state’s rules, we can reduce the risk of infectious carcass parts moving and spreading CWD.”

If you salvage a roadkill deer or elk in Oregon, CWD rules also apply. Tissue samples from the head of the animal you salvaged will be tested for chronic wasting disease. You can keep all parts of the animal except for the head and antlers. CWD test results typically take 3–5 weeks. If an animal tests positive for CWD, an ODFW biologist will contact you directly. For more on roadkill salvage rules in Oregon, including permit requirements and species restrictions, see the full guide.

CWD Testing Requirements for Hunters in Oregon

Oregon does not currently require hunters to have their deer or elk tested for CWD as a mandatory condition of harvest. Testing is strongly encouraged and ODFW has built an accessible, multi-option system to make it easy — but the obligation to stop at a check station when you encounter one is legally enforceable.

Check stations along major travel routes are set up during the opening weekends of deer and elk All Legal Weapon seasons. Additional locations may be announced. Check with your local ODFW office and look for highway signs alerting you to check station locations. Hunters transporting wildlife are required to stop at a check station when they pass one.

The operator of a vehicle transporting wildlife or parts of wildlife is subject to administrative inspection when arriving at a wildlife inspection station with a sign reading “Wildlife Inspection Station” or “CWD Check Station.” The operator of a vehicle transporting wildlife or wildlife parts that fails to stop for inspection may be issued a citation for a Class A violation.

How to Get Your Animal Tested

Hunters have multiple options to have an animal tested, a process that takes about 10 minutes. Your options include:

1. Check station: Stop at an ODFW check station during opening season weekends — biologists will collect the sample on-site.
2. Meat processor or taxidermist: Find a list of meat processors and taxidermists who have agreed to collect CWD samples from their clients.
3. ODFW district office: Bring the head to your nearest participating district office outside of check station dates.

Results may take three to five weeks, depending on when in the season your deer or elk is sampled. ODFW will contact hunters directly if their animal tests positive for CWD. You can also look up results online using your ODFW ID number or roadkill salvage permit confirmation number.

Although CWD has not been documented in humans, public health and wildlife officials advise hunters to take precautions when pursuing or handling deer, elk, and moose that may have been exposed to CWD. Basic precautions include: wearing latex or rubber gloves when field dressing animals; boning out the meat without sawing through the brain or backbone; minimizing handling of brain and spinal tissues; and avoiding consuming the meat from any animal that tests positive for the disease.

Captive Cervid and Deer Farming Rules in Oregon

Oregon regulates captive cervid facilities — operations that hold deer, elk, and other members of the deer family in captivity — under a separate and more stringent set of rules than those governing wild animal hunting. These rules are administered jointly by ODFW and the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA).

Ban on Importing Live Cervids

On November 8, 2002, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission issued a regulation imposing a permanent ban on the importation of live cervids (except fallow deer or reindeer originating from Oregon and used for educational or display purposes). This regulation was adopted as a risk reduction measure involving the potential import of CWD and transmission of the disease to the state’s cervid populations — wild and farmed.

The import of reproductive products for artificial insemination must be pre-approved by the department and originate from a CWD-negative state or province.

Voluntary CWD Monitored Herd Program

Since June 2009, captive cervid producers may enroll in a Voluntary CWD Monitored Herd program via application to the Wildlife Division Administrator. Enrollment is voluntary, but the testing requirements that come with it are binding once a facility opts in.

As a condition for monitored herd status, all captive North American deer and elk 6 months of age or older and dying of any cause must be sampled for CWD by a federally accredited veterinarian, or an ODFW or federal veterinarian, or at a veterinary diagnostic laboratory by a veterinary pathologist.

• When a herd reaches program completion level V, the Department will list the herd as having completed the program. That listing remains valid so long as the herd continues to comply with the requirements.
• When a holder enrolled in the program adds a cervid to the herd from a herd with a lower program completion level, the Department will reduce the program completion level of the holder’s herd to that of the source herd.
• Captive cervids that escape from the facility, or wild cervids that enter the facility due to the holder’s intentional act or negligence, can affect the herd’s monitored status.

Mandatory Mortality Reporting

Since June 2009, mandatory mortality reporting and CWD testing of all North American captive cervids 6 months of age or older and dying of any cause has been required under Oregon Administrative Rule 635-049-0065. Captive deer and elk facilities are required to report all deceased captive animals and submit for testing the heads of all animals older than six months dying of any cause.

All CWD sampling results are sent by NVSL, the accredited veterinarian, or the producer to the Wildlife Health Lab for entry and tracking into a Captive Cervid Database. This database gives ODFW a continuous, statewide picture of captive herd health. Oregon’s approach to goat ownership and livestock regulations follows a similarly layered framework of state and agency rules.

Reporting Sick or Suspected Deer in Oregon

Early detection is Oregon’s most powerful tool against CWD. Because infected animals can spread the disease for several years before showing symptoms — which include loss of balance, drooling, and emaciation — testing apparently healthy deer and elk early in the course of the disease is the most effective method to catch it before an animal has spread the disease across the landscape.

If you observe a deer, elk, or moose that appears sick, disoriented, abnormally thin, or is behaving strangely, you should report it to ODFW immediately. Signs that may indicate CWD include:

• Severe weight loss or a “wasting” appearance
• Stumbling, loss of coordination, or drooping head
• Excessive salivation or drooling
• Lack of fear of humans or unusual boldness
• Teeth grinding or difficulty swallowing

You can report a sick or suspected animal by contacting your nearest ODFW district office or by calling the ODFW State Wildlife Veterinarian. ODFW may dispatch a biologist to collect a sample from the animal. Under ORS 498.016, nothing in the wildlife laws is intended to prohibit any person from killing any crippled or helpless wildlife when the killing is done for a humane purpose. Any person so killing any wildlife shall immediately report such killing to a person authorized to enforce the wildlife laws, and shall dispose of the wildlife in such manner as the State Fish and Wildlife Commission directs.

Veterinarians also carry reporting obligations. In addition to any other penalty provided by law, the Oregon Department of Agriculture Director may assess civil penalties for a veterinarian’s failure to report diseases required by ORS 596.321(2) or OAR 603-011-0214 through 603-011-0216. Each 24-hour period that elapses after a veterinarian observes clinical evidence of any reportable disease or condition without reporting to the Department constitutes a separate and distinct violation.

Oregon’s broader animal health and disease reporting framework intersects with other wildlife and domestic animal laws. Understanding how disease reporting obligations interact with animal disease transmission rules can help landowners and pet owners stay on the right side of the law. You may also want to review common wildlife disease resources for context on how state agencies handle disease surveillance across species.

Penalties for CWD Violations in Oregon

Oregon enforces its CWD regulations through a tiered penalty structure that spans civil citations, misdemeanor charges, and — in the most serious cases — felony prosecution. The specific penalty you face depends on the nature of the violation, whether it was intentional, and whether it is a repeat offense.

Civil and Administrative Penalties

Illegal parts brought into Oregon will be confiscated, persons may be liable for disposal expenses, and may be cited. For violations involving animal health reporting, Senate Bill 832 (2025) granted civil penalty enforcement authority to the Oregon Department of Agriculture beginning January 1, 2026. Rulemaking was adopted to allow enforcement of violations of existing animal health regulations as civil matters — providing an administrative pathway separate from criminal prosecution.

Class A Violations

The operator of a vehicle transporting wildlife or wildlife parts that fails to stop for inspection may be issued a citation for a Class A violation. Class A violations in Oregon are the most serious category of non-criminal wildlife infractions and carry fines that can reach into the hundreds of dollars, plus potential license suspension.

Felony-Level Offenses

A violation of a provision of the wildlife laws, or a rule adopted pursuant to the wildlife laws, is a Class C felony if the offense involves the unlawful taking of wildlife with the intent to sell or to barter, trade, import, export, or otherwise exchange the wildlife or a part of the wildlife — and is committed intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly.

The second and each subsequent conviction within a 10-year period for the taking of deer, elk, moose, or other listed game mammals in violation of any provision of the wildlife laws that occurs more than one hour outside a lawful season is a Class C felony if the offense is committed with a culpable mental state.

Understanding Oregon’s animal laws goes beyond CWD. If you keep livestock or domestic animals on your property, familiarize yourself with related regulations such as backyard chicken laws in Oregon, beekeeping regulations, and kennel zoning rules, which often intersect with animal health and disease prevention obligations at the local and state level. For those dealing with wildlife on their property, Oregon’s outdoor cat laws and neighbor animal rules may also be relevant.

Oregon’s CWD regulatory framework is built on prevention, surveillance, and swift response. Your role — whether as a hunter stopping at a check station, a facility operator submitting mortality reports, or a landowner calling in a sick deer — is a direct contribution to keeping Oregon’s deer and elk populations healthy for generations to come.