Chronic Wasting Disease Laws in Tennessee: What Every Hunter and Landowner Must Know

Chronic wasting disease is spreading through Tennessee’s deer and elk herds faster than many hunters realize, and the state’s legal response has grown significantly more complex in recent seasons. CWD has now been confirmed in 21 of Tennessee’s 95 counties, and the rules governing where you can hunt, how you can transport a carcass, and what you can feed wildlife have real legal consequences for anyone who gets them wrong.

Whether you hunt in West Tennessee, own a deer farm, or simply feed wildlife on your property, the chronic wasting disease laws in Tennessee apply to you in ways that may surprise you. This guide walks through every major regulation — from the CWD Management Zone boundaries to penalties for violations — so you can stay legal and help protect the state’s deer population.

CWD Status and Affected Areas in Tennessee

Chronic wasting disease is a highly contagious neurological disease that infects deer, elk, and other members of the deer family known as Cervidae. CWD affects a deer’s nervous system, causing brain degeneration, extreme weight loss, abnormal behavior, and ultimately death — and there is no known cure.

Infected animals may appear to have no symptoms for years while still spreading the disease through saliva, urine, and feces. The prion causing CWD can remain infectious in the environment for over 15 years. This environmental persistence is one of the primary reasons Tennessee has enacted strict zone-based regulations.

The preliminary estimated CWD prevalence for counties with positive detections during the 2025–26 season ranged from 0.32% in Hardin County to 28.67% in Fayette County. The majority of positive detections came from Fayette and Hardeman Counties, with Hardeman County prevalence increasing to 23.5% while Fayette County remained at 28.7%.

If a contiguous county becomes positive based on CWD test results, carcass transport and feeding restrictions will automatically apply to that county. Tennessee is the 26th CWD-positive state, along with neighbors Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, and Virginia.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) administers CWD regulations under Chapter 1660-01-34 of the Tennessee Administrative Code. For a broader look at how Tennessee manages wildlife and hunting, see our guide to hunting laws in Tennessee.

Baiting and Feeding Restrictions in Tennessee

Within the CWD Management Zone, the placement of grain, salt products, minerals, and other consumable natural and manufactured products is prohibited. This applies year-round, not just during hunting season, and violations can result in fines and loss of hunting privileges.

Outside the CWD Management Zone, Tennessee made a significant regulatory change in 2025. Tennessee changed its baiting rules effective July 1, 2025 — you can now hunt deer over bait, but you need a special license that costs $50 for residents and $100 for non-residents. Every person in your hunting party must have this license if you are hunting over bait, and even those who do not normally need a hunting license must obtain the special bait license.

In any CWD-positive county east of the CWD Management Zone, baiting and feeding are now also prohibited, following a rule change adopted at the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission’s April 2026 meeting. This means the feeding ban is no longer limited to the western management zone counties.

Feeding restrictions do not apply if the feed or minerals are placed within 100 feet of any residence or occupied building, placed in a manner to reasonably exclude deer access, 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.

Baiting game increases the deer population in a small area, increasing opportunities for CWD to be transmitted. Violating baiting regulations is a Class C misdemeanor. For related regulations on how Tennessee handles other wildlife on your property, our guide to wildlife removal laws in Tennessee covers additional compliance requirements.

Carcass Transportation Rules in Tennessee

Deer carcasses and carcass parts from infected deer pose a significant threat to preventing the spread of CWD. If not managed appropriately, carcasses of CWD-infected deer can pass infectious prions into the environment, which can then infect other deer.

Deer carcasses can be moved within and between counties in the CWD Management Zone, but once a carcass is brought into the CWD Management Zone, it cannot be moved out of the zone. This one-way rule is critical — bringing a carcass into the zone effectively locks it there.

Certain parts are classified as low-risk and may be transported freely anywhere in Tennessee. Approved parts — deboned meat, clean skulls, skull plates and teeth, antlers, finished taxidermy, hides, and tanned products — may be moved freely within Tennessee.

For Tennessee residents hunting out of state, only approved parts — deboned meat, antlers, cleaned skulls, skull caps and teeth, finished taxidermy, hides, and tanned products — from deer, elk, moose, and caribou may be brought back into Tennessee. Whole carcasses from outside Tennessee are prohibited.

Transportation of carcasses out of CWD-positive counties east of the management zone will be allowed to help facilitate hunters getting their deer to processors and taxidermists, per the April 2026 Commission update. TWRA recommends leaving unused parts at the harvest location and burying them to further minimize possible spread.

CWD Testing Requirements for Hunters in Tennessee

CWD testing in Tennessee is voluntary for most hunters but becomes a gateway to additional harvest opportunities in CWD-positive counties. The TWRA operates a network of freezer drop-off locations across the state where hunters can submit lymph node samples from harvested deer.

The Earn-a-Buck Program is one of the most important incentive-based tools tied to testing. Hunters are eligible for the Earn-a-Buck Program in CWD-positive counties, and they can earn additional bucks by harvesting antlerless deer and submitting them for testing. If you harvest antlerless deer and have them tested for CWD, you can earn additional buck tags.

There is no scientific evidence that CWD can be naturally transmitted to humans. However, as a general precaution, TWRA refers to the guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which advises hunters to take specific precautions when handling and processing deer or elk in areas known to have CWD.

The CDC-recommended precautions for hunters include:

• Avoid sick animals — do not shoot, handle, or consume any animal that appears sick; contact your local wildlife agency personnel.
• Wear rubber or latex gloves when field-dressing carcasses.
• Minimize handling of the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils, and lymph nodes of any deer or elk — normal field dressing coupled with boning out a carcass will remove most, if not all, of these body parts.
• The CDC advises that meat from a CWD-positive animal not be consumed.

TWRA partners with certified laboratories to test samples, and during the 2025–26 season the agency submitted approximately 8,400 samples for testing. You can look up test results for your specific deer using the harvest number at the TWRA’s CWD Testing and Results page. For hunters who also pursue game with archery equipment, our bow hunting laws in Tennessee guide covers equipment and season-specific rules.

Captive Cervid and Deer Farming Rules in Tennessee

Tennessee imposes strict requirements on anyone who keeps captive cervids — including white-tailed deer, elk, and other members of the deer family — for farming, hunting preserves, or any other purpose. These rules are administered jointly by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and TWRA.

Any person who holds captive cervidae within the state must annually report to the department herd inventory — including the location, number, and species of cervidae held — on or before February 1 of each year on forms provided by the department. They must also immediately report to the department any captive cervidae illness or death within 24 hours of discovery, and make the carcass of any dead captive cervidae available to the department for testing ordered by the state veterinarian.

Captive cervid facilities operating near confirmed CWD detections face additional structural and testing requirements:

• All cervids exported from a facility must be tested for chronic wasting disease upon death, and the results must be reported to the facility.
• The facility must be inspected annually by an accredited veterinarian, including inspection of the herd and applicable federal and state records.
• The facility must maintain a fence at least 8 feet high, and if located within 30 miles of a confirmed positive occurrence of CWD, it must be double-fenced to prevent direct contact between captive and wild cervids.
• An accredited veterinarian must conduct a 100% herd inspection at a minimum of every 3 years.
• Prior to distribution, each lot or batch of cervid-collected urine used in a scent product must be tested via the Real Time Quaking Induced Conversion (RT-QuIC) assay for the presence of chronic wasting disease prions.

The February 1 annual reporting deadline for captive cervid holders is a hard statutory date. Missing it can trigger compliance reviews and jeopardize your facility’s operating status. If you also keep other regulated animals on your property, our guides to goat ownership laws in Tennessee and backyard chicken laws in Tennessee cover parallel agricultural animal requirements.

Reporting Sick or Suspected Deer in Tennessee

Timely reporting of sick or abnormally behaving deer is one of the most effective tools Tennessee has for tracking and containing CWD. TWRA’s goal is to keep CWD from spreading, keep the number of diseased deer to a minimum, and reduce disease rates where possible. Hunter and landowner reports are central to achieving that goal.

If you observe a deer displaying any of the following signs, you should contact TWRA immediately:

• Significant, unexplained weight loss or emaciated appearance
• Stumbling, trembling, or lack of coordination
• Drooling excessively or difficulty swallowing
• Drooping head or ears, blank facial expression
• Excessive thirst or urination
• Loss of fear of humans or other unusual behavior
• Standing alone and appearing disoriented

Report to TWRA any animal that appears to be acting abnormally or appears to be sick. Do not attempt to handle, move, or kill the animal yourself before contacting the agency. TWRA officers can assess the animal, collect samples, and arrange for proper disposal if needed.

TWRA received a positive CWD test result in a hunter-harvested deer in Humphreys County in early 2026, marking the first positive case for that county west of Nashville. This detection underscores how quickly new counties can enter positive status and why prompt reporting matters. You can reach TWRA’s regional offices directly or submit reports through TWRA’s CWD information page.

Landowners who discover a dead deer on their property should also contact TWRA, particularly if the animal appears to have died from illness rather than injury. The disease is caused by a misfolded protein called a prion, which is nearly impossible to destroy and remains in the environment for many years. Proper carcass disposal is essential to preventing environmental contamination of soil and vegetation. For more on how Tennessee law handles animals found on roads and properties, see our guide to roadkill laws in Tennessee.

Penalties for CWD Violations in Tennessee

Tennessee enforces its CWD regulations through a combination of criminal misdemeanor charges, civil fines, and administrative penalties including license revocation. The severity of the penalty generally tracks the nature and intent of the violation.

Violating baiting regulations is a Class C misdemeanor. Under Tennessee law, a Class C misdemeanor carries a maximum fine of $50 and up to 30 days in jail, though wildlife violations typically result in fines and license actions rather than incarceration for first-time offenders. Repeat violations or willful transport of infected carcasses can result in escalating penalties.

TWRA wildlife officers have authority to stop and inspect hunters, vehicles, and harvested game to verify compliance with CWD rules. Violations of the wildlife feeding prohibition can result in fines and loss of hunting privileges. Hunters who unknowingly enter a baited area may still be cited — knowledge of the bait is not required for a violation to occur under certain provisions.

For captive cervid operators, non-compliance with testing, fencing, or reporting requirements can result in facility shutdown orders issued by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. Facilities found to have CWD-positive animals face mandatory depopulation protocols under state and federal guidelines.

Due to the regular amending of regulations in Tennessee, it is recommended that before hunting you check CWD regulations, as well as those of any other states or provinces in which you will be hunting or traveling through while transporting cervid carcasses. Regulations can and do change mid-season when new positive counties are detected. Staying current with TWRA’s CWD regulations page before each trip is the safest approach.

Understanding CWD rules is part of the broader responsibility that comes with hunting and owning wildlife-adjacent property in Tennessee. For more on your rights and obligations as a property owner or animal keeper in the state, explore our related guides on animal cruelty laws in Tennessee, neighbors’ dog on your property laws, and feral cat laws in Tennessee.