Madison Reporter

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is urging hunters and the public to follow all state regulations regarding the baiting and feeding of deer as the hunting season approaches. The agency emphasizes that these practices can increase the risk of spreading chronic wasting disease (CWD) among deer populations.

Baiting refers to placing materials such as food, scented items, salts, minerals, or grains to attract wild animals for hunting. Feeding is defined as placing material to feed or attract wild animals for non-hunting purposes, including recreational and supplemental feeding. Exceptions are made for birds and small mammals.

According to the DNR, baiting and feeding cause deer to gather in unnatural numbers at specific locations. This behavior increases the likelihood that an infected animal will transmit diseases like CWD through direct contact with healthy deer or indirectly through contaminated environments.

"Infected deer can also leave infectious CWD prions behind in their saliva, blood, feces and urine, creating a risk to any healthy deer that may visit the site in the future. CWD can spread rapidly when these prions remain in an area where more deer are sure to congregate, such as a feed pile," states the DNR.

Chronic wasting disease is always fatal and affects the nervous system of members of the deer family—including elk, moose, and caribou—due to a misshapen prion protein. The disease spreads via contact with bodily fluids from infected animals or by exposure to contaminated environments. The DNR notes that CWD prions are highly resilient and can persist in soil for extended periods, making containment efforts challenging.

To address these risks and slow CWD transmission, Wisconsin law requires the DNR to enforce baiting and feeding bans in any county where a wild or captive deer has tested positive for CWD. The bans also extend to counties within 10 miles of a confirmed case.

"As directed by state statute, counties fall under a three-year baiting and feeding ban when a wild or farm-raised deer tests positive for CWD in the county. If the CWD-positive deer is found within 10 miles of a county line, the adjoining county will fall under a two-year ban. If additional CWD cases are found during the lifetime of a baiting and feeding ban, the ban will reset for an additional two to three years. Therefore, the date when a baiting and feeding ban is scheduled to expire within a given county may change due to new farm-raised and wild CWD positive detections," according to DNR guidance.

The rules allow individuals in affected counties to continue feeding birds and small mammals if feeders are placed within 50 yards of human dwellings and designed so that deer cannot access them.

For more details on current regulations or maps showing which counties have active bans in place, residents can consult information provided on the DNR’s Baiting and Feeding Regulations webpage: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/hunt/bait.html

The department continues its outreach efforts as part of ongoing work aimed at controlling chronic wasting disease among Wisconsin's white-tailed deer population.