Breckinridge, Hardin and Meade Counties Subject To CWD regulations

Special restrictions on baiting, carcass transportation and cervid rehabilitation are now effective in Breckinridge, Hardin and Meade counties as a result of the establishment of a Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Surveillance Zone, all in an effort to stop or limit disease spread among wild deer.

Following a recent detection of Chronic Wasting Disease in a deceased captive deer from Breckinridge County, the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission held a special-called video teleconference meeting on October 22, 2024, and voted to establish the Chronic Wasting Disease Surveillance Zone in the three counties.

The measure passed by a majority vote after lengthy discussion.

No changes to deer hunting seasons or bag limits are planned for the three counties, and there will be no targeted removal of deer in the area by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife.

Grain, feed, mineral blocks, salt blocks and other baits used to attract deer or other wildlife cannot be used in the new three-county zone. Bird feeders in yards, planted food plots and normal agricultural practices such as mineral blocks or feed for cattle are allowed. Hunters can use products that are not ingested by deer, such as scent attractors and deer urine products.

Carcasses or high-risk parts of deer harvested within a Chronic Wasting Disease Surveillance Zone county may not be taken outside of the three counties. Only de-boned meat, antlers, antlers attached to a clean skull cap, a clean skull, clean teeth, hides and finished taxidermy products may be taken out of the surveillance zone. Deer carcasses from outside the surveillance zone are allowed to be brought into the zone.

The rehabilitation of deer or any other cervid in the surveillance zone also is prohibited in counties subject to surveillance zone restrictions.

Chronic Wasting Disease is caused by abnormal proteins called prions and it affects white-tailed deer, elk and other animals in the deer family. There is no known cure or vaccine, and the disease is always fatal in infected animals. The disease is not known to be transmissible to people, but as a precaution the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends not consuming meat from deer that test positive for the disease. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife always recommends not consuming meat taken from animals that appear to be sick or in poor condition.

Since 2002, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife has CWD-tested more than 40,000 deer and elk from across the state.

Hunters can aid Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s statewide monitoring efforts by dropping off the heads of legally harvested and telechecked deer for Chronic Wasting Disease testing and aging at self-serve Chronic Wasting Disease Sample Drop-Off sites or by signing up for a Chronic Wasting Disease Sample Mail-in Kit. This service is provided at no cost to hunters. Detailed location information, instructions and additional resources may be found at the Chronic Wasting Disease Sample Drop-Off Sites page on the department’s website. Hunters will be promptly notified if a deer they harvested tests positive for Chronic Wasting Disease.

Another CWD Surveillance Zone, established in 2021 and expanded in 2023, remains in effect in far western Kentucky in Ballard, Calloway, Carlisle, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Marshall and McCracken counties.

While mandatory check stations are also allowed by law and are set for three weekends in November for the current eight counties in western Kentucky, mandatory check stations will not be required in 2024 for the three counties included in the new surveillance zone.

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife will also be collecting samples for Chronic Wasting Disease testing from roadkill deer in addition to working with local deer processors and taxidermists.

Officials with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife also announced in the meeting that the department is planning to hold a public meeting November 7, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. (Central) at the Breckinridge County Extension Office, 1377 S Highway 261, Hardinsburg, KY, to address Chronic Wasting Disease and the agency’s response to the recent detection. Meeting details will be shared on the department’s social media channels, on its website and through a news release.