Baiting and feeding banned for 2024 deer hunting season

With Wisconsin’s nine-day gun deer hunting season approaching (Nov. 23-Dec. 1), it’s a good time for a reminder about baiting and feeding bans, put in place in many areas of the state to help stop the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD). 

CWD is a contagious and fatal disease that can spread in cervid populations via animal-to- animal contact or through contact with materials such as saliva, urine, feces and carcasses of infected animals. 

Bait piles are not the only way CWD spreads from deer to deer, but they increase the risk of transmission. 

That’s why Wisconsin state law requires the DNR to implement a temporary baiting and feeding ban in any county where a CWD-positive deer is identified.