The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources continues to implement strategies during the fall hunting seasons designed to monitor and prevent the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

The strategies are designed to both limit the introduction of CWD from other states and to alert wildlife officials to any new detections of the infectious disease, which is always fatal to white-tailed deer, elk and other members of the deer family.

They include:

--A special antlerless-only season in the CWD Surveillance Zone

--Restrictions on transporting deer carcasses

--Restrictions on the use of certain types of feeders

--And sampling requirements, in some cases mandatory

“Kentucky continues to work hard in the fight against CWD,” said Ben Robinson, director of Wildlife for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “Every decision made is aimed at ensuring we maintain a quality deer herd for our children and grandchildren.”

Kentucky’s CWD Surveillance Zone currently includes 23 counties in four distinct areas where CWD was detected either in Kentucky or nearby in a bordering state. The counties are Ballard, Breckinridge, Calloway, Carlisle, Casey, Fulton, Graves, Hardin, Henderson, Hickman, Laurel, Lincoln, Marshall, McCracken, McCreary, Meade, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Russell, Union, Wayne, Webster and Whitley.

Some of the new regulations this season include:

A four-day season, Sept. 25-28, 2026, will allow hunters in CWD Surveillance Zone counties also located in Deer Zones 1-3 to take antlerless deer. Firearms, bows or crossbows may be used during this season, but only antlerless deer may be harvested.

Chronic Wasting Disease, which is caused by misfolded proteins, is spread by deer via contact with infected bodily fluids (such as saliva, blood, spinal fluid, urine and feces) or through contaminated food, soil and water. It can be spread by live deer as well as by the movement of carcasses and high-risk carcass parts. To block the spread of the disease, a number of restrictions are in place.