A deer harvested in Shelby County has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). The CWD-positive deer changes Shelby County from being a high-risk CWD county to a CWD-positive county.
Shelby County is already a part of Unit CWD, therefore Unit CWD hunting regulations apply there as well as the deer carcass exportation and wildlife feeding restrictions applying to all high-risk and positive counties.
The only change for Shelby County will be reclassification to CWD-positive and, as a result, an automatic slight modification to carcass exportation restrictions there.
“The CWD-positive deer was a 2 ½-year-old buck harvested in the Shelby County portion of the Wolf River Wildlife Management Area,” said Chuck Yoest, CWD Coordinator. “This comes as no surprise since CWD had already been detected nearby in neighboring Fayette County.”
The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission instituted deer carcass exportation and wildlife feeding restrictions to positive and high-risk counties to best manage CWD in the state. Supplemental feeding of wildlife is banned in high-risk and positive counties; therefore placement of grains, salt products, and other consumable products for wildlife is prohibited. The ban does not apply to feed placed within 100 feet of a residence, feed placed in a manner not accessible to deer, or feed and minerals as the result of normal agricultural practices. Food plots are still legal in affected counties.