Deer Baiting, Feeding Ban In Wisconsin Extended After New CWD Case

According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, infectious neurological disease affecting deer, moose, elk, and reindeer/caribou. It belongs to the family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), also referred to as prion diseases.

The Wisconsin DNR began monitoring the state's wild white-tailed deer population for CWD in 1999. The first positives were found in 2002.

Hunters in Wisconsin are encouraged to test deer for CWD. The disease significantly reduces deer survival rates, especially for infected females and males, leading to population declines.

If it is found in a Wisconsin county, the DNR imposes immediate restrictions, including a ban on feeding and baiting deer in that county, along with shorter bans in adjacent counties, to stop the spread.

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The DNR says that baiting or feeding deer encourages them to congregate unnaturally around a shared food source, where infected deer can spread CWD through direct contact with healthy deer or indirectly by leaving behind infectious prions in their saliva, blood, feces, and urine.

CWD Case Confirmed At The End Of The Year

In December 2025, the DNR reported that a new chronic wasting disease case had been confirmed in La Crosse County, located in the Driftless Region of southwestern Wisconsin.

La Crosse County had already been under a two-year deer baiting and feeding ban because CWD had been discovered in nearby Vernon County, so Wisconsin law required the ban to be extended for another three years and be reset following any further detections.

Now, just days into the new year, another county is going through the same thing after its first case of CWD has been confirmed.

New Case Reported In 2026

On January 5, 2026, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources confirmed the first positive test result for chronic wasting disease in a wild deer in Clark County, located in the central part of Wisconsin.

The deer was a hunter-harvested adult doe and was not harvested within 10 miles of any other county.

Consistent with state law, this new detection will cause the following:

• Clark County was already under a 2-year baiting and feeding ban before this detection. That ban will be extended for another three years and will reset following any future detections, as required by state law.

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Since the detection was not within 10 miles of any county lines, no other counties are impacted by a baiting and feeding ban from this detection.

More information regarding baiting and feeding regulations is available on the DNR’s Baiting and Feeding webpage.