In January 2021, the DWR confirmed chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a 2.5 year-old buck legally harvested in southwestern Montgomery County. The deer was harvested more than 160 miles from the closest previous detection. This led to the creation of Disease Management Area 3 (DMA3) and further surveillance has since detected CWD-positive deer in Carroll, Floyd, and Pulaski counties. Prevalence of CWD in affected DMA3 counties remains low. The DWR’s CWD Management Plan guides staff to incorporate any counties located within 10 miles of a CWD detection into a disease management area (DMA). Due to a detection in an adjacent North Carolina county, Patrick County was added to DMA3 in 2023. In 2024, Franklin, Roanoke, and Wythe counties were added to DMA3 as a result of detections within 10 miles of their borders.
If you are hunting in DMA3 this fall, please be aware of the following:
Franklin, Roanoke, and Wythe counties have been added to DMA3.
Mandatory CWD sampling will occur in several counties in DMA3 on Saturday, November 16, 2024. On this day, all deer harvested in Carroll, Franklin, Patrick, Pulaski, and Wythe counties must be taken to either a DWR staffed CWD sample station or a voluntary refrigerator drop-off station. DWR staffed sample stations will be open from 8AM to 7PM. The CWD Testing Grid Map can be used to locate CWD testing sites.
Free voluntary CWD testing is available for deer harvested at any time throughout the hunting season. Hunting in a DMA does not guarantee that you will harvest a CWD-positive deer but it does make it more likely when compared to hunting elsewhere in Virginia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all deer harvested from areas known to be affected by CWD be tested prior to consumption. If you would like to get a deer harvested in DMA1 tested, bring the deer head plus 4 inches of neck to a refrigerated drop site anywhere inside the DMA.
Whole deer carcasses and certain carcass parts from deer killed in DMA1 cannot be legally transported anywhere else in VA outside of the DMA1 boundary.
Hunting season dates, either-sex days, Earn A Buck requirements, and other deer hunting regulations for counties and cities included in DMA3 can be found in the Hunting & Trapping Regulations section of this website.