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What You Need to Know About Hunting in Disease Management Area 2

In 2018, DWR confirmed chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a buck legally harvested in Culpeper County. The following hunting season, CWD was detected in a buck harvested in Fauquier County, and Disease Management Area 2 (DMA2) was created in response.  Most recently, a CWD positive buck was harvested in Fairfax County in 2022.  In response, DMA2 has expanded and now includes Arlington, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Madison, Page, Orange, Prince William, and Rappahannock counties.

If you are hunting in DMA2 this fall, please be aware of the following:

Arlington, Fairfax, and Prince William Counties have now been added to DMA2.  

All counties in DMA2 are subject to Earn a Buck regulations and are open for early (Sept. 2 – Oct. 6) and late (Jan. 7 – March 31) antlerless-only general firearms season on private lands.

Mandatory CWD Sampling will occur in DMA2 in Prince William County on Saturday, November 18, 2023. All deer harvested in Prince William County on this day must be taken to either a DWR staffed sample station (Fairfax Rod and Gun Club: 7039 Signal Hill Rd, Manassas) or a voluntary CWD testing drop off station (list and map below). DWR staffed sample stations will be open from 8AM-7PM.

Whole deer carcasses and carcass parts containing brain and spinal cord tissue from deer killed in DMA2 can be transported only within DMA1 and DMA2. Click here for more details on carcass transport.

Deer heads plus 4 inches of neck from a deer harvested at any time during the season anywhere in DMA2 may be brought to a CWD deer head drop site for free voluntary testing.  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 Prevention and Control recommends that all deer harvested in an area known to be CWD-positive be tested prior to consumption. If you would like to get a deer harvested in DMA2 tested for CWD at any time during the deer hunting season, bring the deer head plus 4 inches of neck to any of the Department CWD deer head drop sites for free CWD testing.  See the following websites for more details:

Deer feeding is prohibited year-round in DMA2 and in all of the following counties in VA: Albemarle, Augusta, Bland, Buchanan, Carroll, Clarke, Craig, Culpeper, Dickenson, Fairfax, Fauquier, Floyd, Fluvanna, Franklin, Frederick, Giles, Grayson, Greene, Loudoun, Louisa, Madison, Montgomery, Orange, Page, Patrick, Prince William, Pulaski, Rappahannock, Roanoke, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Warren, Wise, and Wythe counties, and all cities and towns within these counties.

Hunting season dates, either-sex days, Earn A Buck requirements, and other deer hunting regulations for counties and cities included in DMA2 can be found in the Hunting & Trapping Regulations section of this website.