Big game hunters should note the 2024 chronic wasting disease proclamation for baiting and transportation requirements for deer, elk and moose as a precaution against the spread of chronic wasting disease.

Noteworthy items include:

• Deer gun hunting unit 2B is removed from the list of units where baiting is restricted after the minimum sampling requirement was met with no positive detections.
• No new units have been added to the baiting restriction list for 2024-25.
• Hunters are prohibited from transporting into North Dakota the whole carcass or parts, except the lower-risk portions, of deer, elk, moose or other members of the cervid family harvested outside of North Dakota.

State Game and Fish Department officials will conduct surveillance of the state by region on a four-year rotation. This year, the CWD surveillance effort will consist of deer gun units in northeastern North Dakota. Outside of this area, hunters can still have their animal tested by taking it to a Game and Fish district office, any deer head collection site (primarily located in the surveillance area) or using a mail-in self-sampling kit. A unit outside the annual surveillance zone is still eligible to have a baiting restriction removed if the sampling goal is met, or can be added as a restricted unit if a positive is found.