DNR adds eight counties to deer feeding and attractant ban (published June 18, 2025)

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has added eight counties to a deer feeding and attractant ban to reduce the risk of chronic wasting disease spread, after CWD was detected in wild deer in new areas of the state last year.

“The feeding and attractant ban is one tool to reduce unnatural congregating of deer and lower the risk of CWD spread,” said Paul Burr, acting big game program coordinator. “We use this tool where it provides the greatest benefit to the health of Minnesota’s white-tailed deer.”

Added to the feeding and attractant ban are Anoka, Clay, Ramsey, Sherburne, Steele, Traverse, Wilkin and Wright counties.

The ban now includes 32 Minnesota counties and remains in effect for Aitkin, Beltrami, Carver, Cass, Crow Wing, Dakota, Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Hennepin, Houston, Hubbard, Itasca, Le Sueur, Mower, Norman, Olmsted, Polk, Rice, Scott, Sibley, Wabasha, Washington and Winona counties. A map of the feeding and attractant ban area is available on the Minnesota DNR website.

The wording of the ban was clarified to prevent it from covering natural or manufactured products that do not have attractants added. This change allows hunters to use items such as non-scented ropes, mock scrapes with no scents added, and other items that were never intended to be covered under the deer feeding and attractant ban.

In areas outside the ban, the Minnesota DNR recommends that the public not feed deer. People interested in helping deer should focus efforts on improving habitat to provide long-term food resources and shelter. For more information on how to improve private land for the benefit of deer and other wildlife, visit the Minnesota DNR website.