LDWF issues reminder about rules regarding bringing deer meat back to Louisiana from out-of-state hunts

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The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) is reminding hunters about the state’s cervid carcass importation ban.

These rules apply to hunters returning from out-of-state hunts with harvested deer or other cervids.


The reminder comes after LDWF enforcement agents had to hand out citations to several Louisiana men for violating the importation ban in the Acadiana area with deer they allegedly killed in Texas.

According to the ban, which became effective in March 2017, no person shall import, transport or possess any cervid or part of a cervid carcass originating outside of Louisiana except:

· Meat that is cut and wrapped


· Meat that has been boned out

· Quarters or other portions of meat with no part of the spinal column or head attached

· Antlers


· Clean skull plates with antlers

· Cleaned skulls without tissue attached

· Capes


· Tanned hides

· Finished taxidermy mounts

· Cleaned cervid teeth.


LDWF also says that any and all bones shall be disposed of in a manner where its final destination is at an approved landfill or equivalent.

The reason for such stringent regulations is public safety. By having such rules, the likelihood that chronic wasting disease (CWD) will enter Louisiana through carcass importation is lessened.

Approved parts and meat from other states must contain a possession tag with the hunter’s name, out-of-state license number, address, species, date and location of harvest.


Every state has different possession requirements for game once processed.

Illegal transportation of cervid carcasses brings a $100 to $350 fine and up to 60 days in jail.

The importation ban regulation was passed by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission to prevent the introduction of CWD to Louisiana’s white-tailed deer population.


To see the full regulation, go to http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/pagehunting/32522-deer-season-2016-17/cervid_carcass_importation_regulation.pdf.

LDWF has monitored and tested for CWD for more than 15 years, has checked more than 9,000 deer during that period and has not detected the disease. It has, however, been found in deer in Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas.