JACKSON, Wyo. — As summer heat winds down, hunters are getting their proverbial ducks in a row for the Sept. 1 start to archery season.
Not much has changed for hunters this year in terms of official rules and regulations apart from slight adjustments to season dates in certain areas. But confirmed cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in local elk as well as an uptick in bear activity should be on hunters’ radar as they prepare to head out.
Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) Public Information Specialist Raegin Akhtar spoke with Buckrail this week about what to expect this fall. Several of these pointers apply to all recreationists spending time outdoors this September and October, beyond just the hunters.
CWD considerations
Following two confirmed cases of CWD discovered on the National Elk Refuge this year — the first to ever be reported on the refuge — hunters in the Jackson region should be vigilant about the disease. Always fatal to the ungulates it infects, the disease can spread rapidly in a herd.
“Most of our deer hunt areas around Jackson are going to be CWD focus areas again this year,” Akhtar said. “In the state, we have CWD focus areas and CWD mandatory areas, where it is mandatory to take a CWD sample after you harvest a deer or an elk. … [In these local focus areas,] we would really appreciate hunters submitting those samples when they’re able to, but they’re not mandatory.”
Hunters unsure about the process of taking CWD samples (a process that involves removing the deceased animal’s lymph nodes) are invited to bring the animal’s head into the nearest WGFD office. In Jackson, that’s 420 N. Cache Street.
“We get a lot of hunters submitting samples year to year,” Akhtar said. “Hunters care about the resource so they are pretty great about submitting those samples to us.”
Hunters that handle meat are advised to wear latex or rubber gloves during field dressing, and to minimize handling of brain tissue, the spinal cord and lymph nodes. Tools used on the meat should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected after use. Akhtar added that WGFD is asking hunters to further support its management efforts by reporting any sick animal sightings to the agency, and by adhering to carcass transport regulations.
Hunters who intend to eat the meat they’ve harvested might consider awaiting CWD test results before tucking in, as symptoms of the disease aren’t always immediately obvious. Akhtar noted that test results can take up to 3 weeks to return from the lab, and that in the meantime, meat could be stored by quartering and freezing it. She points to the Centers for Disease Control recommendation that humans should avoid eating animals that have CWD until further research is conducted.
“That is not a legal requirement, that would just be the pest practices recommendation,” she said. “If someone were to choose to eat the animal, that is their choice, of course.”
Bear awareness
Many hunters are well-versed in bear safety practices, but a handful of major bear encounters tallied in 2026 make this a great year to brush up.
Hunting season coincides with the time of year when bears can be especially active and aggressive as they prepare for winter hibernation. In hyperphagia, bears eat heartily to put on weight for winter hibernation, making them active in seeking out food sources. According to the North American Bear Center, black bears can ingest 15,000 to 20,000 calories per day during this phase.
“They’re more active moving across the landscape, looking for food,” Akhtar noted. “For those out recreating, follow bear safety guidelines: hiking in groups, making noise, keeping eyes out for fresh scat and tracks. The berry crop has not been great this year; there’s some limited natural food sources there.”
The suboptimal wild berry crop has been difficult to quantify, but has been observed anecdotally by outdoors professionals and amateurs. Morgan Graham, wildlife habitat specialist with Teton Conservation District, told Buckrail he noticed some variation in berry supply depending on plant species and elevation. He suspects the timing of the frosts and flowering is a contributing factor amid a year full of offbeat weather.
“My suspicion is that this year’s unusually warm spring got a lot of berry producing shrubs leafing out early, followed by three or four brutal hard frosts in May,” he wrote in an email. “Several of those frosts hit within a day or two of plants flowering, which seems like a pretty good recipe for a poor crop in addition to some pretty paltry and spotty precip through much of June.”
As bears look to other food sources beyond their favored berry bushes, hunters and recreationists are advised to be extra vigilant.
“When we’re out hunting, we are usually hunting at dawn and dusk, we are packing meat out in the dark a lot of times, we are purposefully trying to be quiet: the opposite of what you would want to do to be bear aware,” Akhtar pointed out.
Hunters can follow these tips to help minimize the chance of a bear conflict:
- Always hunt and call game with a partner and stay within sight of each other.
- Remain alert and watchful for bear tracks, scat, carcasses and gut piles.
- Retrieve game animals as quickly as possible and watch for approaching bears when field dressing and quartering. The longer game is in the field, at camp or in the back of a vehicle, the more likely it is to be discovered by a bear.
- Have the proper equipment to quarter and hang the carcass in a tree at least 10 to 15 feet from the ground and 4 feet from the tree trunk. Separate the carcass from the entrails and place the carcass in an area that can be safely viewed from a distance, if game must be left on the ground overnight.
- Make noise when retrieving game. Use binoculars to search the area for bears and to determine if the game has been disturbed by bears prior to walking up to the carcass.
- Be aware that bears often set up a daybed near hunter-killed carcasses.
- If a bear has claimed a carcass, leave the scene and report the incident to the WGFD. Do not attempt to scare the bear away.
- Bears actively defend their food, their young and their personal space. During the fall, bears actively search for food before denning for winter.
See the WGFD website for abundant information regarding season dates, stamps and permits, maps and more.
