A proposed statewide ban on the use of urine-based deer attractants failed to advance after the Pennsylvania Board of Commissioners was split in a 4-4 vote. One commissioner said that while the proposal failed to move forward, there will be the opportunity to bring it up again in the future.

Many commissioners commented they had difficulty arriving at a decision. Although there is evidence that commercially produced urine-based lures might contain Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) prions that could be infectious, the actual risk of the disease spreading to deer or elk is very small. 

In a previous article, we stated that enacting urine-based lure bans should be low on the priority list. If any individual or group is truly serious about stopping CWD, the immediate discussion should begin with mandatory testing of all captive deer and end with massive herd reduction of infected populations (both wild and captive).

CWD is deadly to deer and other cervids. CWD can be transmitted directly from deer to deer or indirectly when an animal comes into contact with prions in the soil or other contaminated elements. Where CWD is detected in free-ranging or captive deer, the Game Commission establishes regulations to try to slow the spread of CWD to other areas. Within CWD Disease Management Areas, the use or field possession of urine-based deer lures is prohibited.