Tennessee Wildlife Commission previews hunting seasons, outlines long-term shift in chronic wasting disease strategy

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency on Thursday previewed proposed hunting seasons for 2025–26 and described a deliberate, multi-year approach to managing chronic wasting disease (CWD), while saying agency recommendations for most deer and turkey seasons will remain unchanged for the coming year.

Assistant Chief for Game Species Mark McBride told the Tennessee Wildlife Commission that the agency is moving to an ‘‘adaptive harvest management’’ model that uses multi-year trends and population modeling to set seasons, rather than reacting to single-year harvest swings. McBride said the division is not recommending changes to deer and turkey seasons for the 2025–26 cycle and asked commissioners to adopt a multi-year rhythm to allow the models to “learn” from predictions versus actual outcomes.

Why it matters: The commission sets seasons that affect tens of thousands of hunters, influence wildlife populations statewide and guide enforcement and habitat work. The agency’s stated shift — from short-term, aggressive harvest incentives in CWD-positive areas toward restoring long-term hunter trust and using structured science — could change how regulators respond…