Cranbrook issues regulation reminders ahead of January deer hunt
Published 3:40 pm Monday, December 15, 2025
With an upcoming provincially-mandated deer hunt occurring in the outskirts around Cranbrook in January, the City is reminding all hunters to be fully aware of municipal boundaries and all applicable regulations.
The special hunt was announced by the province in October as a tool to monitor the prevalence of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), a fatal wildlife disease that was first detected in B.C. in 2024 from samples collected from deer near Cranbrook.
The hunt will run from Jan. 5-31 and is intended to lower deer density around Cranbrook to help limit disease spread, remove potentially infected animals, and protect wildlife health, hunting opportunities, and the cultural, recreational and food resources communities depend on.
The hunt is designated within a specific boundary around the outskirts of the city. The hunt will allow the harvest of both antlered and antlerless mule deer and white-tailed deer and will be open to any licensed B.C. deer hunter.
The city is asking any participating hunters to be aware of regulations such as avoiding hunting on private property without permission and respecting restricted areas such as the Community Forest, which remains off-limits under the BC Forest and Range Practices Act, as well as being familiar with city bylaws relating to firearms.
Firearms Bylaw 4220, 2025, states that discharging a firearm or bow anywhere within the City of Cranbrook is not allowed unless you are a Peace Officer, or an employee or contractor of the City of Cranbrook, the Province of BC, the Federal Government of Canada or an employee of the SPCA.
Disobeying this bylaw may receive a $5,000 fine or six months in prison upon conviction.
Similarly, it is against the law to discharge a firearm in specific areas under the Province of British Columbia’s Closed Areas Regulation under the Wildlife Act.
The language in the act states that discharging a firearm is prohibited within 100 metres of homes, schools, churches, parks, or other occupied areas, and within or across the road allowance of numbered highways or provincially maintained public roads.
Certain locations are also designated as “No Shooting” or “No Hunting” zones, particularly near residential and recreational areas.
In addition, anyone wishing to discharge a firearm on private property must have the landowner’s permission and comply with all applicable local bylaws.
To date, there have been six confirmed test-positive cases of CWD identified from deer samples collected around Cranbrook.
CWD affects cervids, such as deer, moose, elk and caribou, and is a condition of the central nervous system caused by infectious agents called prions, which kill cells in the brain as they accumulate and lead to neurological disease.
Prions, a type of protein, also accumulate in other tissues and may be shed by the infected animal into water or on plants and bedding through saliva, urine and feces.
It is 100 per cent fatal to wildlife with no known treatment.
However, it is not known to affect humans or livestock, although public health guidance recommends that animals with CWD should not be consumed.
