Hendersonville, TN Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)

Hendersonville's Title 10 (Animal Control) does not contain a wildlife-feeding section, but TWRA's statewide rules apply citywide. Critically, Sumner County is NOT inside the TWRA CWD Management Zone as of 2025-2026. The CWD Management Zone is limited to 22 West Tennessee counties (Benton, Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Lauderdale, Lewis, Madison, McNairy, Obion, Shelby, Tipton, Wayne, and Weakley); the year-round deer-feeding prohibition that comes with CWD Zone status does NOT apply in Sumner County. That said, on December 23, 2025, TWRA announced the first-ever CWD detection in adjacent Williamson and Dickson counties (Middle Tennessee), which may eventually trigger an expansion of the CWD Unit to include surrounding counties such as Sumner - Hendersonville hunters and homeowners should check the current TWRA CWD map at tn.gov/twra/hunting/cwd before each deer season. Outside of the CWD framework, several statewide rules still apply in Sumner County: (1) feeding bears anywhere in Tennessee is prohibited under TCA 70-4-116 and TWRA rules because of the public-safety habituation risk; (2) under TWRA hunting rules, it is unlawful to take deer over bait (corn, salt, mineral blocks, etc.) anywhere in the state, with limited exceptions for agricultural crops and elevated residential bird feeders that deer cannot reach; (3) carcass-importation rules restrict bringing whole deer or elk carcasses from outside Tennessee or from a CWD-positive area into Sumner County. Inside Hendersonville, intentional feeding that attracts coyotes, raccoons, or other nuisance wildlife to a residential lot may additionally be cited under the general nuisance provisions of the Hendersonville Municipal Code by Hendersonville Animal Control (615-264-5355).