Deer Management News
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Hunters Harvest 92,553 Deer During '25-'26 Seasons March 4, 2026 West Virginia, Connect Bridgeport
... The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) announced that hunters harvested 92,553 white-tailed deer during the 2025-2026 seasons, which is a 17 percent decrease from the 2024 deer harvest of 111,646 and 14 percent below the 5-year average of 107,434. This year’s decreased harvest was caused by an increase in hard mast production ..,
DNR Releases Summary Of 2025 CWD Sampling Efforts March 4, 2026 Wisconsin DNR
... In total, 17,759 deer were sampled throughout the state during the 2025 hunting seasons with 2,006 samples testing positive. Most (87%) of these detections were in the Southern Farmland Zone...
Chronic wasting disease confirmed in deer for first time near Scofield, new areas of Uintah County March 4, 2026 Utah Division of Wildlife Resources - Utah.gov
... Chronic wasting disease was first detected in Utah’s mule deer in 2002, in northeastern Utah, and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources recently confirmed it has now spread to deer in the Scofield area of Carbon County, as well as new areas of Uintah County...
Video Below: Idaho Fish and Game said animals are using the overpass, which was created to help migratory animals move freely over I-90 in Osburn. March 3, 2026
LA County Counsel calls Catalina Island's plan to eradicate mule deer 'unnecessarily violent' March 3, 2026 California, NBC Los Angeles
... In her letter, LA County Counsel Dawyn Harrison called the plan “inhumane and deeply distressing,” urging the conservancy to sterilize the animals instead of killing them... “Proceeding with a five-year mass slaughter without a definitive, peer-reviewed population survey is scientifically reckless and erodes all public trust.” ...
Some Baltimore residents oppose city's deer management program by use of sharpshooters March 3, 2026 Maryland, CBS News on MSN
... more than 100 deer will be targeted at Leakin Park.... "If you're able to bring it down to that 20 deer per square mile, and if you basically go hands off for a little while, you'll have an increase back in the population. So we have to do constant management," Boehne said...
Wolves are stealing cougar kills in Yellowstone, study finds March 3, 2026 Science Daily
... researchers found that wolves often muscle in on cougar kills—sometimes even killing the cats—but cougars never return the favor. Instead of fighting back, cougars adapt. As elk numbers dropped, they shifted toward hunting more deer, which they can eat quickly and in safer terrain, helping them dodge wolf encounters...
How Many Mountain Lions Are in Wyoming? March 3, 2026 K2 Radio
... The Wyoming Game and Fish Department does not publish an official population count, but current estimates suggest there are approximately 2,000 adult mountain lions in Wyoming... They prefer habitats with dense brush, canyons, and steep ridges that provide cover for hunting prey like deer and elk ...
High-Fence Ranches in Idaho Promised Biosecurity. Then Elk Started Escaping, and Wild Deer and Moose Broke in March 2, 2026 Yahoo
... Idaho Fish and Game culled 82 wild mule deer that wandered into a high-fence ranch near Rexburg due to fears of chronic wasting disease.bbRecent incidents in Idaho have shown ongoing problems with intermingling between wild and captive cervids, with wild animals entering high-fence ranches and domestic animals escaping ...
Ohio lawmaker wants to examine reintroducing elk in the state March 2, 2026 WOWK-TV
... Elk ... could once be found across Ohio, but were extirpated from the state in the 1800s due to overhunting and deforestation... The proposal would require the study to include identifying potential suitable habitats for elk in the state ...
CSU's new wildlife tracking collar uses biodegradable material March 2, 2026 Colorado, KiowaCountyPress.net
... Kirk McGilvray, associate professor of mechanical engineering, said a polymer used in the new fasteners slowly degrades after exposure to rain, sunlight and animal sweat... Data gleaned from GPS tracking collars on deer have been used to identify where high-traffic migration corridors meet roads and highways in order to site wildlife overpasses...
Dig this: Replanting sagebrush in the wake of wildfire is the perfect way to give back to Idaho’s wild critters and places March 2, 2026 Idaho Fish and Game
... Last year, an army of volunteers helped replant thousands of acres with 40 million sagebrush and bitterbrush seeds after the Paddock Fire torched a huge portion of mule deer winter range near Emmett in the summer of ’24... That’s why Idaho Fish and Game is seeking volunteers to come spend a day or a weekend helping our habitat biologists and various partners help plant sagebrush seedlings....
Connecticut researchers now know why COVID is no longer infecting animals March 1, 2026 Yahoo
... their study, the results of which were published in the journal Nature late last year ... they learned that while COVID-19 was prevalent in wild animals during the height of the pandemic, later variants such as the omicron strain were less suited to animal hosts...
Assessing Forest Habitat Structure with LiDAR Across Ungulate Management Gradients, 2026, Forests
... LiDAR studies have previously demonstrated potential for linking high-resolution structural data to ungulate habitat use, and our approach extends this by focusing on structural complexity as a habitat indicator. Results show a consistent increase in LiDAR-derived structural complexity between 2019 and 2023 across all regions. This increase occurred across management contexts and was not consistently explained by fencing or hunting regime effects, suggesting that site conditions, forest composition, and successional processes were dominant drivers during the observation period. Hunting regime showed no statistically significant and no consistent effect on structural complexity across regions or years...
Michigan's Apex Predator: 2025 a Record Year for Cougar Sighting March 1, 2026 WKFR
.. biologists logged more than 30 verified sightings, surpassing previous records and marking the third straight year of climbing sightings ... very single one was in the Upper Peninsula ...
Teeth are the key for biologists to understand the health of Vermont’s deer population February 28, 2026 VTDigger
... Understanding the age of the deer population is key to how the regulations are written, and the internal structure of the deer’s teeth produces precise age estimates... Last year, more than 3,000 tooth samples were collected from the stations in the field and mailed in to Vermont Fish & Wildlife...
Battle over deer control drives Sun City neighbors to court, residents ask for jury trial February 27, 2026 Texas, KVUE
... Nineteen homeowners have filed a lawsuit against the Sun City Community Association – their homeowner’s association – alleging the group uses feeders and nets to trap and kill deer as part of a population control effort. On Friday, a couple dozen neighbors and attorneys gathered inside the 395th District Courtroom for the first hearing in the case... [Video Below]
RMEF Grants $400000 to Support WAFWA Wildlife Movement Projects in Nevada, Washington, Wyoming February 27, 2026 Outdoor Wire
... The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation recently awarded a $400,000 grant to the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) to fund three state-led projects aimed at conserving, restoring and enhancing big game seasonal habitat and migration corridors in Nevada, Washington and Wyoming...
Louisiana hunters raise concerns with new head of wildlife February 27, 2026 Avoyelles Today
... When asked whether the department plans to increase the whitetail population on public lands to 70 percent of the land’s carrying capacity, as referenced in the agency’s wildlife mission statement, Tuma responded that the department has an approved deer management plan and intends to follow and manage it...
Deer hunt in January in southeast B.C. found no new wasting disease cases: government January 26, 2026 British Columbia, The Star
... The B.C. government says a deer hunt in Cranbrook last month saw 228 animals killed, but none of them showed infection for chronic wasting disease... most of the animals killed in the hunt were white-tailed deer...
North Dakota 2025 CWD Test Results February 26, 2026 North Dakota Game and Fish
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department tested 1,224 animals for chronic wasting disease during the 2025 sampling season. Game and Fish confirmed 16 deer tested positive for CWD, all of which were taken by hunters... CWD was not previously detected in units 2B and 3D2...
St. Maries hunter jailed for 'poaching spree' February 26, 2026 Idaho, Coeur d'Alene Press
... killed seven deer in November 2024 — including five within a single 24-hour period — during unlawful hours and with spotlights. Three of the bucks were classified as trophy white-tailed deer, which carries higher penalties than non-trophy classifications... seven months in jail, one month for each deer killed, followed by five years of probation ...
CWD is spreading in Montana. Will deer and elk populations decline as a result? February 25, 2025 MontanaFreePress.org
... “We now know that chronic wasting disease is found in 33% of hunt districts in Montana ... our highest three-year prevalence was 39% in white-tailed deer and 23% in mule deer,” FWP wildlife biologist Bevin McCormick told lawmakers... CWD is believed to have originated in the 1960s or 1970s from a U.S. Department of Agriculture facility in northern Colorado where scientists were researching a related disease called Scrapie that infects sheep and goats ...
Status of the Mule Deer Population in Western Sonora, Mexico February 25, 2026 Animals
...The mule deer population in Mexico declined severely during the early 20th century but recovered due to public policies centered on sport hunting. Sonora is considered the main reference for mule deer management in Mexico; however, the conservation status of the species in the state remains unclear... An aerial survey was conducted from 4 to 24 November 2019 ... a total of 1376 deer were observed, with a male:female:fawn ratio of 24:100:12... The results falls within the limits of a stable population of desert mule deer ...
Fish and Game completes targeted wolf management actions in Unit 4 to support elk recovery February 25, 2026 Idaho Fish and Game
Idaho Fish and Game completed targeted wolf management actions on Feb. 21 and 22 that removed three wolves from Unit 4 in the Panhandle elk zone. This marks the first time such actions have been implemented in Idaho’s Panhandle Region. The effort, when combined with recent success of local trappers, substantially reduced the size of a single wolf pack in a key part of the unit. Recent data indicate that elk numbers in Unit 4 have declined, with predation on elk calves a contributing factor....
Joyce looking to expand hunting industry in Illinois February 25, 2026 Illinois Senate Democrats
... Senate Bill 2756 would increase the max capacity of centerfire rifles from one to three rounds. This would put Illinois on par with all other states, as Illinois is the only state that institutes a single-shot limit on centerfire rifle capacity... Single-shot rifles increase the possibility of severely wounding a deer without giving hunters the opportunity to humanely put the deer down with a second shot ...
I-80 severs vast Wyoming wildlife habitat. A UW study aims to optimize how animals avert the deadly crossing February 25, 2026 WyoFile
... A new research project out of the Wyoming Migration Initiative aims to better understand and make life easier for the thousands of elk, mule deer and pronghorn ... “This herd actually still has connectivity across the interstate,” Kauffman said. “It’s not because of purpose-built [infrastructure] — it’s because there just happened to be these machinery underpasses that they’re using.” ...
Why do female caribou have antlers? Arctic study points to nutrition February 24, 2026 Phys.org on MSN
... Researchers at the University of Cincinnati found evidence that caribou, particularly moms with newborns, gnaw on antlers that were shed years earlier to supplement their diets with crucial minerals...The study found that 86% of the 1,567 antlers they examined showed signs of gnawing, and 99% of the gnaw marks were left by caribou. "We knew that animals gnawed on these antlers, but everyone assumed they were mostly rodents. ...
Michigan hunting numbers down 30% in 30 years, lawmakers push NRC reforms February 24, 2026 UpNorthLive
... There may be a handful of reasons why Michigan's hunter numbers are dropping. But many point to a lack of successful opportunities in the field... "I hear a lot more, ‘gosh, the numbers aren't there anymore or they're smaller,’ ... You get them out there, you sit on the field all day, they get cold, they get wet, they don't see anything...
Bluffton, Deer culling divides Bluffton neighborhood: ‘It’s like a slaughter’ February 24, 2026 South Carolina, The Island Packet
... Residents of the bucolic community divided by U.S. 278 voted in favor of culling deer by a small majority, after a petition against a board decision to selectively kill the animals forced a vote...ome neighbors have raised concerns about Tims’ business practices and questioned why he was called in to do both the survey and the cull itself...
Vermont recommends continued, but reduced, NEK moose hunting February 23, 2026 AP News
... Nick Fortin, a biologist and the moose and deer project leader with the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, has seen the impact of winter ticks firsthand. He’s often called in when a dead moose calf is found. “It’s incredibly depressing,” he said in an interview. “They’re withered away to nothing, literally crawling with ticks on the carcass when you get there.”...
New law in effect on nonresident shed antler hunting in Montana February 23, 2025 NBC Montana
... includes a $50 nonresident shed hunting license for Montana's Wildlife Management Areas, along with prohibiting nonresidents from picking up antlers on WMAs for the first seven days of spring opening...
Clarksville, Southern Indiana officials demand answers over planned deer reduction at Clarksville's Origin Park February 23, 2026 WDRB
... The planned wildlife reduction operation at Clarksville's Origin Park was paused just hours before it was scheduled to begin so officials can review the process.... New Albany and Clarksville officials said they weren't originally told about these plans until over the weekend... [Video Below]
The farther the walk, the fatter the deer, study finds February 23, 2026 Wyoming, High Country News
... The farther they walk, the more calories they find as they reach lush mountain meadows teeming with high-protein groceries. And because they get fatter, they carry more fawns to term. “The migrating mule deer are the engine” for the whole population, said Anna Ortega, lead author on a recent paper published in the journal Current Biology. “If you sever that migration, you will have far fewer animals.” ...
Michigan Seeks License Increases to Boost DNR Funding February 23, 2026 OutdoorHub
.... Resident deer hunting tags would rise from $20 to $25... the department is seeking what he described as a modest increase to offset declining participation and rising operational costs. Michigan has not increased hunting and fishing license fees since 2014...
Iron Mountain, Can the herd be saved? February 23, 2026 Michigan, The Mining Gazette
... Iron Mountain wants to close a costly deer pen ... The type of license the city has for the animals doesn’t allow them to be moved, but the DNR is “open to granting an exception to state law and allowing reclassification, dependent upon disease test results,” Samantha Courtney ...
Video Below: Mule deer Conservation Strategy, Wyoming Fish and Game
Town leaders left in the dark about Wildlife reduction operation at Clarksville's Origin Park February 22, 2026 Indiana, WDRB
... McEwen shared a statement opposing the deer reduction operation saying that the "reduction hunt was arranged without notification to, or discussion by the town council." It's unclear how many deer will be killed in the area... Steve Acree, agrees with Young, adding the community embraces the wildlife in the area. "I've never heard of anyone having any issues with them either most of the people in the community love coming over here seeing the deer," ...
Idaho culls mule deer trapped in domestic elk ranch February 22, 2026 The Lewiston Tribune
... More than 80 wild mule deer that found their way inside a captive elk facility in southeastern Idaho have been killed ... The deer appear to have gained access to the facility through gaps in and under the fence ... the facility is required to test animals for the disease [chronic wasting] because some of its elk were sourced from an area in Alberta, Canada, where CWD is present...
Fire Island Sharpshooters to Return After Failing to Make Their Deer-Killing Quota February 22, 2026 New York, Fire Island News
... Eight winters later, and approaching the 10th anniversary of the NPS Northeast Region’s approval of the Deer Management Plan, the subject of lethal methods to control the Fire Island white-tailed deer population continues to spark division and controversy. Many in our social media pages voiced disgust in the euphemisms used in the NPS/FINS lexicon to neutralize what the action really is—the killing of animals...
AGFC walks back proposal to reduce deer limit February 22, 2026 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
... Ralph Meeker, the commission's deer program coordinator, noted that 99.89% of the state's hunters killed between one and five deer during the 2025-26 deer seasons... A grand total of 134 hunters killed six, which also means that a six-deer limit represented a grand total of 134 deer having been removed from the herd...
35 convicted in Harrison County deer processing investigation February 21, 2026 Ohio, Your Ohio News
... the violations included the unlawful sale of venison, much of it from checked deer that were donated for local food pantries... ordered to pay $16,500 in restitution, to be divided among victims whose venison was stolen ...
Text of Avalon Protest to the Catalina Island Conservancy's Permit February 20, 2026 California, The Catalina Islander
... Re: City of Avalon’s Protest to the Catalina Island Conservancy’s Permit and Corresponding CEQA Determination to Massacre All Mule Deer on Catalina Island... This written protest is submitted because: (1) no notice under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) was provided to the City ...
Mule Deer Conservation Strategy seeks to address significant population decrease February 20, 2026 Wyoming, yourwyominglink.com
... Since 2000, the estimated number of mule deer in Wyoming has fallen from over 500,000 to around 200,000... conserving mule deer primarily rests on the ability to improve the quality and availability of mule deer habitat...
Free rein: Are feral horses competing with native ungulates in British Columbia? 2026 British Columbia, Journal of Wildlife Management, 2026
... We did not find strong evidence that horses are negatively affecting moose or mule deer in this region through competition. However, we recommend further research to investigate other potential impacts of feral horses, such as through grazing and subsidies to predators, to determine if management of this feral horse population is necessary...
Blacktail Deer Foundation Releases First-of-Its-Kind Report Identifying 80000 Acres for Sitka Black-Tailed Deer Habitat Restoration Across Southeast Alaska February 20, 2026 Alaska, Outdoor Wire
... Historical logging and forest management practices in Southeast Alaska have altered both the ecological conditions that sustain Sitka black-tailed deer populations and the social fabric of remote communities that depend on them. Many previously harvested stands have regrown into dense, closed-canopy conditions that suppress the understory vegetation deer depend on for food creating "green deserts". This report fills a critical information gap in conservation efforts and forest restoration ...
AGFC proposes simplified deer season structure and reduced regulations for 2026 February 20, 2026 Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
... The statewide seasonal limit of six deer with no more than two being bucks will remain in place, but private and public land zone limits will see a major standardization. Each private land zone will have a limit of four deer (no more than two bucks), and each WMA will have a limit of three deer (no more than two bucks)...
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Deer in the News
Wildlife officer shoots off deer antler, saving 2 bucks with 1 shot March 4, 2026 Ohio, FOX 8 News on MSN
... A state wildlife officer successfully shot off the antler of a buck, saving the deer as well as another buck the animal had become entangled with ... The ODNR said one of the bucks had netting stuck in its antlers which entangled the other buck as well...
Rocky Mountain elk seen in the Central Valley
CBS47 and KSEE24 February 26, 2026 California, News from YourCentralValley.com
... A Rocky Mountain elk has been taking a solo trip across the Central Valley for the last few months... “The Rocky Mountain elk are mostly down by Tehachapi. And so that is, that’s a likely source of where he came from,” said Tim Kroeker, Wildlife Biologist for the California Fish and Wildlife...
Albino doe continues to roam Farmington Hills as deer cull looms February 25, 2026 Michigan, USA TODAY
... A rare white deer was recently spotted in Farmington Hills, Michigan, amid a regional deer cull. Residents have expressed hope that the unique animal will be spared by sharpshooters. City officials have not confirmed if the white deer will be protected ...
Video Below: We leave you this Sunday with White-tailed deer foraging in the Genesee Valley near Rochester, New York. CBS Sunday Morning, February 22, 2026
Snowmobilers rescue moose stuck in snow in New Hampshire's North Country February 18, 2026 WMUR
... all you could see, was the hair and her head ... She was unable to move, just couldn't move at all ... the moose was calm but exhausted while the group spent about 20 minutes digging her out with their hands and boots...
Video Below: Workers rescue deer from wastewater treatment tank in Jessamine County. February 11, 2026 Kentucky, WKYT
Michigan State Police rescue deer in East Grand Rapids Februaary 9, 2026 Huron Daily Tribune
... With help from the homeowner, Wehler was able to carefully free the animal... After being released, the deer ran off without issue ...
Firefighter bear hugs terrified deer on icy lake in daring rescue February 8, 2026 Washington, The Washington Post on MSN.com
... at Washington state’s Loon Lake ...A deer was stranded in the middle of it... firefighter Gavyn Gallagher, 26, and his team arrived ... managed to lasso her with a rope, then splayed his body on the ice and hugged her from behind ...
Inside Maine's surprisingly cutthroat shed-hunting world February 3, 2026 Bangor Daily News
... In recent years, shed hunting in Maine has exploded in popularity... stories circulate of stolen spots, sabotaged areas, false online accusations and even threats ...
Video Below: A deer with a plastic bucket stuck on its head has prompted at least a dozen calls to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in Rock County. January 2, 2026, WMTV
Hunters Perform CPR on Deer and Save Its Life January 29, 2026 Texas, Newstalk KGVO
... him and his hunting partner stumble upon a partially alive buck stuck in a fence, choking, its neck wound tight in wire... Aldofo begins performing chest compressions ... [Video Below]
Video Below: How white-tailed deer survive in extremely cold temperatures. January 29, 2026
Lapeer County rescue saves fawns, educates locals on wildlife January 29, 2026 Michigan, ABC12
... Short’s Fawn Rescue in Lapeer County is a charity dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating sick, injured and orphaned fawns, returning them to the wild... Anyone interested in supporting the rescue can donate on their website or join their annual Run Wild for the Fawns Virtual 5K starting February 23rd...
Video Below: Dramatic video shows a deer smashing through a bank window and running wild as officers try to wrangle it. January 22, 2026
Video Below: Brownville’s Food Pantry for Deer helps provide essential nourishment to the local deer population in Brownville, Maine. The organization feeds approximately 700 pounds of oats daily to 150-200 deer. - January 12, 2026
3 New York Hunters Illegally Kill Trophy Deer, Leave It To Die January 12 ,2026 Q105.7
... men drove through fields in the town of Richford, spotlighting for deer ... shot an 11-point buck from their vehicle ... the landowner found the deer still alive but not moving...
Read More: 3 Upstate New York Hunters Caught Poaching Trophy Deer | https://q1057.com/deer-hunting-violations-new-york/#google_vignette?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
Read More: 3 Upstate New York Hunters Caught Poaching Trophy Deer | https://q1057.com/deer-hunting-violations-new-york/#google_vignette?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral ...
Seeds, Survival, and Predators: Inside the Relentless Cycle of New Hampshire's Deer January 10, 2025 A-Z Animals
... To the Abenaki people, who are still honored throughout New England today, the white-tailed deer is symbolic of life and community. The Abenaki use deer hunting as a test and coming-of-age ritual, often using every part of the animal so none goes to waste. Deer are also called “animal people,” emphasizing the connection between humans and animals. When a deer is hunted, many bury the animal’s heart where it was slain...
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