About Deer Friendly


The site is managed by G. Kent Webb, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.S.E., M.A., University of Pennsylvania.  Contributions to topics such as population estimates, deer disease, and suburban management are welcome.  Email:  kentwebb@deerfriendly.com


The name for this site comes from a Game&Fish article, Deer-Friendly Forests.  An interview with Dave Smith, a veteran wildlife biologist in California, explains why recent forest management practices and the lack of "cleansing wildfires" have contributed to a long-term decline of the habitat that supports the deer population and other species in California.


Every day the internet is scanned for deer management information which is listed by state and topic.  Accessed by using the drop down menus above.  Each state has an archive of collected information grouped by topic with links at the top of each state page.  This article describes the process.  Significant information for populations and disease appears on the right side of each state page with links to the source information.  Research based on this information is listed below.


This site was originally supported in part by advertising, so a .com URL was used.  In order to broaden the type of material that could be stored here per copyright, the site has no advertising - similar to a .org but the .com URL had already been in use for a number of years so was kept to avoid confusion.  DeerFriendly.org and DeerFriendly.com are both owned by G. Kent Webb.  This site is designed as an aid to researchers and others interested in deer information.

Deer Research


"Origin of Chronic Wasting Disease:  Results of a Text Mining Project."  Youtube video of a presentation to the 2022 Western Section of the Wildlife Society.


"Text mining to identify the origin of chronic wasting disease," [PDF] (2021) Issues in Information Systems.  22(3), pp. 184-196.


"Price and Performance Trends for Cellular Trail Cameras Explained with a Time Trend, Google Keyword Trends, and a Use Case of Suburban Deer Management," [PDF] (2020) Issues in Information Systems. 21(2), pp. 196 - 205.


"Factors Related to Larger but Fewer Wildfires and Fewer Deer in California:  A Google Sites Knowledge Base," [PDF] (2019) Issues in Information Systems.  20(1), pp. 22-31


"The Strong Correlation Between Declining California Deer Harvests and Declining Timber Removed," presentation to the Western Section of the Wildlife Society, February, 2019.


Searching the Internet to Estimate Deer Population Trends in the U.S., California, and Connecticut [PDF] (2018) Issues in Information Systems. 19(2), pp. 163 - 173.


"Information Acquisition and Decision Support for Suburban Deer Management" [PDF] (2017) Issues in Information Systems 18(2), pp. 158 - 170.


"Public Management Decisions Related to the Decline of California Deer Populations: A Comparative Management Approach" (2016) Environment and Ecology Research. Vol. 4(2), pp. 63 - 73 DOI: 10.13189/eer.2016.040203


This paper explains how the site searches for and finds deer information:  "Internet Search Engine Capture Success Rates and Mortality Statistics for Hyperlinks to Public News Articles" [PDF] (2016) Issues in Information Systems, Volume 17, Issue II, pp. 25-33.


“Internet Survey of Urban Deer Management Strategies" (information summarized).   Presentation to the International Urban Wildlife Conference, Chicago, May, 2015


“Comparative Analysis of State Deer Management Strategies” presentation to the Western Section of the Wildlife Society, January, 2015


Results of Environmental Scanning Applied to the Design of a Deer Management Decision Support System (DSS) for the United States and California” [PDF] (2014) Issues in Information Systems. Volume 15, Issue 2. pp. 77-88


“Trends in Deer Harvest, Population, Management, and Citizen Participation” presentation to the Western Section of the Wildlife Society, January, 2014


Deer Herd Management Using the Internet:  A Comparative Study of California Targeted by Data Mining the Internet” [PDF] G. Kent Webb (2013) Issues in Information Systems Volume 14, Issue 2.  pp. 156-165


“Deer Management Research Using the Internet:  Analysis of Deer-Vehicle Collisions and a Survey of Current Deer Management Issues” presentation to the Western Section of the Wildlife Society, January, 2013


"Predicting Risk of Deer-Vehicle Collisions Using a Social Media-Based Geographic Information System" [PDF] G. Kent Webb (2012) Issues in Information Systems Volume 13, Issue 2. pp. 170-181.


"Internet Survey of Current Deer Management Issues" presentation to the 2012 Annual Conference of the Western Section of the Wildlife Society.


Designing and Building a Knowledge Warehouse Oriented, Public Decision Support Site Using Free Google Tools: An Analysis and Case Application to Deer Management” [PDF]  G. Kent Webb (2011)  Issues in Information Systems.  Volume XII, No. 1. pp. 280-290.


“A Case-Based Decision Analysis of Urban Deer Management Strategies,” presentation to the 2011 International Wildlife Management and Planning Conference.


Social Management Networks: Analysis of Postings in Facebook Groups Related to Wildlife Management and Prospects for Data Collection,” [PDF] G. Kent Webb (2010) Issues in Information Systems, Volume XI, No. 1, pp. 473 – 482.


Survey of wildlife management science decision making objectives and methods,” presentation to the Wildlife Society 17th Annual Conference (2010).