Arizona Deer Population: About 179,000 deer in 2023 with 85,000 mule deer and 94,000 coues whitetails. Drought has reduced recent deer populations, down from 197,500 in 2020. About 135,000 deer in 2014 when populations were devastated by drought. The 2009 populations was estimated at 150,000 The mule deer population has declined from a peak population estimated at 242,000 in1963 to 85,000 in 2021. The whitetail population has grown to a recent peak estimated at 105,000 in 2020.
Arizona Deer News
New rule to update energy grid must account for Arizona wildlife June 2, 2024 Arizona, KiowaCountyPress.net
... In Arizona and across the West, Cravens said, animals such as elk, mule deer and pronghorn antelope migrate hundreds of miles, and many traverse lands that are ideal for solar and wind developments... one of the risks that we are looking at in making this transition is fragmenting the habitat we have left ...
East Eagle prescribed fire project resumes on the Clifton Ranger District Aril 15, 2024 Arizona Emergency Information Network - az.gov
... These landscape treatments are a cooperative effort with the San Carlos Apache Tribe and includes; the National Forest Foundation, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the Mule Deer Foundation ...
Fence Busters remove barriers to protect wildlife in southern Arizona March 29, 2024, KOLD
... Over the years the fence busters have removed more than 40 miles of fences. And the ones they tackled Friday cut through an area full of wildlife, including deer and big horn sheep...
Funding to help repair habitat damaged by development, drought, wildfire March 28, 2024 Arizona, AZ Central on MSN
... The Interior Department has awarded over $4 million to Salt River Project and the Arizona Elk Society to fund projects restoring big game habitat and migration corridors...
Arizona Voted to Ban Auction Tags. What Does that Mean for Conservation? March 19, 2024 Yahoo
... Now hunters in Arizona and elsewhere are wondering how millions of dollars in lost conservation revenue will be replaced... statistics show that all of that money was being put back on the ground. It equated to more habitat, better habitat, and more animals on the landscape, which in turn created more opportunity for the public ...
Arizona Game and Fish Votes to Ban Big Game Auction Tags March 18, 2024 GearJunkie
... Last year’s Arizona statewide mule deer tag for 2023 set the record for a single auction tag at $725,000... auction tags brought in millions for the state... will likely move toward raffle tags ...
Chronic wasting disease not detected in Arizona’s deer, elk population March 6, 2024 TUCSON News Now Kold
... Department officials did not find any cases of CWD in the 1,235 deer (mule and white-tailed) and elk that were sampled in 2023..,
Human activities influence mule deer use of overpasses across multiple scales 2024 - The Journal of Wildlife Management
... Using remote wildlife cameras, we evaluated human and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) use and interactions at 43 overpasses along the Central Arizona Project canal in Arizona, USA, during 2 seasons (warm and cool) from February 2021 to February 2022. Mule deer exhibited spatial avoidance of human activities at overpasses ... Because human activities can influence mule deer crossings at overpasses, managers might consider minimizing human activities at crossing locations ...
How an aerial count of deer and javelina helps Arizona wildlife officials regulate hunting January 20, 2024 Arizona, AZCentral
... Every winter, the agency sends teams of biologists in helicopters across the state to count deer and javelina before the hunting season ...
US awards $110 million to reduce wildlife car collisions December 5, 2023 Arizona, Reuters
... One project in Arizona is using GPS data to track where elk are moving, he said. "We can get smart about how we use technology to reduce these collisions." ... funded by the $1 trillion 2021 infrastructure law...
Dysart hears deer feeding bylaw may hinder hunters December 3, 2023 Arizona, Yahoo News Canada
... When is laying deer feed a means of prepping for hunting season and when is it violating a bylaw against feeding deer inside municipal boundaries? ... “The bylaw is very clear that it exempts any hunting activity,” ... a hunter could say in June that she’s putting out feed in preparation for the lawful fall hunt...
Mule deer buck poached near Show Low December 1, 2023 Arizona, White Mountain Independent
... AZGFD officials estimate the three-point buck was shot — with a bow and arrow — in the early morning hours of Nov. 21, possibly between midnight and 9 a.m. The carcass was found in a neighborhood at Willow Drive and Turkey Hill Road... call the department’s Operation Game Thief hotline at 800-352-0700
Game and Fish asks hunters to focus on chronic wasting disease November 16, 2023 Arizona, KVOA
... All successful deer and elk hunters are encouraged to bring the head of their harvested animal — especially bucks and bulls — to any department office statewide between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The department is requesting hunters call in advance before delivering a head for sampling...
Three Arizona conservation projects awarded more than $36.5 million November 12, 2023 KTAR News
... The Mule Deer Foundation was awarded $1.2 million for wildlife and habitat improvements to the area north of the Colorado River known as the Arizona Strip...
Mule deer population swings continue to mystify November 8, 2023 Arizona, PaysonRoundup.com
... The rise and fall of mule deer populations can provide an early warning of changes in the forested ecosystem that can affect humans and wildlife alike... a century of grazing and fire suppression has caused dramatic changes in forest structure. Those changes also had dramatic effects on wildlife populations — especially deer...
AZGFD reminds public about wildlife-safe Halloween decorating October 11, 2023 Arizona, The Gila Herald
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Kill rates on native ungulates by Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico September 2023, The Journal of Wildlife Management
... Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) reintroduction began in 1998 in Arizona, USA, with 11 individuals initially; wolves from this population dispersed into New Mexico ... Elk (Cervus canadensis) composed 94% of the native ungulates documented at Mexican wolf kill sites (n = 139); the remaining 6% were mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus; n = 9). Two-thirds of all wolf-killed native ungulates were elk calves. We estimated kill rates as ungulate biomass killed/wolf/day. From combined results for all years, we estimated that each Mexican wolf killed on average 9.0 ± 5.4 kg (±95% CI) of ungulate biomass per day during winter and 7.8 ± 6.2 kg during the summer...
BLM Announces Winners of the Rangeland Stewardship and Innovation Awards September 6, 2023 Arizona, Morning Ag Clips
... The mule deer population has suffered greatly in Arizona’s Game Management Unit 18A over the last several decades, and hunting permits have been reduced from a high of 2,000 to only 350 today. This landscape-level restoration project, which is located between Kingman and Seligman, Ariz., focuses on conifer removal to increase the production of grasses, forbs, and browse species important to mule deer...
Sustainable Solar Solutions Provide Water for Wildlife and Livestock in Arizona September 5, 2023 Arizona, PR Newswire
... A non-profit conservation organization, the Arizona Deer Association (ADA), is collaborating with other local and government agencies to leverage solar power to secure water resources for both wildlife and livestock ... animals such as elk, deer, bears, coyotes, and bobcats. Thousands of water features across the state ...
3 wildlife crossings over Arizona freeways proposed to reduce collisions, protect animals July 26, 2023 KTAR News
... The proposal includes two crossings along Interstate 17 – one south of Kachina Village and the other north of the Willard Springs exit – and a third on Interstate 40, west of Parks. The Coconino and Kaibab national forests are asking the public for input...
Wildlife officers couldn’t get trapped deer out of canal — so they called two cowboys May 30, 2023 Arizona, Yahoo! Sports
... The two “young cowboys” swung their rope and lassoed the animals, allowing officers to pull them “inch by inch” out of the canal ... the deer galloped away ...
Federal funds to go toward restoring ungulate migration routes in northern Arizona May 16, 2023 Arizona, KNAU
... The Arizona Game and Fish Department has been awarded $800,000 in federal grants to restore critical migration routes for mule deer and other native ungulates. The department will receive funds for a project on the Kaibab Plateau to mechanically remove invasive conifers and restore 1,100 acres of winter range for mule deer...
Chronic Wasting Disease not detected in Arizona March 28, 2023 KOLD
... Department officials said they did not find any cases of CWD in the 1,199 deer (mule and white-tailed) and elk that were sampled in 2022..,
Mountain lion spotted in Tuzigoot National Monument March 22, 2023 Arizona, Fronteras Desk
... The large cats, which mainly eat elk and deer, are rare in Arizona, but have been known to dwell in the Verde Valley, including within the monument’s borders...
Arizona Game & Fish changes rules for archery deer hunts January 10, 2022 Sedona Red Rock News
... For nonresident hunters, the changes include limiting the sale of archery deer non-permit-tags to nonresident hunters beginning with the 2023 calendar year. The number of archery deer nonpermit-tags available to nonresidents will be set annually at 10% of the average total sales of archery deer non-permit-tags for the most recent five years ...
Arizona Deer Archive: Population and Management, Deer in the News, Disease, Suburban Management, Transportation
Deer Data: The population estimates for mule deer in the chart below are mostly from Arizona Game and Fish for years 2009 to 2023 and based on hunting data for 2000 to 2008. Data for Coues whitetails are based on hunting data and estimates reported in the press. The data and sources.
The state commented that in 2023 [p. 6] 2022 and 2021 [p. 7] regarding mule deer that "... statewide populations are stable to declining in most game management units; drought conditions are impacting recruitment." The deer kill fell by 34% from 2020 to 2021 due to falling deer populations and reduced tags to support them. Reduced permits also in 2022. In 2022 the state reduced tags on the north Kaibab as a result of three years of low fawn recruitment. About 180,000 deer in 2022 and 2021. The state estimates about 85,000 mule deer in 2022 and 2021 (80,000 - 90,000), down from about 97,500 (75,000 to 120,000) in 2012. An estimate of 95,000 whitetails in 2022 and 2021 based on a decline in hunting data.
The deer kill from the hunt was about the same in year 2000 and 2021. The state estimated a peak mule deer population of 241,971 in 1963 compared to 85,000 in 2022. The whitetail population was estimated by the state at 70,000 to 75,000 in 2009 and reported an estimate of 105,000 to the National Deer Association in 2020.
The graph below showing the results of the Arizona Hunt from 1946 gives an idea of the population trend for mule and whitetail deer. Data for the graph below and some population estimates. A researcher using estimates from the the state estimates a peak population for mule deer of 225,000 in the early 1950s compared to the state estimate of 85,000 (80,000 to 90,000) for 2021. The National Deer Association puts the whitetail (coues) population at 105,000 in 2020 which would be the historical peak.
About 197,500 deer in 2020. The state estimated 92,500 mule deer in 2020 with a range of 85,000 to 100,000. An estimate from the National Deer Association of 105,000 whitetails deer in 2020. Surveys from the Arizona Game and Fish indcate that deer populations were approximately stable in recent years.
Drought in 2018 reduced populations. Good rains in spring of 2019, but drought returned in the summer with high temperatures. No hunting data for 2018 given the low hunter response to surveys. All hunting tags in 2019 remained at $16.
A research paper gives a 2018 estimate of 105,000 mule deer and 85,000 Coues deer. The state estimated about 92,500 (85,000 to 100,000) mule deer in 2018. Using the state mule deer estimate brings the total to 177,500 for 2018. An estimate from Outdoor Life magazine for 2017 and 2018 of 110,000 mule deer; 90,000 Coues whitetails. The variability of these estimates from various sources give a sense of the confidence level for the numbers.
A fallow deer, native to Eurasia, was found dead near Nogales in 2017. A 2016 study found that predation accounted for 64% of fawn mortality in central Arizona. In 2015 the state reported that the mule deer population had increased by about 30 percent over the past decade. A 2015 Coues (white-tail) population estimate of 50,000 to 60,000.
Deer rebounded somewhat from the 2014 drought, worst in 110 years which devastated deer populations in some areas. About 135,000 deer in 2014. Deer hunt permits in 2015 totaled 43,326, 42,175 in 2014, and 43,716 in 2011. The post-hunt 2009 mule deer population was estimated at 75,000 to 80,000 [see p. 6, Hunt Arizona 2012], the white-tailed population was estimated at 70,000 to 75,000 for about 150,000.
In 2012 Outdoor Life estimated “85,000 Coues whitetails and 110,000 mule deer. Coues are up about 10 percent over the last decade thanks to fewer tags and a healthy herd. Mule deer continue to decline.” A series of droughts prior to 2012 since kept populations down. [Hunt Arizona, p. 7] Whitetails comprised less than 15 percent of Arizona’s deer harvest in 1961, nearly 40 percent in 1998 , and almost half in 2020. The 2013 deer survey found 23 mule deer bucks per 100 does, 26 whitetail bucks per 100 does.
Severe drought into 2006 after two decades of drought that reduced deer populations.
The all time high annual deer kill was in 1961 when hunters took 35,897 deer [see p. 7]. A second, more recent peak in the early 1980's with the deer declining through until about the year 2000. A few years of rebound, then a general downward trend since 2003. The states decision to go a buck-only hunt in 2000 had no appreciable positive impact on the population. In 2015 there were 43,326 hunt permit-tags issued, 42,175 in 2015, and 43,716 in 2011. From the early 1960s to 2006 the mule deer population in central Arizona declined from 11 deer/km2 to 2 deer/km2.
Despite a serious overpopulation of deer on the North Kaibab in the 1920s, deer numbers had declined dramatically from over hunting in the rest of the state. From the Arizona Daily Star, Friday, May 12, 1922: "Deer and other game became scarce for a while when human predators almost killed them off in the area, so a reserve was created where hunting was banned. " In 1929, the mule deer season was closed south of the Gila River, and even as recently as 1946, fewer than 5,000 mule deer were harvested. For reasons that are still unclear, deer populations began to increase, 1961 was the all time high. Poor fawn survival reduced the harvest to 16,000 by 1970.
Chronic Wasting Disease No cases have been found in the state as of the 2023-24 hunting season with 1,235 mule deer and elk tested. None from 2022-23 hunting season with 1,199 tested. No cases from 2020-21 hunting season with 1,589 deer and elk sampled. In 2016 more than 750 deer sampled. In 2017, 1,200 deer sampled.
Epizootic hemorrhagic disease, first detected in the west in 2017, killed about 30 deer in 2018.
Graphs below from the Western Association of Wildlife Agencies.
Elk, an estimated 45,000 in 2020.
Mountain lion population estimated at 2,500 to 3,000 in 2015.
Mexican Gray Wolf population estimated at 76 in 2019 and at least 64 in January, 2017. Estimated at 163 in Arizona and New Mexico in 2021.
Jaguar, the last legally killed jaguar, a male, was taken by a deer hunter in the Patagonia Mountains, south of Tucson [in 1965]. A single jaguar was captured on video in Arizona in 2016
Wolves, Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) reintroduction began in 1998.
Report Poaching: call Operation Game Thief at 1-800-352-0700
Deer Helpline: By texting CRITTER TO 41444, you are helping Arizona Game and Fish care for sick, injured, and orphaned animals at our Wildlife Center
Other useful links:
- HabiMap.Org a wildlife information system to help the state in conservation efforts, 300 layers of wildlife data and interactive maps
