Kentucky Deer Population: The state estimated 985,386 whitetail deer in 2023, pre-hunt and about the same in 2024. Down from 994,356 in 2022 and down from a revised estimate of 1,049,217 deer in 2021. Down from the recent high of about 1,375,000 in 2015. Herd analysis at right.
Kentucky Deer News
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission proposes regulation changes April 23, 2025 Messenger-Inquirer
... Following the 2024-2025 hunting season, no new CWD cases have been found to date in Kentucky’s wild deer and elk from among the more than 9,000 samples tested statewide. To date, CWD has been confirmed in one wild deer in Ballard County (2023) and one fenced deer operation in Breckinridge County (2024) ..,
Kentucky: Wild Deer & Elk Population Protection Bill Stuck in House March 5, 2025 Sportsmen's Alliance
... House Bill 700 ... outlines the boundaries of a CWD Surveillance Zone related to the exportation of cervid carcass parts and wild cervids ... also prohibits the movement of captive cervids outside of a 10-mile radius from a captive facility that had a CWD detection. It does not prohibit the interstate movement of cervids ...
This Kentucky bill could help limit the spread of chronic wasting disease in deer February 28, 2025 WHAS-TV Louisville on MSN
... House Bill 700, filed earlier this month by Rep. Josh Bray (R) and Rep. David Hale (R), would prohibit live animal movement and restrict carcass movement ... So far, two cases of Chronic Wasting Disease have been confirmed in Kentucky and another one was confirmed near the Kentucky border in Indiana..,
A look back at Kentucky’s 2024 white-tailed deer season February 7, 2025 NKyTribune
... The arctic cold and snow pack across central Kentucky in January was extreme, but the deer harvest for the month was 3,892, the highest total for a January ever. “Periods of cold weather require more energy to stay warm at baseline, so deer (are) forced to move around and hit high energy food sources like corn piles and food plots,” said Joe R. McDermott, deer program coordinator ...
Why you're seeing more deer near Kentucky interstates this winter January 29, 2015 WDRB
... Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) plow trucks spread salt to keep the roads clear... . “Animals are just like us —they need salt and minerals. When everything is covered in snow, and a bunch of salt gets dumped in one place, they're naturally drawn to it.” ...
Numbers from Latest Deer Harvested Season Released January 23, 2025 Kentucky Z93 Country
“Looking at 149,868 total harvested all season. It was the second-highest harvest ever only since 2015. 78,568 antlered bucks— highest harvest ever by nearly 3,000. 71% of bucks were 2.5 or older. 43% female, 52% antlered, 5% buck fawn.” ..,
Beargrass Creek neighbors concerned about poaching in their backyard January 16, 2025 Kentucky, WHAS11 News on MSN
... The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is investigating after a person allegedly shot and killed a buck with a crossbow and arrow ... "The kids, they love it when the deer are in the back here eating," said Linkenhoker...
Kentucky's only reindeer farm makes Bowling Green a holiday destination December 12, 2024 MSN
... The Reindeer Farm ... Each weekend in December, crowds line up to see the resident reindeer in person ... They started with two and now have ten...
Kentucky hunters: Submit deer samples for CWD testing to be entered into a prize giveaway November 4, 2024 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
... The “Shoot for Samples” Regional Giveaway runs through Jan. 20, 2025, and aims to support Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s efforts to collect more samples for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) testing as part of its ongoing monitoring of the state’s wild deer population...
Chronic wasting disease: How will zombie-like deer impact Kentucky hunting season? October 24, 2024 YAHOO!News
... a CWD surveillance zone in Breckinridge, Hardin, and Meade counties... While deer hunting is still allowed, hunters cannot bait deer with items such as corn, grain, or mineral blocks ... “A lot of hunters do not use woodsmanship anymore ...They’re hunting straight over a feeder " ..,
Oh Deer!! Mating season, loss of habitat creates havoc on the roads October 23, 2024 Kentucky, pmg-ky2.com
... It’s the time of the year when farmers are harvesting their crops... the loss of their natural habitat along with the mating season means a busier time for local insurance agencies as the next few months are when most deer collisions happen...
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet urges drivers to look out for deer October 16, 2024 lex18
... According to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, most deer-related accidents occur this time of year. In 2023, over 3,200 highway crashes involved vehicles hitting deer ...
Chronic Wasting Disease detected in captive cervid from Breckinridge County October 14, 2024 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
... lab testing confirmed Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in a deceased deer from a Breckinridge County deer farm. It marks Kentucky’s first case of CWD in a captive cervid..,
EHD, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife seeing uptick in reports of sick deer September 24, 2024 WLKY
... suspected cases of hemorrhagic disease (HD) in white-tailed deer... Wildlife officials are asking anyone who sees a sick or dead deer or elk to let them know ..,
Kentucky wildlife officials expect another active deer hunting season, which begins Sept. 7 September 2, 2024 WDRB
... During the 2023-24 season, officials said hunters took more than 140,000 deer, the seventh-highest number on record. "We expect the deer harvest for the 2024-25 season to be around 140,000 deer, similar to previous years," Joe McDermott, deer program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, said in a news release Tuesday. "Kentucky holds about 25 deer per square mile statewide, ..,
Wildlife study on I-64 corridor to begin July 25, 2024 Kentucky, pmg-ky1.com
...two deer population surveys this summer as part of a study to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions ... Surveys will be conducted on the ground and by air using drones with infrared cameras, which will fly during twilight hours to locate and track deer movements...
Crews to conduct wildlife survey between Louisville, Frankfort to improve highway safety July 16, 2024 Kentucky, WHAS11
... Kentucky field crews will soon begin observing the first of two deer populations ... Survey crews will conduct research on the ground and in the air using drones with infrared cameras...
Whitetail pursuits: Next deer seasons largely reruns; changes may be afoot for ‘25 July 5, 2024 Kentucky, Paducah Sun
... last year ... a Ballard County buck tested positive for chronic wasting disease... Since that one CWD finding, no other deer have been found to harbor the disease despite extensive testing..,
Our real fish and wildlife experts not consulted on power grab by KY Senate March 20, 2024 Kentucky, Yahoo
... Senate Bill 3 ... would move the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife under the direction of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture... Often times wildlife conservation efforts are diametrically opposed to agricultural efforts. One of the stated goals of the Kentucky Farm Bureau ... is a reduction of species such as whitetail deer, elk ...
Kentucky Hunters Fight Senate Plan to Move Wildlife Agency to Department of Agriculture March 14, 2024 Field & Stream
... SB3 will transfer oversight of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) from the state’s Tourism Cabinet to the Department of Agriculture,.. Kentucky Department of Agriculture ... is only in charge of monitoring captive deer farms ...
From extinct to tourism boom: Elk thrive atop reclaimed coal mines in Eastern Kentucky February 20, 2024 Kentucky, The Cincinnati Enquirer
... Today, a herd of more than 11,000 rocky mountain elk thrives atop reclaimed coal mines in Eastern Kentucky, but that wasn’t the case just three decades ago. The herd's close cousins, the eastern elk, were hunted to extinction by early European settlers..,
2023 KY deer season harvest drops 2.56 percent; chronic wasting disease detected January 19, 2024 Kentucky, NKyTribune
... There were 140,812 deer reported taken, which is 3,703 fewer than last year, and represents a 2.56 percent decline... For the first time a deer taken by a hunter in Kentucky has tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)... in Ballard County..,
KY Dept. of Fish & Wildlife shares latest on Chronic Wasting Disease response plan January 12, 2024 Kentucky, Bowling Green WBKO on MSN
...“So, mandatory check stations, or a banning on feeding and baiting of deer, and then the restricting of movements of deer carcasses were some of the normal things, and those are outlined in our plan,” [Gabe Jenkins, the agency’s Deputy Commissioner] ...
CWD era begins: With deer disease here, we and the whitetails will cope December 20, 2023 Kentucky, Times Leader
... Chronic wasting disease ... in Kentucky first was revealed with positive results from an incidental test done on tissues from a 2½-year-old Ballard County whitetail buck... The deer appeared perfectly healthy. The only reason it was tested for chronic wasting disease, CWD, is that it was taken to a meat processing shop ...
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife call on the public to help slow the spread of disease in deer December 13, 2023 WDKY Lexington
... “The hard thing about this to understand is that healthy deer can be sick as well as those that do actually look sick. An animal that’s clinically ill with the classic Chronic Wasting signs is that very skinny animal; it can be excessively salivating, it can be uncoordinated, stumbling across the landscape, arching its back, and looking awkward...
Can Kentucky reduce the number of wildlife hit on highways? It got $1.2M to find out how December 12, 2023 YAHOO!News
... In 2022, there were 3,083 reported deer collisions statewide ... they are particularly interested in studying segments of Interstate 64 and U.S. 60 between Louisville and Frankfort, due to the "high" number of annual deer crashes...
Chronic wasting disease confirmed in Kentucky for first time December 7, 2023 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources News
... Two independent types of tests were performed on tissue collected from a 2 ½-year-old male white-tailed deer that was harvested by a hunter in Ballard County in November. Both tests yielded the same test result: the deer was infected with the abnormal proteins that cause CWD. It is Kentucky’s first documented case of the disease..,
Kentucky Deer Archive: Population and Management, Deer in the News, Disease, Suburban Management, Transportation
Kentucky data: The 2024-25 hunt took the highest number of antlered bucks on record with cold weather driving deer to move around more. The state estimated the deer population before the hunt at 985,386 in the 2023 report and 994,356 in the 2022 report - about the same in 2024. In the report, the state revised their pre-hunt population estimate for 2021 to 1,049,217 from 919,308 as reported in the 2021 report. Previous year populations were revised back to 1995. Data for the chart below.
The state expects a population in 2024 similar to 2023 with about 25 deer per mile statewide. The number of deer taken in the 2023 hunt fell by 2.56 percent. A mediocre acorn crop in 2022 that dropped two or three weeks earlier increased the deer hunt success rate as deer move around looking for food, which had a negative impact on the population. Research presented in 2021 finds that deer populations are in danger in some areas of the state. An increase in hunting licenses sold contributed to a higher deer kill in 2020. A population of about 1,130,000 in 2020 from the state model.
Severe drought through September and a poor mast crops restricted populations somewhat in 2019 although the deer harvest increased as deer were moving around looking for food. A population of about 1,245,000 in 2019 from the state model.
Much of the increase in the 2018 deer harvest was a result of increased hunting. A wet winter and good forage available in July and August of 2018 resulted in high survival and so the state has significantly liberalized hunting regulations in response to increased reproduction, increasing the deer harvest. A population of about 1,270,000 in 2018 from the state model. Cloned deer reportd in 2018.
A strong acorn crop in 2016 and a wet spring in 2017 indicated a stable to slightly increasing population. The 2017 mast survey was poor to good. The 2017 EHD outbreak reduced herds in some regions, mostly in the east. The 2017 harvest data indicates a slight population decline. Low populations in the southeast even after a decade of restrictive doe harvest and translocation of deer to increase the population. Populations of about 1,300,000 in 2017 and 1,320,000 in 2016 based on the state model. An upward trend in deer hunt numbers from 2010 to 2016.
A wet spring and summer in 2016 provided lots of food for deer, however, the state reduced some hunting as a result of drought later in the year, outbreaks of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, increased archery hunting pressure, and a mature closed canopy forest. Wild In 2016 wild hogs were reported to be competing with deer for food. Two harsh winters in 2012-13 and 2013-14 were offset somewhat by good mast production. A population estimate reported to the press of 820,000 in 2016, after the hunt but before fawning. Another 2016 estimate of more than 1 million. Rain in the 2015 summer increased deer forage, but poor white acorn production. Herds had rebounded from an Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) outbreak in 2012, 2010 and a severe outbreak in 2007. Scattered outbreaks in 2015.
The record peak deer population for recent times from the recent state model was in 2015 with about 1,375,000 whitetails. An estimate reported in the press at the time of one million deer in 2015. It was also the record deer kill from the hunt with 155,730 taken. For 2015, deer populations in Hopkins, Larue, Green, Nelson and Bullitt counties exceeded targets so more antlerless deer were to be harvested. In 2015, 70 deer per square mile prior to hunt in Owen county.
Fawn production was average in 2014 despite a cold winter. The acorn crop was modest, but farmers increased acres of corn and soybeans. About 300,000 deer permits were sold in 2014. Hunter success rate of about 34 percent. Hunters took 138,898 deer. A record of 144,409 taken in the 2013-14 season. Hunter numbers had been around 270,000 for the past 20 years. The state model puts the 2014 population at about 1,333,00 and 2013 at about 1,310,000. Reports in the press at the time are for about 1,000,000 deer pre-hunt in 2014 and 2013, with other reported estimates of 800,000 to 900,000 pre-hunt in 2014, and 750,000 for 2013 before fawning with 900,000 later in the season. The population had been estimated between 850,000 to one million for 10 years.
A 2012 population estimate in the press of over 900,000 with another estimate of 600,000.
The state manages toward achieving balanced herd demographics, bucks were about 54 percent of the 2013 harvest. Management goals were: Zone 1, herd reduction; Zone 2, keep herds at present population levels; Zone 3, slow herd growth; and Zone 4, maximum herd growth.
A population estimate in the press of 900,000 in 2009, the revised estimate from the state for the year is 1,040,000. A 1998 estimate of 450,000, the revised state estimate for the year is 660,000. A population estimate of 425,000 deer in 1990.
Chronic Wasting Disease The first case of chronic wasting was reported in December, 2023, a 2 ½-year-old male white-tailed deer that was harvested by a hunter in Ballard County in November. Into mid-2024 no additional positive cases were found. After 20 years of testing, no chronic wasting had been found in Kentucky as of spring, 2022 and into fall, 2023 with 40,000 deer and 1,000 elk tested. More in 2024 with the first cased in a deer farm. No new cases found in the 2024-25 deer season with 9,000 deer tested - the total stands at two by April, 2025. In 2025.
Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease An outbreak in 2024, 2019 and a large outbreak in 2017. Scattered outbreaks in 2015. Outbreaks in 2012, 2010 and a severe outbreak in 2007.
History Deer were an important stable for the first humans to enter Kentucky, 8,000 to 10,00 years ago. The deer herd was hunted to near extinction in the early 1900's. By 1915 only a few deer remained in western Kentucky. Conservation efforts began to restore the deer. with about thousand by the early 1940's. About 2,000 deer in 1945. Over 52 years 10,096 white-tailed deer had been relocated around the state, most coming from remnant deer populations in Caldwell, Christian, Lyon, and Trigg Counties.
By the late 1960's and early 70's the herd was estimated at about 35,000 but growing very slowly, in part due to over harvest. By 1979 the total deer harvest was about 9,000. With better management the herd grew from about 64,000 in 1978 to a 149,000 in 1981.
A state population model gave an estimate of 206,557 deer in 1986. Then 350,000 in 1988. About 460,000 in 1989, 610,000 by 1999. The state was stocking deer to increase the population from 1947 to 1999, the first year all counties were open to hunting.
Population Estimates: 2,000 in 1940, 65,000 in 1968.
Elk are native to Kentucky, but they were gone by the mid 1800's as a result of unregulated hunting and habitat loss. Restocking began in 1997 with elk from Kansas. Over five years 1,547 were released. The elk came from western states such as Utah. About 10,000 in 2013 and 2016 to over 11,000 in 2016. An estimated population of 11,500 to 12,000 by 2017-18, the largest herd in the eastern states. About 13,100 by 2018-19, over 14,000 in 2020. About 16,000 in 2021. An estimate of over 11,000 in 2024.
A Mountain Lion killed in Bourbon County at the end of 2014 was the first confirmed sighting since before the Civil War. Lions were once native.
Bear population has grown to about 1,000 by 2016.
Report sick deer to 1-800-858-1549 or email reports to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife at info.center@ky.gov
