New Chronic Wasting Disease positive detected in North Mississippi November 6, 2024  WJTV

... the deer sample came from Marshall County, which is a CWD hot zone in north Mississippi..,

Hunters, harvest needed to help deer October 15, 2024 Mississippi, Daily Leader

...  An estimated 1.5 million deer inhabit Mississippi according to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife... Mississippi once had a statewide population as low as 1,200 deer in the early 1900s due to habitat degradation and over hunting..,

Testing secondary sex ratio bias hypotheses in white‐tailed deer in Mississippi, USA  - Ecology and Evolution, 2024

... whilee there was a male-sex ratio bias in pregnant females that reduced in intensity with the number of offspring, there was no support for condition-related hypotheses...

Watch for Deer: How to react to increased deer activity in Mississippi October 14, 2024 WJTV Jackson on MSN

... In 2023, there were 4,333 reported deer-related crashes in Mississippi. That is an 8.1% increase from the previous year when there were 3,979 deer-vehicle collisions...

No CWD positives reported during 2024 velvet season in Mississippi October 4, 2024 WJTV Jackson on MSN

... 322 deer harvests were reported in the first three days of boy season and the three-day velvet season... 318 deer have tested positive for CWD since its first detection in 2018..,

How big do black bears get in Mississippi? August 27, 2024 The Clarion-Ledger

… How many bears are in Mississippi?  The short answer is, we don't know.  Bears were once a popular game animal in Mississippi and a source of meat. By the early 1900s the population was estimated to be less than 12 bears due to unregulated hunting and habitat loss..,

2nd CWD positive detected in Mississippi deer enclosure August 15, 2024 Yahoo

... the sample came from an enclosure in Benton County, which tested positive in April 2024. The sample was not recorded until this week..,

CWD in Mississippi: Where MS is in deer disease fight and new management zones for 2024-25 June 25, 2024 Mississippi, The Clarion-Ledger on MSN

... "We have a total at 317 positives in 16 different counties," said Russ Walsh, MDWFP Wildlife chief of staff. "We had 110 positives for the 2023-24 sampling season which runs from July 1 to June 30, so we're almost at the end of the season. That was out of 9,002 samples." ..,

Deer epigenetics May 24, 2024 Louisiana Sportsman

... the biggest and best deer follow genetics that are more than one or two generations deep in their bloodline.  Recent research has shown that deer are more than just a product of what they eat. They’re also a product of what their parents and grandparents ate as well as their genetics... More information on epigenetics

Changes proposed for 2024-25 Mississippi deer seasons May 17, 2024 The Clarion-Ledger

... in the Southeast Deer Management Unit from two antlerless deer to three antlerless deer per year ...  lower soil quality limits the amount of deer the area can produce and support, but the population appears to be growing..,

Mississippi State experts address CWD potential risk in humans May 14, 2024 WJTV on MSN

... Since CJD [Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease] is so rare, there is cause for concern but there are still so many unknowns regarding this case. We know the two subjects had a history of consuming venison, but we don’t know if they ingested meat that tested positive for CWD. The scientists who published the brief themselves noted that more research is needed....

Could statewide ban on supplemental deer feeding happen? MS wildlife commission mulls plan March 22, 2024 Mississippi, The Clarion-Ledger on MSN

... to slow the spread of CWD, an always-fatal disease in deer... "It is not the feed itself. We want to focus on the feeding mechanism itself and that is placing feeders on the landscape and unnaturally concentrating those animals at the same location day in and day out for long periods of time." ...

Statewide feed ban for deer considered March 6, 2024 Mississippi, oxfordeagle

... Supplemental feeding is considered to be one of the main risks of Chronic Wasting Disease spreading in deer. Studies in Arkansas show maternal deer family groups concentrate around feeders at a higher rate than they naturally would.   Further research by MSU shows that corn, commonly used in supplemental feeding, contains aflatoxins ...

Keeping the public's wildlife public March 1, 2024 Mississippi, SuperTalk Mississippi

... A survey conducted by the National Rifle Association suggest that the vast majority of sportsmen and women in Mississippi object to the sale, transportation, and commercialization of deer to be confined in high-fence enclosures.  The American version of the law of animals, ferae naturae, which is Latin for “wild by nature,” states that wild animals are owned by all the people and the government holds the animals, in trust, for the use and benefit of the people...

Mississippi Considers Legalizing Drones for Hunting Wild Hogs Amidst Escalating Population Crisis February 25, 2024 NewsBreak Original

...  the statewide hog population is estimated at around 500,000, necessitating innovative approaches to achieve effective population reduction. By permitting the use of drones for hunting and trapping, legislators hope to significantly enhance the harvest rate ..,

Will supplemental feeding of deer be banned in Mississippi? Here's what we know February 22, 2024 Mississippi, Yahoo! Sport

... Supplemental feeding of deer was legalized over a decade ago ... At the time, CWD was not known to be in the state ..After the disease was found in Mississippi in 2018, feeding was banned in positive counties. Now the commission has tasked the wildlife division of the department to research if a statewide ban would slow the spread of the disease ...

Just How Free are Hunters? February 24, 2024 Mississippi, Magnolia Tribune

... Less than a century back, the deer population in the state of Mississippi was around 1,200 statewide. That’s hard to imagine since we have over 1.5 million in our state now..,

A preliminary MDFWP population estimate of 1,608,142 in 2022 and 1,621,310 in 2021 the recent peak population estimate.  As of 2022 there were 114 regulated high-fence enclosures in Mississippi and four deer breeding facilities.  A legal opinion in 2022 indicating sale of whitetail deer was in fact legal resulted in new laws proposed to clarify the legal issues.

 A 2020 estimate of 1,557,541 deer with a mild summer and substantial rain.  For 2019 flooding in the South Delta reduced deer numbers with a population of about 1,426,361.   In 2018 a population of 1,417,262.  A poor acorn crop may have increased the deer kill from the hunt as deer search for food, but a general decline in the hunt from 2010.  

The 2017-18 deer harvest was the lowest on record with a 2017 estimated population of 1,412,345.   MDWFP reduced doe limits for the 2017-18 hunt to increase the herd, a declining trend for a decade.  An abundant mast crop in 2016 made for healthy deer and was expected to increase the deer population into 2017.  In 2016 the population, estimated at 1,449,099, benefited from abundant late spring and early summer rains, but hunters reported seeing fewer deer than in the past.  Warm temperatures during hunting season in 2016 reduced deer movement which likely reduced the deer kill.  

An estimated 1,452,206 deer in 2015.  A hot summer in stressed does reducing fawn weights and survival. Flooding in winter of 2015-16 displaced many deer.  Also a poor acorn crop, reducing available nutrition.  Most of the state had 30 to 40 deer per square mile in 2015.  The goal in 2015 was to maintain population or reduce in some areas.  In east-central and southeast Mississippi lower fertility soils and poor fawn recruitment have kept the population down.  The southwest and lower Delta have high deer densities.  Fertile river bottoms in these areas create diverse habitat and abundant agriculture crops provide supplemental food.  State buck-to-doe ratio about one-to-three.   The percent of bucks 3.5 years or older taken in 2015 was 77 percent, the highest in the nation. About 138,000 hunters in 2015. Estimated $1 billion economic impact on state.  

The DNR estimated 1,471,647 deer in 2014 when " parts of Mississippi in which the buck-to-doe ratio is 4-to-1 or even 6-to-1, and that's too high and out of balance."   The DNR estimated 1,527,104 in 2013,  Good rainfall in 2013 benefited the deer herd, hunters were limited to five does and three bucks per license.  Legal deer included either-sex on private lands and legal bucks only on open public lands.  At the time the estimates were as high as 1.9 million.   Estimated at 1,539,406 in 2012 following a heavy mast crop in 2011 and warm winter conditions.  Hurricane Isaac reduced many wildlife populations in 2012, but an early spring produced many fawns that year.  

The 1990s population deer population was generally increasing from 916,887 in 1990 to 1,293,256 in 1999 with a high of 1,381,728 in 1996.  In order to allow more bucks to reach maturity, the state implemented a 4-point antler restriction in 1995, later modified to be based on measurement, not the number of points.  The number of mature bucks in the state has increased markedly as a result.  During antler restrictions hunters took out some of the best deer and left others behind.  Previous population estimates of  1989 of 1.7 million and 1.5 million in 1990. 

The the 1980s the population was relatively stable from a 1981 estimate of 883,558 to 889,251 in 1989 with a low point of 745,195 in1983.   

Population Estimates:  2,500 in 1940, 275,000 in 1968.  A low of 1,500 in the early 1900s.

The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks breeding date map. 

Chronic Wasting Disease  (CWD) Mississippi CWD Map and Count. Deer parts brought into the state in 2017 tested positive for CWD.  Deer smuggled in came from herds tested positive.  Deer eventually tested positve in different parts of the state. The first positive deer was discovered in Pontotoc County in January, 2018.  A white-tailed deer was found dead in Issaquena County and tested positive for CWD.  A second deer in 2018 found in Pontotoc county and a third, again in Issaquena.  More in 2019 bringing the total to 37.  There were 19 in 2018 and 18 in 2019.  By late 2020, a total of 59 cases.  Expanding eastward in 2021 with 83 cases prior to the hunting season.  By August, 2022, there had been 127 confirmed cases, 134 by the beginning of the hunting season, 8 more into mid-November.  By March, 2023, positives had been detected in 13 counties with 79 cases in the sampling year.  As part of a 2023 study, CWD prions were detected in a scrape located in Claiborne County.  More in 2023, 218 positive cases detected by December, 2023, with 266 total cases by the the end of the year.  More in 2024, through December a total of 326 positives in 16 counties.  By January, 2025, there were 407 positives. 

Hemorrhagic Disease.  An outbreak in 2017.  In 2016 there were 161 confirmed dead and in 2016 there were 25 fatal infections.  

History.  Deer were almost extirpated from the state in 1900 to 1925 with a population estimate of about 1,200 to 1,500.  Stocking efforts began in the early 1900s, state agencies obtained deer from around the Southeast, but also as far as Michigan and Mexico

Wild Hogs  A threat to deer populations, the wild hog population was estimated at about 500,000 in early 2024.

Black Bears  Recent rough estimates put the population at about 150.  Native to Mississippi, the population fell to about 12 in the early 1900s as a result of over hunting and habitat loss.

Fawn Rescue:  Mississippi law prohibits the rehabilitation of fawns.

Report poaching and wildlife violations, Hotline: 1-800-BE SMART