New Jersey Deer Population An estimate of 105,000 whitetail deer in hunting areas for 2022 based on hunting data, down from a state estimate of about 133,000 in 2018. An EHD outbreak in 2021 reduced deer populations. A state estimate of about 146,000 in 2017, up from about 100,000 in 2015. The state estimates the recent peak population at 204,000 in 1995. Estimates apply to deer in hunted areas.
New Jersey Deer News
New Jersey Town Advances Plan to Surgically Sterilize Individual Deer to Reduce Herd July 15, 2024 Field & Stream
... But before the plan can take effect, it must be approved by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife—which has twice before rejected Princeton’s requests to start a surgical sterilization program ... The current deer density ... is estimated at 43 to 51 deer per square mile...
Princeton Seeks to Add Darts and Surgical Staples to Its Deer-Control Arsenal July 10, 2024 New Jersey, TAPinto
... Princeton Council approved a solution for dealing with the town’s over-population of deer: Surgical sterilization... the town’s deer management contractor, White Buffalo Inc., the sterilization team hopes to treat at least 40 female deer this winter...
Important Information Regarding Deer Management Zones 45 and 46 July 9, 2024 New Jersey, NJDEP
... DMZ 45 and DMZ 46 are open for deer hunting for the 2024 Fall Bow, Youth Archery Day, 6-Day Firearm, and Youth Firearm Day ONLY... Closures are a result of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) mortalities from 2021 and 2022 and a failure of the population to recover..,
Suspected New Jersey Shoplifter Fled Police, Hid a Baby Deer in a Shopping Bag June 7, 2024 Shore News Network
... During the interaction, a fawn peeked out from the bag, leading officers to detain him for illegal possession of a deer...
Officer Reunites Baby Deer With Mother In Highland Park May 16, 2024 New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ Patch
... someone found a baby deer, picked the animal up and brought it to Highland Park Police headquarters... the deer was now separated from its mother ... Humane Law Enforcement Officer Alaina Giles was able to reunite the fawn with its mother ...
Attention NJ Deer Hunters - We Need Your Input! - NJDEP April 12, 2024
... Please take our survey ... New Jersey is considering significant changes to its Deer Hunting Regulations ...
Saddle River suspends deer culling program after five years. Here's why March 17, 2024 New Jersey, The Record, Bergen County on MSN.com
... "We have data indicating deer accidents have actually gone up in the borough since the hunting began, possibly because the deer are scared onto roads by the hunters," Lin said [Animal Protection League of New Jersey attorney Doris Lin] ...
Annual national deer stats report! March 15, 2024 New Jersey, Sullivan County Democrat
... New Jersey hunters take the highest percentage of deer with archery equipment at 65 percent of the harvest ...
Wayne, Decision looms for funding of 8-foot-tall deer fence at Laurelwood Arboretum in Wayne February 6, 2024 New Jersey, NorthJersey.com
... It would be set back 50 feet from all streets surrounding the arboretum... Mayor Christopher Vergano, an ardent supporter of the arboretum, said the outlay is an appropriate use of tax dollars. “I don’t have a problem with spending our money on our park,” ...
No, it’s not an abandoned overpass. The story behind N.J.’s wildlife bridges. January 8, 2024 New Jersey, NJ.com on MSN
... “What the overpasses have done allows animals to access either side of 78,” Zarate said. “We know they work in successfully moving animals and equate to less likely being killed on the road.” ... “Deer was a main driver for the project,” ...
Controversial Deer Hunt Will Return In Essex County For 2024 January 2, 2024 New Jersey, Patch on MSN
... “We urge you to stop wasting our taxpayer money and spend the $1 million or so that you have wasted over the years to plant trees (and use deer protection as you do in Brookdale Park, which allows the trees to grow with no issue),” Our Green West Orange stated...
Hilltop Deer Hunt Starts Next Week January 2, 2024 New Jersey, MyVeronaNJ
... Since the hunts were first held in 2008, a total of 3,057 deer (1,926 deer and 1,131 unborn deer) have been removed ...
Endangered since the 1990s, NJ's bobcat population is now on the rise January 2, 2024 New Jersey, northjersey.com
... according to a recent study by the Department of Environmental Protection ... there are 200 to 400 bobcats thriving in the Garden State..,
Safe Driving in NJ During Deer Mating Season November 26, 2023 New Jersey, 92.7 WOBM
... According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, there are over 15,000 deer-to-vehicle accidents every year..,
“He Looks Like A Tiger” – Giant Bobcat Snatches Baby Deer In New Jersey Backyard November 1, 2023 Whiskey Riff
... video then cuts to a few moments later when the predator that potentially caused this damage revealed itself. A giant, and I mean GIANT bobcat comes out of the tree line to snatch up the still writhing fawn...
Deer 'Struggling' in Rough Tide Returns to Shore With Help From Surfer October 3, 2023 New Jersey, Yahoo Canada Sports
... “He was struggling as the incoming tide was rough that morning,” ... a happy outcome, as the animal regained the shore safely, after “a little help from a surfer” ...
Deer leaps from Route 3 overpass and crashes through vehicle windshield on Route 21 September 27, 2023 New Jersey, Yahoo
... crashed through the windshield of a vehicle heading south on Route 21 in Clifton, police said. After the deer wound up in the lap of the driver, 45, of a 2016 Jeep Compass, the driver lost control of the vehicle ...
Analysis of Historic and Current New Jersey Deer Population Densities in Kelly and Ray (2023) - Forest Ecology and Management, 2024
This analysis finds a recent New Jersey state deer density close to historic, precolonial estimates. Kelly and Ray (2023) warn that current high densities are at minimum 3.85 times historic low densities. Questions are raised about data sources and interpretations. The Kelly and Ray analysis can distort current deer management policy.
New Jersey Deer News and Information Archive by Topic: Population and Management, Deer in the News, Disease, Suburban, Transportation
New Jersey data: The 105,000 population estimate for 2022 was based on a recent decline revealed in hunting data. A widespread outbreak of EHD in 2021 reduced deer populations with reduced hunting in some areas into 2024. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) reported to the press in 2021 that the deer population had been on a decline since 2017. Estimates for 1984 to 2018 in the graph below are based on a recent NJDEP report with hunting data used to fill in a few missing years. Estimates are for deer in hunted areas.
The deer hunt results were down by 30% in 2021 from 2020. Hunter numbers in 2020 were elevated as a result of the pandemic which accounts for part of the decline. The hunt was down 25% in 2022 from 2018 when the state estimated a population of about 133,000. About 114,000 deer in 2019 based on hunting data and an estimate in the press.
In 2023 a report of more than 15,000 deer-vehicle collisions every year which in include many suburban deer not included in the state estimates.
DEP estimated 112,126 deer in 2017 and 101,000 deer in 2016 in areas available for hunting. A good mast crop in 2017. The large increase posted for the 2016-17 deer hunt is partly attributed to an improved acorn crop. About 100,000 deer in 2015. About 62 percent of the 51,596 deer hunted in 2013 were antlerless. In 2014 roughly 106,000 deer in the state, according to DEP estimates at the time, down from an estimated peak of 204,000 in 1995 as a result of state policies to reduce the population.
In 1998, the statewide minimum fall, pre-hunting season deer population was estimated at 178,598. Despite news media reports that the New Jersey deer population is exploding, the statewide population has remained relatively stable during the past several years [see page 4 and 6]". About 50,000 are killed in hunts each year, about 25,000 killed by cars. See the graph and data below for the state deer population estimate starting in 1984. A breakout of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease in 2007 killed 15 to 30 percent of the deer herd, highest in the south.
A population estimate of 140,000 in 2009 and 153,000 in 1990.
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) "Annual sampling of New Jersey deer harvested since 1998 have found no evidence of the disease. Based on those samples, if CWD was present in our state we are 99% confident it was in less than 1% of the adult deer at that time (without testing all of the animals in a population it is statistically impossible to say a disease is not there)." Source: New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) was first identified in 1955 when several hundred deer died in both New Jersey and Michigan. Outbreaks in 2021, a major outbreak, and 2017. Severe outbreaks in 2007 and 1999. Outbreaks 1955 to 2012.
Suburban Deer Management In 2011 New Jersey become the second state after Maryland to approve contraceptives for deer population control. It has rarely if ever been used.
History Deer are native to New Jersey with a thriving population in colonial days. According to a report by the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station "in the era before the arrival of colonial settlers, typical NJ habitats could support about 15 to 21 deer per square mile." New Jersey is 7,352.9 square miles. Applying the mid-point of the 15 to 21 per square mile, 18 per square mile, gives a rough estimate of 132,000 deer. By 1900 deer had been virtually exterminated from the state as a result of unregulated hunting. Just a few deer remained by the early 1900s. A restocking effort was started to restore the population. The state commented in a 1999 report that "On a regional basis, deer populations actually peaked in the 1930s in the pinelands of southern New Jersey and in many areas of northern New Jersey in the 1950s (Burke et al., 1990)."
Bear, an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 bears in 2017. An estimated 3,158 in 2020.
Bobcats, 200 to 400 in New Jersey around 2023 according to an EPA study.
Report Sick Deer: Office of Fish and Wildlife Health and Forensics, 908-236-2118
Other useful links:
- New Jersey Division of Fish, Game & Wildlife
- White-tailed Deer in NJ, NJDEP
- Report dead deer along the highway to New Jersey DOT