Research Insights
Partnering with hunters and improving estimation of deer populations to combat chronic wasting disease
Georgia Department of Natural Resources strives to continually improve its ability to manage white-tailed deer populations effectively. Understanding the knowledge of and preferences of hunters is important for partnering with them to manage deer populations. Also, accurately estimating the size of deer populations is necessary to design management programs to meet objectives. Chronic wasting disease is an infection in deer species which is contagious to other deer and always fatal for infected animals. The discovery of chronic wasting disease in Lanier County, Georgia in 2025 prompted Georgia Department of Natural Resources to begin use of the Chronic Wasting Disease Response Plan to develop a Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone and to increase sampling for the disease. The first aim of this project is to design education which will engage hunters to help in the management of chronic wasting disease. The second aim of this project is to develop methods to efficiently estimate populations of deer at the county level which aids in the setting of seasons and other deer harvest strategies.
Funder: Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Amount: $250,000
PI: Gino D’Angelo, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources