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North Carolina White-Tailed Deer
It is estimated that only 10,000 deer inhabited the state in 1900. North Carolina's major efforts to restore our state's deer resource took place in the 1940s through the 1970s. Our state's restoration program was responsible for stocking approximately 4,000 deer throughout the state.
The cost of our state's white-tailed deer restoration program has been conservatively estimated at $1.2 million (in 1950-1970 dollars). Today, North Carolina sportsmen/women spend approximately $311 million on deer-related hunting expenses every year. More people hunt white-tailed deer than any other game species in North Carolina. Each year approximately 250,000 sportsmen/women take more than 2.9 million trips afield in pursuit of deer. Recent harvest statistics
Be sure to visit the Publications page for more information about the white-tailed deer and wildlife habitat in North Carolina! |
North Carolina’s
population of white-tailed deer is estimated at 1.1 million animals.
The state had a growing population of white-tailed deer until either-sex
seasons were liberalized in the early 1990s. This liberalization
of either-sex seasons across most areas of the state allowed for
increased opportunity for sportsmen/women to harvest antlerless deer.
The population trend of our state’s deer herd quickly stabilized
and has actually started to decrease for most areas of the state.
However, there are areas throughout the state where localized populations
continue to increase. Those areas where populations are rapidly increasing
are typically urban/suburban areas where the utilization of hunting
as a management tool has been greatly hindered.