The white-tailed deer population in the state is at an all-time high. Scott discusses how this happened and what needs to be done to keep the numbers up.
A DuPont Co. plant in New Jersey is considering sending a shipment of deer to the mountains of North Carolina. The placement of these deer would help decrease the rapidly growing population in New Jersey while allowing the deer a place to roam freely in NC.
Biologists and enforcement officers have recently updated a map showing the densities of deer in North Carolina. The map shows where populations are more or less dense, allowing hunters to find new areas.
In recent years, white-tailed deer populations have increased in North Carolina with the help of good habitat and food supplies. Today management efforts focus on controlling deer populations to prevent them from overproducing and exceeding the capacity of their habitat.
Previously, sentiments have held that hunting deer require leaving the females along. However, biologists now realize that controlling deer herd populations in North Carolina require the shooting of does under certain conditions and restrictions.
The growing whitetail deer population peaked at over a million in 1995. At the same time the state population is increasing and urbanizing. The challenge for wildlife managers is to find a balance between the two.
To increase the size and distribution of the deer herds and produce better hunting for the future, the Game Division of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission implemented a deer restoration program.