Deer Friendly - Mississippi

Mississippi Deer Population: An estimate from a state analyst of 1.6 million deer in 2025 although there is an undated estimate on the state website of 1.75 million. There is approximately one deer feeder for every 14 deer in the state. Population estimates from 2021 to 2024 put the population at 1.6 million, a little higher in 2021. A hard freeze in the 2022-23 winter reduced the population. The population estimate was in the 1.4 to 1.5 million range from year to 2000 to 2019, increasing to about 1.56 million in 2020 after a mild summer and substantial rain. The 2016 population also benefited from good rainfall and a large mast crop. The population was estimated at about 1 million in 1991, 884,000 in 1981, and around 1,200.

Mississippi Deer News

Mississippi's deer dilemma: More deer, fewer trophies? December 4, 2025 Farm Progress

... “There is a feeder for every 13 deer in the state of Mississippi, over 118,000 feeders total as a low estimate,” McKinley said. “After hunting over feeders was legalized in the state, we saw hunter success rates drop by almost a whole deer per hunter.” ..,

Mississippi may require deer hunters to report harvests November 25, 2025 WLOX on MSN

... essential data to better manage the state’s deer population and monitor chronic wasting disease... Wildlife officials estimate about 275,000 deer are harvested annually in Mississippi, but current figures rely on surveys and voluntary reports ... Mandatory reporting would offer county-level tends ...

Mississippi Deer Damage in Row Crops Survey October 23, 2025 Mississippi State University Extension Service

... Of the surveys that had all the economic damage information filled out, 13 respondents reported damages in corn, 21 reported damages in cotton, and 90 reported damages in soybeans. Respondents reported damage occurring in 45 Mississippi counties... Soybeans were by far the most impacted, with 90 respondents reporting damages on 14,204 acres, of which 4,013 acres had to be replanted. Total economic loss for soybeans was $3.68 million, or $258.91 per acre...

Chronic Wasting Disease confirmed in Prentiss County deer October 15, 2025 Mississippi, Darkhorse Press

... The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks has confirmed the first case of Chronic Wasting Disease in Prentiss County after a hunter-harvested buck tested positive during the 2025 Velvet Season...

MS buck weights, antlers appear in decline as deer population estimate is at record high October 7, 2025 Mississippi, The Clarion Ledger

... Mississippi's deer population is increasing ...

The average weight of mature bucks has decreased significantly in some areas over the past few decades. ... Mississippi has the highest estimated deer density in the Southeast at 33 deer per square mile...

Deer depredation is a row crop concern September 10, 2025 Mississippi State University Extension Service

... Deer crop depredation is when deer eat an item to the point that it causes damage. Examples may include deer eating landscape shrubs and flowers or grazing home vegetable gardens, and on a larger scale, feeding heavily on row crops... it is widely assumed that soybeans are deer’s favorite row crop...

Hunters continue to battle CWD in state deer herds August 4, 2025 Mississippi State University Extension Service

... The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, or MDWFP, tested 128 deer positive for CWD from July 2024 to June 2025. That number is up from 110 deer that tested positive during the same period from 2023 to 2024. According to the MDWFP website, the agency has tested 58,854 deer since July 1, 2018. There has been a total of 446 positive tests since 2018 in Mississippi...

Whitetails Unlimited Grants More Than $180,000 in Mississippi - July 2, 2025 Outdoor Wire

... Whitetails Unlimited has granted $182,416 to various mission-related projects in the state of Mississippi over the past fiscal year... dedicating its resources to the betterment of the white-tailed deer and its environment ...

We Know Bucks Can Disappear. Now We Know Where They Go May 12, 2025 Mississippi, Field & Stream

... studies show that roughly two-thirds of collared bucks fit a personality profile they describe as “sedentary.” These bucks remain within a defined home range ... The remaining bucks, they call “mobile.” These deer have two distinct home ranges that they live in during different parts of the year and that can be many miles apart...

New Deer Hunting Regulations Proposed in Mississippi April 21, 2025 Gun News Daily

...Key changes include clarifying the rules surrounding cased vehicles for transporting firearms and allowing the use of tracking dogs for recovering wounded deer, emphasizing the commitment to both safety and the humane treatment of animals...

Chronic Wasting Disease found in 17 Mississippi counties March 18, 2025 WJTV

... Officials ... collected more than 10,500 samples during the 2024-25 deer season for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) testing. According to the agency, there have been 127 positives detected since July 1, 2024, making this the highest year yet for CWD in Mississippi ..,

Chronic wasting disease prions on deer feeders and wildlife visitation to deer feeding areas. 2025. Mississippi. The Journal of Wildlife Management

... We show that deer feeders in free‐ranging

populations with high CWD prevalence become contaminated with CWD prions quickly, becoming a potential site of exposure of deer to CWD prions. Our results also demonstrate the ability to find evidence of prion contamination on deer feeders, even in areas where CWD is newly detected...

Think the moon affects deer movement? Here's what these bucks had to say about it February 7, 2025 Mississippi, Yahoo on MSN

... the Mississippi State University Deer Lab decided to test that theory. Years of data collected from mature bucks tracked by GPS collars were used ... what were the findings? ... nothing that was notable ...

House passes bill requiring hunters to report deer killed January 29, 2025 Mississippi, mississippitoday.org

... Mississippi would join all other states in having a requirement for hunters to report the white-tailed deer they kill each season under a bill the House passed 79-28 on Tuesday. HB 816 ...

More than 400 CWD positives detected in Mississippi since 2018 January 10, 2025 WJTV

... A batch of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) samples showed 30 positives last week ... According to MDWFP’s website, there have been 407 positive CWD detections in Mississippi since the disease was first detected in 2018..,

Debate over deer-dog hunting in Mississippi continues after Supreme Court ruling January 1, 2025 Mississippi, Daily Journal

... Using dogs to hunt whitetail deer ... is only legal in nine states ... A lower court imposed an injunction preventing the Allens from letting their dogs on the Dickersons’ land, and the Supreme Court affirmed the decision this spring...

CWD detection in Colbert County expands state's CWD Management Zone December 27, 2024 Mississippi, Yellowhammer News

... This is the first case of CWD detected in Colbert County and brings the total number of CWD positive detections to nine statewide... confirmed positive by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa...,

More chronic wasting disease positives detected in Mississippi December 11, 2024 Yahoo

... three positives were recently detected in Benton County, and one positive was detected in Marshall County. So far, there have been eight positives detected this season (FY2025)... 326 positive CWD detections in Mississippi since the disease was first detected in 2018..,

Mississippi's bear population is growing and here's what that means December 10, 2024 The Clarion-Ledger

... the earliest record of black bears in the state are fossilized remains dating back 12,000 years ... By the 1930s, the black bear population was estimated to be about 12. In 1932, bear hunting was banned in Mississippi... For many years, MDWFP gave an estimate of 150 bears in Mississippi, but that number is outdated ..,

Deer Population and Management with William McKinley November 6, 2024 Mississippi, MS Outdoors Podcast

... Matt Wyatt is joined by William McKinley, the Deer Program Coordinator at MDWFP, to discuss Mississippi's thriving deer population and what hunters can do to maintain healthy herds. William dives into the data behind deer management, explains the importance of hunters leading the conservation effort ...

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..,

Mississippi Deer Archive: Population and Management, Deer in the News, Disease, Suburban Management

Mississippi data: Estimates of about 1.6 to 1.75 million deer reported in 2025 with the 1.6 estimate coming directly from a state analyst in December. A deer feeder for every 14 deer in the state. An average density of 33 per square mile, the highest in the southeastern United States. Increased hunting in the southeast of Mississippi for 2024 where the deer population has increased.

Data for the chart below

A hard freeze in the 2022-23 winter dramatically reduced the acorn crop contributing to a modest decline in the population. 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 a total of 446 positives with128 positives for the 2024-25 season.

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