SREL Reprint #2922

Harvestable Natural Resources: White-Tailed Deer

Paul E. Johns1 and John C. Kilgo2

1Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, PO Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802
2USFS-Savannah River, PO Box 700, New Ellenton, SC 29809

Abstract: From a public relations standpoint, the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is probably the most important wildlife species occurring on the Savannah River Site (SRS). The SRS deer herd has been the subject of more scientific investigations than any comparable deer population in the world, resulting in more than 125 published papers. Each year more than 5,500 people apply to be drawn for one of the public hunts, and with articles in hunting magazines such as Buckmasters (Handley 2000), hunters have applied from as far away as Alaska and Italy. In thirty-six years on the SRS, over 150,000 hunters have harvested over 40,000 deer. Each deer harvested in South Carolina brings an estimated $1,500 into state and local economies (U.S. Department of Interior et al. 1997).
The current SRS deer population grew from a few individuals that were present in 1950. Early workers realized that the study of a young, rapidly expanding population would provide invaluable insights into the basic biology of the species (Urbston 1967). Accordingly, researchers have collected a broad base of data on nutrition, reproduction, antler growth, parasites, genetics, and movement for this population since the early 1960s. Such a large database exists for no other deer population in the world.

SREL Reprint #2922

Johns, P. E. and J. C. Kilgo. 2005. Harvestable Natural Resources: White-Tailed Deer. pp. 380-389 In J. C. Kilgo and J. I. Blake (Eds.). Ecology and Management of a Forested Landscape: Fifty Years on the Savannah River Site. Island Press.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).