Taking on deer management in your community can seem daunting at first. Luckily, deer are among the best-studied species of wildlife in North America. The literature on deer biology and management is vast and spans decades. Here you will find a selection of some of the articles, documents and management guides that other communities have found most useful in shaping their deer management programs.
Jump-start your community's deer management program with these templates.
"Deerville" is a fictitious community with a new deer management program. This example communications plan contains all the elements: Who, When, What, and How? Download the template to develop a communications plan for your own community. Your communication strategy can make all the difference in the success of your program.
This template is provided in Excel format and will help your community articulate a communications strategy around deer management. A good communication plan for a project answers:
- WHO will you communicate with (stakeholders)?
- WHEN will you communicate with them?
- WHAT is the key message they need to get?
- HOW will you communicate with them?
Use this template to develop a communications plan for your community. It provides an outline and instructions for a basic plan, covering who, when, what and how. Just download and fill in your details about messages, tactics, and target audiences.
The messaging structure is a central part of any communications plan. This document contains key messages about deer management that can be customized for your community and incorporated into all materials about your CBDM Program. They can also be used as talking points with the media.
This is a template to help you recognize the important components of a deer management plan. As you browse the example deer management plans included on this website, you will find that they do not follow a standard format. Some plans are hundreds of pages long with many appendices, whereas others are simple 10-page documents. Some states may require that communities undergo an environmental impact assessment process prior to implementing a program, which may affect the length of a plan and the components of that plan.
Read these first if you are new to community-based deer management.
A brief video with Kate Supron, former mayor of Cayuga Heights, New York, providing advice based on the experiences and challenges the village faced throughout their deer management planning process.
This guide provides an overview of management techniques for white-tailed deer in a suburban setting.
A brief video with Dr. Paul Curtis of Cornell University on considerations communities should take into account when developing measurable objectives for their CBDM plan.
A brief video with Courtney LaMere of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation on working with your state agency for CBDM planning.
A brief video with Dr. Paul Curtis of Cornell University describing considerations communities should take into account when developing a CBDM plan.
This guide shares approaches to CBDM across the Northeastern US, presents key dimensions of CBDM that should be given attention by deer managers, and facilitates planning of CBDM approaches for successful deer resource management.
A PowerPoint presentation exploring the positive and negative impacts of white-tailed deer.
A presentation that explores what you might expect when embarking on a community-based deer management effort in your community.
This guide is organized to provide a conceptual foundation for the practice of wildlife damage management, summarize key insights about human tolerance of negative interactions with wildlife, and offer guidance on designing, implementing, and evaluating stakeholder engagement processes for wildlife damage management objectives.
Find books, newspaper articles, blog posts and more about the relationships between communities and deer.
An overview of the deer impacts faced by communities around the United States and the kinds of solutions and approaches being developed through local Community Based Deer Management programs. The growing numbers of communities developing home-grown solutions supports the premise that a balanced approach to population goal setting may also be attainable at the state level.
The WC4EB website is an educational site providing information on deer biology, overabundance, and management, especially in urban areas.
Using examples from Rock Creek Park (Washington, DC) and Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY), Jim Sterba zeroes in on the challenges often posed by animal rights groups when communities seek to balance a range of values - from public safety to human health, protection of property and the overall well-being of local deer populations.
A The Nature Conservancy blog post detailing the impact of deer overpopulation on eastern forests.
Article discussing the impact of deer overabundance.
To cull or not to cull? That is the question towns increasingly face.
Communities across the US are turning to hunting to help get deer numbers under control. A waste of good venison? Hardly. In fact many local deer management programs donate their harvests to local food banks. These community-based programs model the best of win-win solutions—when addressing a major community challenge helps resolve another.
Cambronne's Deerland is a great resource for anyone grappling with the complexities of Community Based Deer Management (CBDM). He takes on more than a century of deer biology and management in the United States. A work rich with one-on-one interviews and experience-based narrative, Deerland is a go-to reference for understanding the phenomenon of how deer overpopulation reached crisis proportions in many parts of our nation.
A nice overview article with quotes from Wildlife Biologist Chas Moore about some of the deer-related challenges communities are facing, the underlying causes for these problems, and potential solutions.
Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania proposes a "tri-tag" program in working with Philadelphia and Pittsburg to help reduce deer populations and bring some relief to communities suffering from deer-human conflict.
Explore the basics of deer biology, ecology, and management.
The WC4EB website is an educational site providing information on deer biology, overabundance, and management, especially in urban areas.
This is a multimedia disk available for purchase from the Quality Deer Management Association. It is full of information about the complexities of deer management in urban and suburban areas and offers options for reducing deer/human conflicts in densely populated areas.
This multi-media resource explores community deer management and biodiversity issues. It is available for purchase from the Quality Deer Management Association.
University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web's page on white-tailed deer, which provides basic information on deer biology.
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have adapted to, and are thriving in, residential–suburban landscapes. Special hunts, sharpshooting programs, and fertility control efforts have been implemented in residential communities to reduce local deer populations. For these management strategies to be effective, it is important to understand deer movement and behavior patterns in suburban landscapes.
Dig deeper into community-based deer management with these practitioners' guides.
A technical guide developed by the Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife.
This guide provides an overview of management techniques for white-tailed deer in a suburban setting.
This guide shares approaches to CBDM across the Northeastern US, presents key dimensions of CBDM that should be given attention by deer managers, and facilitates planning of CBDM approaches for successful deer resource management.
This guide is organized to provide a conceptual foundation for the practice of wildlife damage management, summarize key insights about human tolerance of negative interactions with wildlife, and offer guidance on designing, implementing, and evaluating stakeholder engagement processes for wildlife damage management objectives.
A step-by-step guide for municipalities in New Jersey on how to participate in the state's Community Based Deer Management Program, which was established in 1995. Appendix A features a sample CBDM application and resolution as well as a sample management plan and template (pp 23-34).
A presentation that explores what you might expect when embarking on a community-based deer management effort in your community.
Are your deer management actions having the desired effect? Use these resources to develop a measures program.
A brief video with Dr. Paul Curtis of Cornell University describing considerations communities should take into account when developing a CBDM plan.
The Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation is a product of the Conservation Measures Partnership. It is a useful reference for many types of management projects, including deer management at the local level. We include it here on the CBDM website because it provides good guidance on how to go about setting objectives and measuring program success, two areas where communities often benefit from additional guidance.
Translate your community's desired outcomes into deer management objectives that are specific and measurable.
The Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation is a product of the Conservation Measures Partnership. It is a useful reference for many types of management projects, including deer management at the local level. We include it here on the CBDM website because it provides good guidance on how to go about setting objectives and measuring program success, two areas where communities often benefit from additional guidance.
A brief video with Dr. Paul Curtis of Cornell University describing considerations communities should take into account when developing a CBDM plan.
A brief video with Dr. Paul Curtis of Cornell University on considerations communities should take into account when developing measurable objectives for their CBDM plan.
Learn how other communities have structured their CBDM programs by browsing these deer management plans.
The deer management plan for Burnsville, Minnesota.
The deer management plan for the city of Oxford, Mississippi.
A deer report by the Hendersonville Urban Deer Committee on management in Hendersonville, TN.
Deer management plan for Amherst, NY.
The deer management plan for Harpers Ferry, WV.
The deer management plan for Pewaukee, Wisconsin.
This is a template to help you recognize the important components of a deer management plan. As you browse the example deer management plans included on this website, you will find that they do not follow a standard format. Some plans are hundreds of pages long with many appendices, whereas others are simple 10-page documents. Some states may require that communities undergo an environmental impact assessment process prior to implementing a program, which may affect the length of a plan and the components of that plan.
In 2007, the City of Helena’s Urban Wildlife Task Force developed an Urban Deer Management Plan. The Task Force confirmed the findings of the Plan that the predominate urban wildlife problem in the City of Helena was an overpopulation of mule deer due to the ample forage, water, and general habitat conditions. After extensive meetings that included city officials, members of the public, and wildlife specialists who reviewed existing urban wildlife plans, the Task Force presented its recommendations to the City Commission. This Plan was adopted by the City Commission.
Deer management plan of Hopewell, NJ.
A document containing the recommendations for deer management in the City of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The deer management plan for the city of Rockville, Maryland.
This is a report on managing Greenwich, CT’s deer population.
The deer management plan (goals, objectives, and implementation) for Montgomery County, Maryland.
The deer management plan for Howard County, Maryland.
Recommendations of the Joint City of Bloomington-Monroe County [Indiana] Deer Task Force.
An overview of Clinton, IA's deer management program.
Consult these materials to compare possible action alternatives for deer management in your community.
A brief video with Courtney LaMere of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation on working with your state agency for CBDM planning.
A technical guide developed by the Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife.
This peer-reviewed article chronicles the ways in which community-based deer management in Mumford Cove, Connecticut reduced Lyme disease incidence over a 13-year period.
A summary of deer impacts generally and the decision to manage deer by the Cornell Botanic Gardens. The importance of open, respectful discussion and managing for multiple values, and a full suite of wildlife, is emphasized.
This is a multimedia disk available for purchase from the Quality Deer Management Association. It is full of information about the complexities of deer management in urban and suburban areas and offers options for reducing deer/human conflicts in densely populated areas.
The WC4EB website is an educational site providing information on deer biology, overabundance, and management, especially in urban areas.
The authors investigated the use of one of the available non-lethal approaches to deer management: surgical sterilization. Based on the ineffectiveness of this practice, the authors do not recommend surgical sterilization as a stand-alone method for managing deer. View the abstract and purchase the full text by visiting: Wildlife Society Bulletin.
This multi-media resource explores community deer management and biodiversity issues. It is available for purchase from the Quality Deer Management Association.
Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania proposes a "tri-tag" program in working with Philadelphia and Pittsburg to help reduce deer populations and bring some relief to communities suffering from deer-human conflict.
Hunting is the primary tool for managing white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations. Effectiveness of hunting in suburban areas may be reduced due to limited hunter access to small properties, firearms-discharge laws, and public safety concerns. In Connecticut, USA, hunting over bait on private land was recently legalized to increase harvest opportunities. Our objective was to assess bowhunter willingness to use bait and effects of bait type, hunter disturbance, time spent hunting, and property size on deer-harvest potential in a suburban landscape.
This is a concise document summarizing a process that is basically community-based deer management (CBDM). It does an especially good job identifying deer-related challenges communities are facing and options for addressing them. This position statement was approved by the Board of Northeast Section of The Wildlife Society on April 19 2015 in Newport, Rhode Island and by the Northeast Section of The Wildlife Society membership on April 1, 2016.
Firearms hunting often is limited as a deer (Odocoileus spp.) management tool in urban and suburban areas due to firearms discharge ordinances, restrictive hunting laws, or public perception about firearms safety. Many states use bowhunters to manage overabundant deer populations in urban–suburban areas. Little information exists on the effectiveness of bowhunting as a deer management tool in developed areas.
Although this resource is intended for Texas, the information it contains can help inform any community-based deer management program.
This 6-minute video, which appeared on "New York Now," includes coverage of deer impacts, community-led processes to address these impacts, and innovative solutions. It also addresses the uncomfortable conversation around managed hunts and sharpshooting as the most effective tool -- giving some air time to PETA for an alternative point of view. The piece features the work of the Catskill Forest Association, and a symposium they hosted in October, 2015 to discuss solutions to the deer issue.
Overview of an aggressive suburban deer research and management program on Cornell University lands in the Town of Ithaca, New York.
Make communication a priority for your community's deer management program. Consult these guides to learn how.
A helpful book for learning more about problem-solving negotiation. May be especially useful for facilitators.
This resource is Dr. Oliver Escobar's website regarding citizen participation and dialogue and deliberation. May be especially useful for facilitators and community leaders.
A non-technical guide for effective group or community meetings. An especially valuable resource for facilitators.
This template is provided in Excel format and will help your community articulate a communications strategy around deer management. A good communication plan for a project answers:
- WHO will you communicate with (stakeholders)?
- WHEN will you communicate with them?
- WHAT is the key message they need to get?
- HOW will you communicate with them?
This book explores how to mediate public disputes. May be especially useful for facilitators.
This report describes efforts to design a stakeholder involvement strategy for the Village of Cayuga Heights, at a time when deer management was just emerging as a controversial issue.
"Deerville" is a fictitious community with a new deer management program. This example communications plan contains all the elements: Who, When, What, and How? Download the template to develop a communications plan for your own community. Your communication strategy can make all the difference in the success of your program.
The messaging structure is a central part of any communications plan. This document contains key messages about deer management that can be customized for your community and incorporated into all materials about your CBDM Program. They can also be used as talking points with the media.
Use this template to develop a communications plan for your community. It provides an outline and instructions for a basic plan, covering who, when, what and how. Just download and fill in your details about messages, tactics, and target audiences.
Review resources on the economic, ecological, and health/safety effects of deer in communities.
A PowerPoint presentation exploring the positive and negative impacts of white-tailed deer.
This multi-media resource explores community deer management and biodiversity issues. It is available for purchase from the Quality Deer Management Association.
A short film discussing the impact of white-tailed deer on forest ecology and how Cornell researchers are monitoring that impact.
This website includes information on deer and deer management in New York State, as well as a variety of related resources.
A webinar series hosted by Cornell Cooperative Extension exploring deer and deer management in New York State
This peer-reviewed article chronicles the ways in which community-based deer management in Mumford Cove, Connecticut reduced Lyme disease incidence over a 13-year period.
https://www.vassar.edu/sites/default/files/2022-12/USDA_White-tailed_Deer_in_NE_Forests.pdf
A USDA Forest Service publication detailing the impact of white-tailed deer on northeastern forests.
A website developed by the University of Georgia, Penn State University, and US Forest Service Research & Development. This website provides information about the relationship between white-tailed deer and forests, and contains many useful resources about deer, people and forests.
This is a multimedia disk available for purchase from the Quality Deer Management Association. It is full of information about the complexities of deer management in urban and suburban areas and offers options for reducing deer/human conflicts in densely populated areas.
A summary of deer impacts generally and the decision to manage deer by the Cornell Botanic Gardens. The importance of open, respectful discussion and managing for multiple values, and a full suite of wildlife, is emphasized.
This website provides useful links on the benefits of woodlands, threats to woodlands, research and articles regarding woodlands and impacts of deer on woodlands, as well as technical resources concerning the regeneration of hardwood forests.
The WC4EB website is an educational site providing information on deer biology, overabundance, and management, especially in urban areas.
Find out how residents in your community feel about deer and deer management options.
The purpose of this guide is to suggest a way to collect opinions from stakeholders. This guide was originally created for a stakeholder engagement decision-making group in New York State.
Survey from: Considerations for Involvement of Deer Management Stakeholders in Islip, New York 2003. W.F. Siemer and J.S. Butler. HDRU Publ. Series 03-1. Dept. of Nat. Resour., N.Y.S. Coll. of Ag. and Life Sci., Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY. 53 p. Link: https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/40384/HDRUReport03-1....
Survey from: Deer Management in the Village of Cayuga Heights, New York: Preliminary Situation Analysis from a Survey of Residents 1999. L.C. Chase, W.F. Siemer, and D.J. Decker HDRU Publ. Series 99-1. Dept. of Nat. Resour., N.Y.S. Coll. of Ag. and Life Sci., Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY. 17 p. Link: https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/40341/HDRUReport99-1....
Survey from: Residents’ Attitudes About Deer and Deer Management in the Central Finger Lakes Management Unit Siemer, W. F., E. F. Pomeranz, D. J. Decker, and R. C. Stedman. 2015. Residents’ attitudes about deer and deer management in the Central Finger Lakes Management Unit. Human Dimensions Research Unit Publication Series 15–10. Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. 38pp. Link: https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/41638/HDRU_Publicatio...
Survey from: Assessing Deer Impacts and Management Options at a Landscape Scale: A Survey of Landowners in the Towns of Caroline and Venice 2008. N.A. Connelly, T.L. Brown, G.R. Goff, and P.D. Curtis. HDRU Publ. Series 08-2. Dept of Nat. Resour., N.Y.S. Coll. Ag. and Life Sci., Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY. 24 p. Link: https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/40425/HDRUReport08-2....
Survey from: Identifying Capacity for Local Community Participation in Wildlife Management Planning. Case 2: White-tailed Deer Issues at Valley Forge National Historical Park 2007. K.M. Leong and D.J. Decker. HDRU Publ. Series 07-3. Dept. of Nat. Resour., N.Y.S. Coll. Ag. and Life Sci., Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY. 52 p. Link: https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/40413/HDRUReport07-3....
Survey from: Deer, People, and Parks: Perspectives of Residents in Communities near Fire Island National Seashore 2007. W.F. Siemer, K. Leong, D.J. Decker, and K.K. Smith. HDRU Publ. Series 07-8. Dept. of Nat. Resour., N.Y.S. Coll. Ag. and Life Sci., Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY. 70 p. Link: https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/40418/HDRUReport07-8....
Survey from: Cornell Lands, Deer, and East Hill Communities: Results from a 2006 Survey of Community Residents 2007. W.F. Siemer, K. Leong, D.J. Decker, and T.L Brown. HDRU Publ. Series 07-5. Dept. of Nat. Resour., N.Y.S. Coll. Ag. and Life Sci., Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY. 37 p. Link: https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/40415/HDRUReport07-5....
Questionnaire from: White-tailed Deer Issues in NPS Units: Insights from Natural Resource Managers in the Northeastern U.S. 2005. K.M. Leong and D.J. Decker. HDRU Publ. Series 05-5. Dept. of Nat. Resour., N.Y.S. Coll. of Ag. and Life Sci., Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY. 27 p. Link: https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/40396/HDRUReport05-5....
Survey from: Farmers' Estimates of Economic Damage from White-tailed Deer in New York State 2004. T.L. Brown, D.J. Decker, and P.D. Curtis. HDRU Publ. Series 04-3. Dept. of Nat. Resour., N.Y.S. Coll. of Ag. and Life Sci., Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY. 26 p. Link: https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/40391/HDRUReport04-3....