Frequently Asked Questions

Why don't deer stay in and eat what's in the woods?
White-tailed deer are foragers. One of their many defense mechanisms is eating on the go. First they smell, look, and listen to where they are going; then they go. After ten to twenty steps they stop, smell, look, and listen to where they have been. Then they repeat the whole process again. All this moving requires a lot of space. Deer will not go to the preferred food source, lower their head, and camp out. Something may eat them. So they eat a little here, move down the trail, eat a little there, and so on. Urbanization is reducing their natural habitats at alarming rates and they are forced to live among us. As for eating, deer love fertilizer and there is not any in the woods. They know what nutrition smells like and they go to it. Unfortunately, our fertilized lawns, flower beds, and gardens suffer.

How much do deer eat?
A lot; the math will surprise you. One deer consumes approximately 7 lbs./day. Ten deer consume 70 lbs./day. A good deer herd density ranges 18 to 30 deer per square mile. The problem deer herds that have become localized by suburbanization easily reach 100 deer per square mile. Now let's apply the math. 1 = 7 lbs./day. 100 = 700 lbs./day. That means 4900 lbs./week, 21,000 lbs./month, and 255,500 lbs./year. That much food is not available in the small wood lots of today's suburbia. That is another reason why our lawns, hedges, and flower beds are so attractive to them.

How high should a fence be?
Typically, 10' fencing material does a great job. The forest and brush should be cleared back away from the fence ten feet on each side. Deer are fence walkers and will wear a path along its perimeter looking for passage. Any space under the bottom wire gets exploited. Deer would rather go under a fence than over it. Penetration points in a well-designed and installed fence are usually the gates that were left open.

What about contraceptives?
Technology and pricing limits the feasibility of contraceptives. Dr. Anthony J. DeNicola, President of White Buffalo, Inc, and America's leading authority on the subject of fertility control of white-tails states, " Fertility control agents exist that can prevent reproduction in individual deer. However, the need for repeated administration and the limited delivery technologies significantly restricts the population size that can be experimentally manipulated." He estimates manpower and material for treatment to be approximately $1000/doe. With the current technology that is available, this will be a recurring, annual expense for the life of the doe. So far, the treatment of a sufficient number of females within a free ranging herd has been next to impossible. Additionally, the United States Drug Administration has classified the white-tailed deer as a human food animal, and as such strictly regulates what kinds of chemicals they are exposed to because they may end up on someone's dinner table.

Can the deer be trapped and relocated?
This option may soon become obsolete. It has always been a less than perfect option. Trap and relocation related stress may result in high levels of mortality. The project is very labor intensive and requires a significant level of expertise of the handlers. Trap and relocation is also an expensive option. Chronic Wasting Disease has created a tremendous amount of apprehension in state wildlife agencies approving the relocation. Sick deer, that do not present symptoms, could possibly transmit and spread the disease to the new location site's herd. Additionally, there are many other disease concerns that restrict this option. Given that the high population has caused the conflict, the survivors of the relocation often cause the same conflicts in their new habitat.

Why not leave them alone and let nature take its course?
The large predators have been removed by man. Other than regulated hunting, planes, trains, and automobiles, deer population growth is unchecked. The suburbanization of America has created an "edge browser's paradise." Left alone, the local deer herd will grow by consuming vast amounts of natural vegetation at rates above that of other competing species. An example is flowering plants. Plants only flower on new growth. The new growth of a plant is where the nutrition is concentrated. The new growth gets consumed by the foraging deer. Now the plants do not flower and the migrating humming-bird population suffers. White-tailed deer are not a migrating species. Although highly variable because of housing development and logging, the white-tailed doe remain within 1 1/2 mile of the place of their birth. They eat what is there and multiply. Soon they exceed the carrying capacity of the land and they become malnourished. Malnourished deer become weak, thin, and susceptible to and carriers of disease. An ecosystem will collapse and their death will not be dignified. Ironically, hunting of the white-tailed deer has always been a part of their nature.

Is sharpshooting safe?
There are inherent risks from firing any weapon, however these risks are carefully managed and are under constant scrutiny. Site surveys are conducted that determine all structure locations and vehicle/pedestrian movement patterns. The marksmen are highly trained and experienced. The weapons are first-class, custom made specifically for this purpose. The optics used are state-of-the-art. No police or military unit has any finer equipment. The weapons use noise suppression devices that eliminate any public distress that could be caused by booming highpowered rifles. All shooting is done from solid, elevated positions that provide the ground as a positive backstop for any pass-through projectiles. Every precaution is taken during the site selection process to ensure that no possibility for error or mistake exists.

What happens to all the venison?
Every effort is made to see that hungry people get some food. This requires a lot of coordination. The client is in a better political position for getting a local meat processing facility to donate some of its production time. Once processed, inspected, and packaged, the venison gets distributed to local charities, church pantries, and other philanthropic organizations. After all the required data is retrieved from the deer, Deer Proof, Inc.'s field technician put the deer into refrigerated trucks for transport to the processor. Often, prison facilities accept deer for processing.