The total pre-settlement population of white-tailed deer in North America ranged from 24 to 62 million animals, or an average of about 14.2 deer per square mile over an estimated range of about 3,011,600 square miles. (Hanberry, B. B. and P. Hanberry. 2020: Wildlife Society Bulletin 44(3): 512-518)
Most of these animals lived in an area of 2,007,800 square miles east of the Mississippi River. Today, there are between 11 and 35 million of them, half the number before settlement. However, land cover has changed drastically, and in several Midwestern states, there are from 15 to more than 45 deer per square mile.
Are deer suffering from “voluntary overpopulation”?
