It is a deer hunter’s nightmare – you heard through the grapevine the buck you have been watching all summer was killed by a local farmer, orchardist or gardener using a crop depredation tag. To determine where this potentially occurs, we surveyed state and provincial wildlife agencies for our 2023 Deer Report and asked whether their jurisdiction allowed antlered bucks to be harvested on damage or depredation tags. State-by-state results are presented below in tables by region.
We also asked if any antlered buck at any time could be killed on damage/depredation tags, or if it was only for special circumstances such as rub damage. This information is also included in the tables below. Most of the states that allow antlered bucks to be taken on damage/depredation tags (22 of 34, 65%) only allow it under special circumstances compared to the 12 of 34 (35%) that allow any bucks to be taken at any time with the tags. These special circumstances are mostly due to rub damage, threats to human health and safety, and browse damage.
Additionally, we compared those statistics to data from 2011. Of the 47 states that responded to our new survey, 34 (72%) allow antlered bucks to be harvested on damage/depredation tags today compared to 14 of 18 (78%) in 2011.
Two states (Iowa and Maryland) where antlered bucks were allowed on damage/depredation tags in 2011 said they did not allow it in 2022. Three other states (Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Vermont) did not allow this option in 2011 but offer it today. In Canada, Ontario is the only province to allow antlered bucks to be harvested on damage/depredation tags.
Below, by region, are the responses to our survey indicating whether antlered bucks are allowed to be taken with crop depredation permits.
Southeastern States
| State | Bucks? | Special Requirements / Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Yes | Buck-specific damage outside of regular hunting seasons, human safety hazard. |
| Arkansas | Yes | Rub damage, airports, public safety, urban deer hunts. |
| Florida | Yes | Any buck, any time. |
| Georgia | Yes | Rubbing trees or only when bucks are specifically causing damage. |
| Louisiana | Yes | Unbranched antlered bucks. |
| Mississippi | No | |
| North Carolina | Yes | Any buck, any time. |
| Oklahoma | Yes | Very rare to issue permits allowing antlered harvest. Tree farms/orchards where antlers are causing rub damage, etc. |
| South Carolina | Yes | Damage via antler rubbing in nurseries, orchards, etc. |
| Tennessee | Yes | Any buck, any time. |
| Texas | Yes | Any buck, any time. |
Northeastern States
| State | Bucks? | Special Requirements / Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | Yes | Any buck, any time. |
| Delaware | No | |
| Maine | No | |
| Maryland | No | |
| Massachusetts | Yes | Special circumstances only. |
| New Hampshire | Yes | Any buck, any time. |
| New Jersey | Yes | Any buck, any time. |
| New York | Yes | Related to rub damage, threats to public safety, municipal culls, browse damage to unique natural areas. |
| Pennsylvania | Yes | Agricultural damage only to protect property. State law, outside of wildlife agency’s control. |
| Rhode Island | Yes | Any buck, any time. |
| Vermont | Yes | Any buck, any time. |
| Virginia | Yes | Antlered bucks are not normally taken on agricultural damage but are routinely taken on rubbing damage and/or urban kill permits. The antlers are cut off and given to the wildlife agency. |
| West Virginia | Yes | Any buck, any time. |
Midwestern States
| State | Bucks? | Special Requirements / Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Illinois | Yes | Any buck, any time. |
| Indiana | Yes | Any buck, any time. |
| Iowa | Yes | Related to several set conditions. |
| Kansas | No | |
| Kentucky | Yes | If in-season tags are not enough to mitigate damage, out-of-season any-sex permits may be issued. There are no special circumstances once those are distributed. |
| Michigan | Yes | Most damage permits issued are for antlerless deer only. Regional supervisors can approve antlered deer under unique circumstances. Rubbing is the primary reason. While other scenarios may exist (i.e. many bucks causing browse damage), they are infrequent. |
| Minnesota | Yes | Two types. 1.) Deer shooting permits – which allow for the taking of antlered deer but permitees are not allowed to keep the head and deer must be in the act of depredation. 2.) Depredation Deer Antlerless Permits – For producers with a history of chronic issues, only antlerless deer may be taken under these permits and only during open hunting seasons. Both options require a hunt plan that emphasizes and requires harvest of antlerless deer to remain eligible for these permits. |
| Missouri | Yes | Bucks must be specifically authorized by a Conservation Agent. |
| Nebraska | Yes | When agency allows bucks to be included on the permit. Some are any deer, some are antlerless only. |
| North Dakota | No | |
| Ohio | Yes | Rub damage. |
| South Dakota | Yes | Special circumstances only. |
| Wisconsin | Yes | Rub damage is most common, but bucks inside intended exclosures and for human safety reasons like airport runways may also be taken. |
Western States
| State | Bucks | Special Requirements / Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Yes | |
| Colorado | No | |
| Idaho | No | |
| Montana | Yes | It is allowed but rarely implemented, could be if antlered bucks are known to be causing damage. If harvest of bucks is authorized, landowners cannot select any of the hunters; in those cases, all hunters must be selected by the department. |
| Nevada | No | |
| New Mexico | Yes | “Jennings Law” allows landowners to kill wildlife they believe is threatening their crops. It does not require a tag. Also, special depredation hunts where we allocate licenses to address depredation complaints. |
| Oregon | Yes | If wildlife is a threat to human health and safety. Or controlled hunts with an any-deer bag limit are specifically set up to address damage. |
| Utah | Yes | Special circumstances. |
| Washington | No | |
| Wyoming | No |
Canada
Only Ontario allows bucks to be taken on depredation permits. Permit holders may take any buck, any time.
Total Crop Depredation Deer Harvest
There’s no doubt antlered bucks are killed with crop depredation tags, but according to wildlife agency records it occurs less often than many hunters think it does. We surveyed agencies for our 2013 Whitetail Report and estimated a total deer kill with crop depredation tags of 66,000 based on responses from 25 states, less than about 2% of the national deer-hunter harvest at that time.
Of the estimated kill with these tags reported as antlered or antlerless, only 4.5% were antlered bucks. Certainly, as many hunters suspect, the reporting system for deer killed with crop depredation tags is not flawless. While the real numbers of deer killed with these tags is likely somewhat higher than agency estimates, we believe the vast majority of them are antlerless deer.
NDA’s Recommendations
Depredation/damage tags are sometimes necessary to protect farmers’ livelihoods or from a public relations standpoint for state and provincial agencies. However, state and provincial wildlife agencies also owe it to their hunter constituents to enforce permit requirements, ensure accurate reporting of harvests, and to issue the majority of permits only for antlerless deer to be used outside of peak fawning season.