Georgia DNR Announces New Program to Benefit Deer Hunting on Private Land

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources has developed a new program for m anagement of deer on private lands.

It’s called the Deer Management Assistance Program or D-MAP.

Charlie Kilmaster is the State Deer Biologist for the State of Georgia.

He says the primary function of the new program is to provide deer management guidance for private land owners.

“The primary function is to provide technical guidance to deer hunters and private land owners. We want to get a biologist out there and meet with people to provide good herd management and habitat advice, whether they’re participating in any flexibility within the program or not,” he explained.

According to Kilmaster, the program got started because of the strong desire on the part of private property owners to get more information on how to manage deer populations on their land.

Kilmaster said Georgia’s DMAP has several levels, each with its own fees and acreage minimums that provide increasing levels of service and deer harvest flexibility.

He says the program offers property owners information such as deer herd and habitat management plans, property mapping, harvest data analysis, assistance with camera surveys, and harvest recommendations.

“If we have a property that’s a little bit different for the average for the area, we can be flexible there and allow them a different harvest or a harvest a a different time of the year that’s more appropriate based on science in that property,” Kilmaster said. “What that allows us to do from a regulatory perspective is that we can do things that are more conservative and benefit a broader range of properties. So, we can set seasons and bag limits to what’s more appropriate for the average than when we have an exception to the rule or an exception to the average. And we can deal with the exception on a case-by-case basis.”

According to Kilmaster, highly trained DMAP biologists will stay up to speed on the latest deer research and deliver that knowledge to hunters and landowners through this program.

Because over 90% of Georgia land is privately owned, the new D-MAP program can protect more casually managed properties from over-harvest , while affording increased harvest flexibility on intensively managed properties.

Kilmaster says any land owner or hunt club that would like to participate in the DMAP program can go online to https://georgiawildlife.com/dmap.