2025 Southeast Deer Study Group

The Westervelt Company owns over 600,000 acres of timberland across five Southeastern states. Prior to the 2022 hunting season, the use of bait, supplemental feed, and minerals was prohibited on Westervelt-owned property as a precaution to reduce risk for the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). While the practice of baiting and feeding white-tailed deer does has not been proven to cause CWD, it can play a role in its spread when the disease agent is present. Despite many customer opinions shared, there have been minimal negative impacts on our hunting lease business. In fact, we had several instances of positive feedback and support for our decision. In the fall of 2023, we surveyed our hunting lease customers to determine deer hunting motivations, effectiveness of previous educational campaigns, general CWD knowledge, and future plans if CWD is discovered in the area they hunt. The survey was distributed by email to our customers (n = 1,500) with a response rate of 27% (406 respondents). We found knowledge of CWD to be high, customers to be reachable via email for educational materials, and motivated to hunt for experiencing nature and viewing wildlife. Our survey results can help determine best management practices for engaging hunters on CWD with future communication and outreach efforts.