Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP)

Nearly 90 percent of Arkansas is privately owned. People who hunt and maintain these properties have a large influence on the state’s deer quality and quantity. Every time a hunter pulls a trigger or releases a bowstring, they are making a management decision.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) assists landowners and hunting clubs with the management of their local deer herds. Participants collect and submit biological data from the deer harvested on their property. In return, participants are provided with a customized, property-specific report with future harvest recommendations based on the club’s management goals.

Participants in DMAP learn:

• The importance of balanced sex ratios and age structure
• Disease monitoring, prevention, and abatement
• Quality deer management principles
• The importance of quality habitat and proper herd management for improved herd quality

Participants may also request a free habitat site visit and habitat management plan. Through this plan, AGFC biologists can provide additional recommendations for improving deer and other wildlife populations. Biologists may also be able to identify possible financial assistance to help manage the property.

2025 DMAP County Contact Map

2025 DMAP County Contact Map Legend

DMAP Newsletter | Oct. – Dec. 2025

Partners and Sponsors 

Deer Season DMAP Reminder

Deer season has started and we are off to a great start! We wanted to remind all DMAP participants that they are required to obtain a free DMAP tag on their hunting license in order to properly game check a deer they want to use a DMAP tag on. This DMAP tag keeps you from having to use one of your deer tags on your normal hunting license and allows you to use the tag multiple times depending on how many DMAP tags you were issued by your DMAP biologist. This will allow you to use your normal license deer tags elsewhere in the state to maximize your hunting opportunities. For detailed instructions on how to add the DMAP tag to your license and how to check deer using the DMAP tag, visit our site. Proper game checking of your harvest is very important, not only to stay legal but to also help our biologists garner an accurate harvest within the different deer zones of the state. Here are a few videos to help you learn how to acquire the DMAP tag and use it when game checking your harvest:

• How to acquire the DMAP tag using the AGFC mobile app
• How to acquire the DMAP tag using the AGFC web browser
• How to game check your deer using a DMAP tag on the AGFC web browser

DMAP’s Newest Recruit 

Please welcome Daxton Hickman as the new NDA DMAP Biologist covering the northwest region of Arkansas. Born and raised in Baxter County, Arkansas, Daxton grew up deer and turkey hunting all throughout the Ozarks with his dad. After high school, he attended Arkansas Tech University where he received a Bachelor of Science in Fisheries & Wildlife Science. During college Daxton worked three summers as a park ranger for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Prior to being hired into his current role with the NDA, Daxton was the assistant manager of a 2,000-acre quail hunting plantation in South Carolina. Daxton enjoys anything that allows him to be outdoors, whether that be hunting, shooting, camping, or hiking. He has a passion for both wildlife management and building lasting relationships with Arkansas landowners.

Contact Info:
NDA Email: Daxton@deerassociation.com
Work Cell: 870-405-9963

Deer Feeders and Chronic Wasting Disease: The Risk is Real

By: Miranda Huang, Steve Demarais, Bronson Strickland, and William McKinley

For hunters and wildlife enthusiasts, deer feeders can serve many purposes. These goals may be to provide nutrition, attract deer to their property, watch deer, or other reasons. No one puts out a deer feeder with the goal of spreading disease, but new research shows that feeders may increase the risk of spreading chronic wasting disease (CWD).  

The Mississippi State University Deer Lab and the Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach partnered to study this risk. We compared the number of visits by and the behavior of deer and other wildlife at deer feeders, food plots, and mast trees. 

The study was conducted in Mississippi’s northern CWD zone—where the disease prevalence was around 30% at the time. Twelve gravity feeders were established, with permission from Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. We maintained the gravity feeders during the fall and winter, when natural food sources were sparser. Feeders were set up in three distinct ways:

1. Deer Feeders: No restrictions on wildlife access.
2. Raccoon Feeders: Fenced to exclude deer but with small holes to allow entry for smaller wildlife like raccoons.
3. Control Feeders: Fully fenced and not filled with feed.

Trail cameras monitored each feeder as well as several oak trees that were dropping acorns and cool-season food plots. Using the trail camera photos, our team counted how many times deer, raccoons, and other wildlife visited each site, made contact with other individuals, and touched the feeders. Additionally, feeder spouts were swabbed every 6 weeks to test for the presence of prions on the feeders, using a highly sensitive method called ”real-time quaking induced conversion” or RT-QuIC.

By week 12, every deer and raccoon feeder had evidence of prions on the spouts. Deer infected with CWD can shed prions in their saliva, which means they can easily contaminate a feeder while eating directly from it. This could pose a risk to healthy deer that later eat from that contaminated feeder, exposing them to prions as a result.  Raccoons are not known to be infected with CWD, so we think they picked up prions on their paws while walking in contaminated areas and transferred them onto the feeders. Four of ten hunter-harvested raccoons from the same area were found to have prions on their paws. 

Food plots and areas beneath oak trees are also attractive areas to deer, so we counted and compared deer visits to feeders, food plots, and oaks that are dropping acorns 

When we compared the trail camera findings, we found that deer were visiting feeders twice as often as food plots and 12x more than masting oak trees. This difference was even greater for raccoons, who were seen over 20x more often at feeders than the oak tree and food plot sites, areas they rarely visited. Feeders were also the location of more deer-to-deer contacts than oak trees. Pictures showed bucks sparring, does touching noses, and deer grooming each other, beneath and next to feeders.

These results show that deer feeders are areas of risk for disease transmission. These interactions deer have at feeders could spread disease directly between individuals. The presence of prions, which can persist in the environment for many years while remaining infectious, could spread CWD from the feeder to a healthy deer. 

For people who enjoy using deer feeders, these findings have significant implications. The use of deer feeders in areas with high CWD prevalence could unintentionally contribute to the spread of this and other diseases, impacting both deer populations and the health of the broader ecosystem. Given that CWD is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease with no known cure, the potential for feeders to act as disease reservoirs is a real concern. Infected deer can also shed prions in their feces and urine, which may be left around feeders, infecting the ground below as well. As a result, areas where feeders stood could remain contaminated with CWD prions even after the feeder is removed. 

The good news is that food plots and oak trees were found to be much less risky for CWD spread since these food sources do not concentrate deer as much, thereby minimizing direct contact and potential disease transmission. By understanding the risks associated with deer feeders, hunters and wildlife managers can make informed decisions that help protect deer populations and ensure the sustainability of hunting practices. Staying up-to-date and adapting strategies based on the latest research is essential for managing and mitigating the impacts of Chronic Wasting Disease.

Maximizing Your DMAP Success: Benefits of Early White-tailed Doe Harvest

Harvesting white-tailed does early in the season is more than just good timing — it’s a research-supported tool that improves herd health and land stewardship. During the early season, distinguishing adult does from fawns (especially buck fawns) is easier, helping hunters make more confident management decisions. Also, early season doe harvests come much easier than later in the season because the doe have not been pressured so much.  More importantly, early removal of adult does reduce total nutritional demand on the habitat before winter. That means more resources are available for the remaining herd, promoting better body condition as deer enter the nutritionally stressful months ahead.

In addition to habitat relief, early doe harvest plays a key role in herd dynamics and rut timing. A compressed rut improves fawn recruitment by concentrating births in a narrower window, which reduces predation risk and leads to stronger, more uniform fawn cohorts. Oftentimes, these herd-level improvements also benefit hunters directly. A more intense rut often means increased daytime buck activity and better opportunities for mature buck encounters. Bucks that aren’t worn down by an extended breeding season are also more likely to recover quickly and survive the winter in better body condition. For DMAP participants working toward long-term goals like improved age structure and antler quality, early-season management decisions can have lasting impacts on the deer you’re growing for seasons to come.

If you’re trying to meet your doe harvest goals but don’t know what to do with all the venison, don’t forget about the Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry program. As a DMAP cooperator, you have access to our refrigerated trailer program, making it easy to donate your harvest and give back to the community. It’s a simple way to turn science-based management into meaningful community impact — benefiting your land, deer herd, and your neighbors. For more information on the refrigerated trailer program please contact your local DMAP biologist assigned to your county.  

Hemorrhagic Disease in Deer

Hemorrhagic disease is one of the most common diseases that white tailed deer get. This disease is a collective term used for infections caused by related viruses in the epizootic hemorrhagic and bluetongue virus groups. The collective term “Hemorrhagic Disease” is used because the symptoms produced by EHD (epizootic hemorrhagic disease) and BT (blue tongue) viruses are visually indistinguishable, and the specific virus strain is only identifiable through laboratory testing. Blue tongue(BT) being the most common strain in Arkansas.  With much of the state experiencing a wet spring and early summer, followed by a dry spell, mother nature set the stage for an HD outbreak this year. According to A.J. Riggs, AGFC’s Wildlife Health Biologist, “As of 22 September 2025, 28 individual reports from 17 counties have been documented, reporting 63 dead deer” and “this is likely an underestimate” she says.

Hemorrhagic Disease is not spread by deer-deer contact. Transmission occurs through biting insects called midges, most of you know these as no-see-ums. The relationship to HD outbreaks and deer density is not completely clear, but information suggests that outbreak intensity is more closely related to midge populations than deer density. HD outbreaks typically occur in late summer and early fall (August and September). Because the disease is spread by biting midges, the onset of freezing temperatures usually brings an end to outbreaks. Hemorrhagic disease causes damage to the deer’s blood vessels and leads to internal bleeding, swelling, and hemorrhages. Infected deer often develop high fevers, which drive them to seek water sources. Deer may show signs like weakness, drooling, or lameness before dying, sometimes within days. In severe outbreaks, many deer can die in a short period, though some survive and can develop immunity.

DMAP Awards and Recognition 

2025 DMAP Club of the Year: Cheatham Island Farms 

This year’s recipient exemplifies one powerful concept: Deer Camp!

Deer Camps are far more than just a place to stay; they are integral to resource stewardship, offer educational hubs for sound deer management, and are the chief recruiters of our next generation of hunters. They represent the backbone of hunting culture across the United States. A truly great deer camp is one that shares its experiences to grow the hunting community and positively impacts the entire region around it.  

Established in 1985 by the late Larry Howell, Cheatham Island Farms began with 900 acres and vision.  Now at 5000 acres, sons Kevin and Scott Howell along with some long time friends are leaving their own legacy.  Cheatham Island Farms located in Desha County  has only been in DMAP for 6 years but their work has had profound impacts on the land and the progress this club has seen is a direct reflection of their passion and dedication to sound management.  This club truly gives back more than it takes.  They give back to the hunting culture by sharing hunts and fellowship.  They give back to the resource by properly managing healthy habitats and deer herds.  They give back to science by collecting a tremendous amount of accurate data to make sound decisions.  They even give back to the community by donating a significant portion of their harvest to Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry to make snack sticks for food insecure children within the school systems. Yet the only thing the club wants to take from their land are priceless memories and friendships of a lifetime.  

Congratulations to Cheatham Island Farms for receiving the 2025 DMAP Club of the Year Award!

Click here to watch the story of Cheatham Island.

A Look Ahead

Alternative Firearms Season

Zones: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11:   Oct. 18-26 and Dec. 13-15

Zones: 4A, 5A, 14, 15:  Oct. 18-26, and Dec. 20-22

Zones: 9, 12, 13, 16, 16A, 17:   Oct. 18-26

Modern Gun Season

Zones 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11:  Nov. 8-30

Zones: 4, 5:   Nov. 8-16

Zones, 4A, 5A, 14, 15:  Nov. 8-Dec. 7

Zones: 9, 12, 13 :  Nov. 8-Dec. 14

Zones: 16, 16A, 17 :  Nov. 8- Dec. 25

Special Youth Hunt

Nov. 1-2

Christmas Holiday Hunt

Dec. 26-28

DMAP Education Station 

The Meat Eater Podcast: Episode 766 The Truth about Chronic Wasting Disease

Deer University: Episode 90 Arkansas Chronic Wasting Disease Deer Study