State details new deer monitoring methods and sampling after chronic wasting disease detections
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Summary
CDFW described aerial surveys, genetic fecal sampling and an integrated population model for deer; officials urged voluntary CWD sampling and noted four California detections to date.
At the Good Morning Truckee forum, Carly White, unit wildlife biologist for Placer and Nevada counties with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, described state efforts to improve deer population estimates and the department’s sampling response to chronic wasting disease (CWD).
White said CDFW is updating the statewide deer conservation and management plan and is developing an integrated population model that will combine aerial surveys, genetic mark–recapture from fecal DNA, game-camera data and GPS-collar survival and migration data to estimate deer populations and trends. “We just did this, in January 2025, and the results are pending. We did see less deer than previous years, but again results are pending,” she said.
White explained the methods in detail: aerial surveys in open, low‑tree‑cover hunt zones (noted as zones X7a and X7b near Truckee), distance sampling from helicopters, fecal DNA collection from 1–2 kilometer transects repeated over multiple visits, and use of game cameras to estimate fawn-to-adult ratios. She said the current multi-year genetic survey serves as a baseline (2016–2020 pilot; revisits through 2027) and that the integrated model aims to reduce the need for very intensive field sampling every year.
On chronic wasting disease, White said CWD was first detected in California in 2023 and that, to date, the state has four detections, all in the same area (Inyo and Madera counties). She described last year’s sampling effort — roughly 450 deer tested — and urged hunters willing to submit samples to use check stations, CDFW offices or participating meat processors. “We still only have 4 detections of chronic wasting disease in California, all in the same locations of those initial 2 in Inyo and Madera Counties,” White said.
Nevada County Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Jim Dill added local context, saying the Truckee-area deer population appears lower than in past years and noting proposed hunting-zone adjustments and discussion of an antlerless hunt to address population imbalances. He also warned of poaching activity in lower-elevation areas of Nevada County and said county wardens use decoys as an enforcement tool — a tactic the local propagation fund helps finance.
CDFW said public review of the updated statewide deer plan will open later this year, and the department will post instructions for voluntary sampling and reporting on its website.
