Each year the University conducts a community impact survey about Sewanee's white tailed deer population and associated hunting program. The survey is intended to quantify impacts of both the white tailed deer AND the hunting program on the community.

Decades of botanical research yields a clear understanding of the ecological impacts current deer population levels are having on the Domain, but there are also social impacts that are less easy to quantify. The hunting program was started partially in response to an increase in automobile/deer collisions and many complaints of landscape damage on leaseholds. Balancing these perceived negatives, many leaseholders enjoy seeing deer roam intown and are concerned about an active hunting program close to residences.

The annual community survey is an attempt to understand more about the social context of the herd and the hunt. We use the data to focus hunter effort where social impacts of the deer are the greatest and where the social impact of the hunters is minimized. Eight years of data has shown an overall decline in the number of people concerned about the safety of the hunt, and geographically focused successes and failures in ameliorating the social impacts of the herd.

If you have opinions on the herd or the hunt, please take a few moments to fill out the survey here. If you choose to include your address, it will be used to create an impact map used to focus hunting efforts. This survey is the primary tool we use to locate hunter efforts in the community, so whether you are strongly for or against the hunting program, we would like to hear from you.

If you want to learn more about the hunting program, please visit: https://new.sewanee.edu/office...