Because the UGA Deer Lab strongly supports hunting as a tool for preventing deer overpopulation, we view fertility control (i.e., birth prevention by application of drugs) as a last resort. However, in some suburban and urban communities, hunting is prohibited by a local ordinance. Therefore, we have tested fertility control drugs for preventing pregnancy of deer at the Whitehall Deer Research Facility and various field sites. Some of these drugs were delivered in a degradable biobullet, some were implanted under the skin and some were either hand injected or injected with use of a dart rifle. Although fertility control of individual deer is possible, controlling fawn numbers in most deer populations remains impractical.
