Arkansas reports the white-tailed deer more often than any other mammal in this atlas, 2439 records spread across all 75 counties. The heaviest counts sit in the northwest, in Benton and Washington counties, but the record runs unbroken from the Ozark and Ouachita highlands through the central hills around Pulaski County to the flat farmland of Greene County in the northeast. Hot Springs National Park and the two national forests hold the largest place totals.
An edge species in a timbered state
White-tailed deer are browsers, working over twigs, shoots, leaves, acorns, and green forage rather than grazing grass like livestock. They do best where woods meet openings, and Arkansas offers that mix on a huge scale: oak ridges giving way to pasture, cut-over timber, and cropland. Records from Buffalo National River, Sylamore Wildlife Management Area, and Pea Ridge National Military Park all fit that pattern of deer along the seam between forest cover and open ground, where food and cover sit close together.
A year-round animal with a spring surge
Deer appear in Arkansas records in every month, with totals climbing to a June peak. That fits the fawning calendar. Does drop their fawns in late spring, and nursing mothers and spotted fawns are far more visible than deer at any other time of year. The autumn rut brings its own burst of movement as bucks range widely after does, while midwinter counts ease off as deer conserve energy and hold close to cover.
Status in Arkansas
NatureServe ranks the white-tailed deer S5, Secure, in Arkansas, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
