Whitetail deer breeder, Charles Bunch, watched his herd closely as Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry veterinarian Dr. Mike Pruitt and intern Justin Wallace set up and adjusted electronic readers within a few feet from his animals.

Most of the does have just had their fawns or are about to at Heavenly Whitetails of Oklahoma near Spiro. Although they are commercial deer, they are still wary of human activity and move away quickly if approached.

“Heat and stress can kill deer about as fast as anything,” Bunch said. “If we had to handle the deer today it would be dangerous. That’s why I’m glad to have this electronic identification and monitoring system in place.”

Thirty one deer breeders statewide are currently participating in the program that offers free radio frequency identification tags (RFIDs) to commercial deer producers that can be read and recorded by transportable readers placed near food or water. By participating in the voluntary monitoring program, the owners are increasing the marketing opportunities, therefore the value, of their herds.

“These herds are monitored for Chronic Wasting Disease, tuberculosis and brucellosis,” Pruitt said. “The monitoring process is in addition to their regular veterinary care and requires an annual inventory and this RFID program is now a part of that process.”

At this time the program is free but Pruitt said there could be a nominal fee in the future. He expects more producers to participate in the program now that the electronic readers are in use and their advantages become understood.

“This provides a more accurate inventory of the animals and eliminates the possibility of injury or death through handling them as well,” said Pruitt. “Anytime you have someone out here manually recording identification numbers, there is always the possibility of making an error or transposing numbers—that can’t happen with this system.”

There are 191 commercial deer herds in Oklahoma with an estimated annual sales value of $125 million.
–Jack Carson