John K. Flores: Prediction calls for successful deer hunt

The 2026-27 Louisiana deer season is just a couple of weeks away and despite the lingering high temperatures as we approach the first day of fall Tuesday, hunters that I’ve spoken with are busy getting prepared.
So, what can hunters expect this season? Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Deer Study Leader Robert Kennon says deer hunters should have another successful season.
Statewide last year, deer hunters harvested and reported a record 146,406 deer through its tagging and reporting system. This system of reporting dates back to the 2008-09 season.
When comparing coastal parishes that include Deer Hunt Areas 7, 9 and 10, Kennon says harvest showed some up and down variance.
Kennon said, “Reported harvest for the 2025-26 hunting season in the coastal parishes throughout Deer Areas 7, 9 and 10 showed variable annual fluctuation while all parishes reported harvests above their 10-year harvest averages.
“Of the coastal parishes,” Kennon continued, “Deer Area 7 reported harvest higher than Deer Area 10, but slightly lower than Deer Area 9. While respectable harvest was observed in Deer Area 7, it did show the greatest annual fluctuation with a 19 percent decline from the previous year while remaining above its 10-year average.”
Deer Area 7 encompasses much of St. Mary Parish. During the 2025-26 deer season there were widespread reports of deer found dead, where some hunters speculated it was possibly a die off from disease.
Kennon says the department had received several reports concerning similar observations in the area that they were able to investigate and submit some samples from. The results turned out to be Epozootic Hemorrhagic Disease.
EHD is a viral disease that frequently kills wild whitetail deer. It is transmitted by biting flies often called “no-see-ums” or gnats. Deer do not pass the virus directly to other deer. And seasonal outbreaks most often happen during late summer and early fall.
Kennon pointed out that though the samples submitted returned with EHD being the cause of death, he noted it cannot be confirmed that was the case for “all” deer in question.
Kennon said, “EHD in the south is not uncommon and we are likely to have observations of it annually, but not normally to the extremes as some other northern states. When the effects of EHD are observed, management recommendations may be to reduce harvest at that time, but to return to normal management recommendations in the near future as white-tailed deer are able to bounce back quickly.”
Chronic Wasting Disease is another disease in deer that gets hunter’s attention. Currently, 37 states in the United States have reported the disease. A fatal, neurological and contagious disease, CWD affects mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, caribou and moose.
CWD was first detected in Louisiana in 2022 and the LDWF has been monitoring the state’s deer population ever since. There has been a total of 55 detections in four parishes Kennon says. Those parishes include Tensas, Catahoula, Concordia and Quachita.
“As with managing most things, you can’t manage what you don’t monitor and CWD is no different. We set sample goals annually for each parish utilizing a risk-based model in order to detect CWD at a low prevalence rate. While CWD has not been detected in the wild population in the coastal areas, it’s important that we continuously monitor all areas of our state,” said Kennon.
During the 2025-26 hunting season, the LDWF collected close to 3,400 samples and detected CWD in 15 deer.
In addition to record harvest, hunter participation has been another shining light. The state’s Hunter Harvest Survey showed a 6 percent increase in hunters from last year with an estimated 226,200 hunters participating. Those hunters during the 2025-26 season logged approximately 5.6 million days in the field.
During the 2024-25 deer season, St. Mary Parish deer hunters harvested 1,699 deer. During the 2025-26 season hunters reported 1,303 deer killed with 56 percent being bucks and 44 percent does.
Though St. Mary Parish’s deer harvest was lower than the previous year, it was still above the parish’s 10-year average of 1,261 per year.
Kennon says habitat conditions across the state are favorable as active forage growth was reported statewide. “Most of the coastal marsh seems to be doing well this year as there are reports of high amounts of quality deer forage across much of the landscape.”
Looking forward to the 2026-27 deer season, Kennon finished by saying, “Based on reports from hunters, LDWF staff, and data collected throughout the year, I would expect hunters would have a successful hunting this year.”
John Flores is the Morgan City Review’s outdoor writer. He can be contacted at gowiththeflo@cox.net.