Infectious diseases are killing deer and risking rural US economies: ‘You smell the dead everywhere’

Climate crisis contributing to spread of diseases as hunting industry takes a hit from growing number of dead deer

When landowner and hunter James Barkhurst went scouting his property about a month ago to assess the local deer population ahead of the fall hunting season, he was left in shock.

I've seen about 14 dead in less than a mile stretch. There's a lot of does, big bucks and even fawns. You smell the dead everywhere," he says. And I haven't really went deep into the woods."