The state Conservation Department is asking hunters not to kill white-tailed deer that have been equipped with orange radio neck collars in four locations across the state.
The department and the Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences are studying adult survival rates and movement patterns of white-tailed deer in Alabama. They have fitted some deer with brown radio neck collars and some with orange. They are in the Oakmulgee and Barbour Wildlife Management Areas, the Pioneer Deer Management Cooperative in Pike County, and the Rembert Hill Road area southwest of Linden.
The department says deer with the brown collars may be shot, but deer with orange collars should not. They are encouraging hunters to return the collars if they harvest deer fitted with the devices.