To folks who live in the state’s leafy suburbs, that estimate probably seems woefully low. Anyone who’s come downstairs in the morning to find their lilies and roses stripped of flowers, apple trees denuded and hosta cropped to the ground knows in their heart there must be millions of these white-tail locavores on the loose. They take a big bite out of agricultural production as well, costing farmers $15 million in 2020. And the phrase “deer in the headlights” is more than just words: Deer caused an estimated 26,000 car crashes in 2020.

The problem comes down to overpopulation. The biological carrying capacity for white-tailed deer is five to 15 per square mile, which is the number of deer a habitat can support on a long-term basis. But drone surveys conducted by wildlife habitat-planning and management consultancy Steward Green spotted an average of 80 to 100 white-tailed deer per square mile. In the most crowded areas, 210 deer were packed into one square mile.

It’s not going to get any better. Deer can jump over nine-foot fences. New Jersey has no natural predators in high enough numbers to affect the white-tailed deer population. Worse, deer like it here. They’re what’s known as an edge species, they thrive on land with borders and edges — like front and backyards and planted fields. And just in case you’re thinking of picking up a wrist-rocket slingshot to persuade the deer in your yard they’d be happier across the street, forget it. Slingshots are classified as weapons by New Jersey law.