PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga. — Federal sharpshooters are expected to begin removing deer in a Gwinnett County city this fall, the next step in a management plan adopted in February after a study found far more deer than wildlife experts consider healthy for a suburb.
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A camera survey in August and September of 2025 documented 193 deer per square mile in Peachtree Corners, according to the city’s Deer Management Plan, which calls that “nearly eight times higher than the generally recommended level of 25 deer per square mile.”
In the city’s June 2025 resident survey, 74% of the 798 respondents reported deer-related property damage in the previous year and 54 percent had been involved in or nearly involved in a deer-vehicle collision.
The deer are also part of the draw at Simpsonwood Park, the county-owned property the plan calls the largest potential management site inside the city.
“I would love for them to be able to stay natural. I do know it’s a problem in other neighborhoods,” said Marida Gilbert, who walks the park regularly. “I guess I would have to hear what the plans are for them if they want to do something.”
The plan calls for “targeted deer removal using trained federal personnel, suppressed firearms, and standardized safety protocols,” run by USDA Wildlife Services under the supervision of Peachtree Corners Marshals. It happens only on approved sites of roughly 10 acres or more, with written consent from the property owner.
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Not every resident is convinced the city needs it.
“I don’t personally consider it an issue in my neighborhood,” said Lauren Tringali, who has lived in Peachtree Corners for eight years. “Peachtree Corners has had a lot of construction and there’s been a lot of wood clearing in the last few years, and I think that plays a big part into seeing more deer on the road.”
The city can’t make this call on its own. Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources decides which methods are allowed, and the plan says the USDA program is the only one the agency has approved so far. Sterilization, birth control and moving deer elsewhere are not on the list.
Tringali said residents have one way left to be heard.
“I think the only solution is to maybe start attending the council meetings, have groups come together and address our concerns that we aren’t okay with people killing deer just to have population control,” she said.
The city’s second annual population study began Aug. 7. DNR wildlife experts have agreed to take resident questions at a town hall, though no date has been announced.
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