Dead Deer in Your Yard in Georgia: Who to Call

Since June 25, 2025, Georgia's deer carcass rule (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 391-4-2-.19) has made it unlawful to dispose of a deer carcass anywhere other than the property on which the deer was killed unless an approved method is used. The approved methods include a commercial deer processor, a permitted solid waste landfill, burial, incineration, rendering or composting. The rule was filed on June 5, 2025 and sits in DNR's Wildlife Resources Division hunting regulations. It applies to "any person or taxidermist" and to a carcass "or part thereof."

DNR's chronic wasting disease page for hunters calls proper disposal "now required across all of Georgia" and says it applies to "anyone transporting or disposing of deer carcasses or parts, including hunters, processors and taxidermists." DNR's list of proper methods starts with leaving the parts on the property where the deer was killed. The rule gives no burial depth. DNR's guidance says unused parts "should be left on the property where the deer was killed, sent to a landfill, or buried deep enough to prevent scavenging."

This is the main statewide rule a homeowner with a dead deer is likely to meet. Georgia has rules for other species too, including birds, bears and road-killed wildlife, covered in Georgia dead animal laws.

We found no source that says. The rule turns on "the property on which the deer was killed." Nothing we read, in the rule, its history or DNR's CWD pages, explains how that applies to a deer that died of disease or injury in a yard, or was hit by a car and then died there. So we do not tell readers they may leave such a deer where it lies, and we do not tell them they must move it. Ask DNR's Wildlife Resources Division: 1-800-366-2661.

Two points are clearer. The Dead Animal Disposal Act's 24-hour and 3-foot rules are not the ones for a wild deer; unincorporated Cobb County and Augusta set their own 3-foot burial rules. A January 10, 2020 memo from EPD's director and DNR's commissioner says the carcasses and other remains of deer are "dead animals" under that Act "when they are processed by commercial facilities which process animals for human consumption", that "individual hunters disposing of deer do not fall under the Dead Animal Disposal Act," and that deer carcasses generated outside processing facilities go by Title 27 of the Georgia code and any applicable local law. And if the carcass is disposed of anywhere other than the property on which the deer was killed, the rule requires an approved method.

Not from a yard, in anything we read. DNR's pages describe reporting. Its "Living with Deer" fact sheet (updated May 2025) lists five situations in which to call a biologist, one of them a "Dead deer in or near a stream, lake, or pond with no apparent injuries"; the number is 1-800-366-2661. DNR also takes sick and dead wildlife reports through an online form. Neither says DNR will collect the deer.

County pages we read:

• Henry County: "Henry County DOT removes dead deer off of the right-of-way of county maintained roads." And: "Henry County does not remove deer from private property."
• Cherokee County: Public Works picks up a "Deer or Large Dog that are in roadway or impeding traffic."
• Gwinnett County: from private property, only small carcasses bagged and set roadside.
• Atlanta: the curb rule applies to any animal, so a deer in a backyard has to be moved to the curb by the resident before the city collects it.
• DeKalb County: roadkill only, on streets and county rights-of-way.
• Macon-Bibb: dead animals are removed from public roadways only and are not removed from private property.

DNR's conditions for nuisance wildlife control permits say permit holders are not authorized to handle nuisance deer unless specified. That condition is about live animals causing problems; the disposal rule above is the rule on disposing of a deer carcass.

Georgia law gives GDOT the carcasses within the rights of way of state-funded highways. We found no GDOT page for reporting one. Some cities and counties print a GDOT number, such as the 404-635-6800 that Atlanta's ATL311 article prints for the interstate, or 911 if it is a traffic hazard; the GDOT number Gwinnett prints for state roadways, 404.631.1990, during regular business hours; and Athens-Clarke's 706-583-2644 for state highways in the county.

Some county crews take deer from roads: Henry County DOT from the right-of-way of county-maintained roads, and Cherokee Public Works for a deer "in roadway or impeding traffic" ((770) 345-5842). Henry's request pages list deer, dogs and cats only, though its code (3-4-8) makes dead animals in county-road rights of way a county duty (both read 2026-10-01). Elsewhere, report it to the government that maintains the road where it publishes a channel. Forsyth County's sheriff sends dead animals on the road to Roads and Bridges at 770-781-2155. Unincorporated Cobb sends dead animal removal requests to 770-499-3911 ext. 5, DeKalb Sanitation is at 404-294-2900, and Macon-Bibb Solid Waste is at (478) 803-0499. Clayton County's Refuse Control covers county and state rights of way, and its request form says right-of-way "is typically considered the roadway and 10 feet out on both sides."

Those programs cover the road and its right of way. Once a deer lies in a yard beyond it, the yard answers on this page apply.

Georgia law lets any person lawfully possess native wildlife accidentally killed by a motor vehicle (O.C.G.A. 27-3-28). A road-killed bear must be reported to DNR or a law enforcement officer within 48 hours of taking possession, and the section does not authorize taking a protected species. DNR's harvest-reporting rule, which binds hunters, exempts wildlife killed by a motor vehicle from its recording and reporting requirements.

The roadkill section covers vehicle kills only. It does not cover a deer that died of disease, age or a predator in a yard. Any parts thrown away later still fall under the deer disposal rule, which DNR applies to anyone transporting or disposing of deer carcasses or parts.

DNR says chronic wasting disease (CWD) was first discovered in Georgia in January 2025. DNR's CWD Management Area takes in the county where the positive samples were found and any county touching a 5-mile radius around that location. As of 1 October 2026, DNR lists Atkinson, Lanier, Berrien and Lowndes counties; check DNR's CWD page for the current list. DNR also says it has no proposed baiting restrictions or regulation changes for the management area, as of the same date.

The deer disposal rule applies across Georgia whether or not your county is in the management area. O.C.G.A. 27-5-2.1(c) (Animal Legal and Historical Center copy, last checked there August 2026) makes it unlawful to import or possess a whole cervid carcass or carcass part from outside Georgia, except boned-out meat or products thereof; antlers, skulls, skull plates, teeth or jawbones with no soft tissue attached; hides with no heads attached; and finished taxidermy mounts. It does not bear on a deer that dies in a Georgia yard. For a dead deer in or near water with no apparent injuries, DNR asks for a call to a biologist at 1-800-366-2661.

If it is disposed of anywhere other than the property on which the deer was killed, the rule requires an approved method. For a homeowner, the options the sources we read describe are:

• A landfill that takes carcasses. The Athens-Clarke County Landfill lists "Animal Carcasses (Cat, Deer, Dog): $20 minimum (Larger carcasses, call first)." Augusta's landfill on Deans Bridge Road asks for a call before large carcasses arrive. DeKalb residents can take animals over 100 pounds to the county landfill for a $200 base charge plus the gate rate. Call any landfill first.
• Burial. The rule approves burial without giving a depth. DNR's guidance on unused parts lists burial "deep enough to prevent scavenging" alongside leaving them on the property where the deer was killed or sending them to a landfill. Burial on your own land works only where local code allows it: unincorporated Forsyth County's code bars burying wildlife outside agricultural zoning.
• The household cart, for parts only. DNR's garbage guidance covers smaller parts. Gwinnett lists dead animals over ten pounds as unacceptable waste for its haulers, and Macon-Bibb bars dead animals from garbage containers.

One point we could not settle: DNR's hunter rule requires written information on a deer carcass "killed by another person" before it is transported, and we found no source on whether that applies to someone moving a deer that died on its own. Ask DNR's Wildlife Resources Division: 1-800-366-2661.

Georgia Dead Animal Removal is a statewide publisher. It never handles, transports or disposes of a carcass and has no field staff. The number is 404-609-1114, and calls reach this site's routing line, which passes them to an independent operator where one covers the area. Have ready what the animal is, where it is lying and how anyone would get to it. If the deer is in the road right of way, the road answers above apply. Independent operators set their own prices, and availability and price are settled on the call.

We make no claim about any operator's permits. We found no Georgia rule that specifically licenses dead-animal removal, and DNR's nuisance wildlife control permit covers live animals: live-trapping, possessing, transporting and releasing certain nuisance wildlife, and euthanizing certain nuisance animals. The dead deer removal page has the rest.