MISSISSIPPI
DEER TRACKING

Find experienced deer tracking dogs and wounded-deer recovery help across the Magnolia State.

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TRACKING LAWS* FOR THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

Know the rules before you track. These Mississippi laws help ensure ethical recovery, respect for landowners, and the future of our hunting rights.

Mississippi allows licensed or license-exempt hunters and trackers to use blood-trailing or tracking dogs to pursue a deer that was legally shot and wounded during legal hunting hours. No more than two tracking dogs may be used. Mississippi’s wounded-deer statute does not establish a leash requirement or maximum tracking-lead length.

During any firearm deer season, every deer hunter—regardless of whether hunting with a firearm, bow, or another legal weapon—must generally wear at least 500 square inches of solid, unbroken fluorescent orange or fluorescent pink in full view. The requirement does not apply while hunting from a deer stand elevated at least 12 feet above the ground or from a fully enclosed blind.

Mississippi does not require a separate state-issued blood-tracking dog certification. However, the nighttime wounded-deer tracking statute defines a licensed hunter or licensed tracker as someone possessing the proper license for hunting white-tailed deer, unless that person is otherwise exempt from licensing requirements.

Mississippi expressly permits a legally wounded deer to be tracked into the nighttime hours after legal hunting hours. Hunters and trackers may use reasonable means to assist with the recovery, including lights and blood-trailing dogs. If the wounded deer is found alive, it may be dispatched with a handgun having a barrel no longer than six inches and chambered in a caliber no larger than .45 caliber.

Using a tracking dog does not authorize trespassing. Mississippi Code §49-7-95 specifically states that its wounded-deer recovery provisions do not allow anyone to trespass on another person’s property while pursuing an injured or wounded deer. Permission should be obtained before the hunter, tracker, or tracking dogs cross onto neighboring land.

Mississippi does not currently provide a clear standalone authorization for thermal-drone wounded-deer recovery. State law prohibits hunting, taking, or killing deer at night using FLIR or thermal-imaging equipment, while the wounded-deer recovery exception specifically authorizes reasonable recovery methods including lights and tracking dogs. Because drones are not specifically addressed in that recovery exception, thermal-drone operators should obtain direct guidance from MDWFP before conducting a recovery flight rather than assuming drone recovery is legal.

* Disclaimer: The information provided by TRAKR is intended as a general summary of state tracking laws and regulations and is not legal advice. Because laws and regulations may change, hunters and trackers should always verify current statutes, regulations, and agency guidance before using dogs, drones, or other recovery methods in their state.

Average Deer Tracking Fees in Mississippi

Hunters searching for deer tracking services in Mississippi can choose from trained blood tracking dog teams and thermal drone operators. Based on pricing information listed by Mississippi trackers in the TRAKR database, most tracking dog teams provide their services for free or operate primarily for tips or donations.

76% of Mississippi dog tracking teams offer free tracking services or operate primarily for tips or donations.
There is not yet enough paid-rate data to publish a dependable statewide average for drone or dog tracking services.

How Mississippi Deer Tracking Rates Were Calculated

These averages are based on rates and pricing instructions supplied by trackers through their TRAKR profiles. When a tracker listed mileage charges or travel-based pricing, the estimated rate was calculated using a standard travel distance of 50 miles each way.

Fee ranges were calculated using the midpoint. Separate recovery or finder fees were added to the initial tracking fee. When separate rates were listed for bucks and does, the buck rate was used because more than 80 percent of tracking requests involve bucks.

The rates shown are estimates based on available information and do not represent fixed, required, or recommended prices. TRAKR does not set tracker fees and does not guarantee the accuracy or availability of any listed rate. Individual trackers independently determine their own pricing, service areas, travel charges, deposits, recovery fees, and other terms. Mississippi tracking pricing data last updated August 2026.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT DEER TRACKING IN MISSISSIPPI

Mississippi presents a wide range of wounded-deer tracking conditions, from the agricultural fields and bottomland hardwoods of the Delta to pine forests, upland hardwoods, creek bottoms, wetlands, cutovers, and thick vegetation across the central and southern portions of the state.

Mississippi State University deer research illustrates just how varied the habitat can be. A major deer study along the Big Black River included upland hardwoods, bottomland hardwoods, pine plantations, herbaceous fields, food plots, and agricultural fields containing crops such as corn, cotton, and soybeans.

Mississippi’s typically warm deer seasons can add another challenge. Rain, humidity, standing water, dry vegetation, and rapidly changing scent conditions may affect both visible sign and the scent trail available to a dog.

A trained tracking dog gives hunters another recovery option when conventional blood trailing fails. The dog can continue working the wounded animal’s scent even when little or no visible blood remains.

Size and Impact

Some publicly available Mississippi deer hunting and management statistics include:

Mississippi’s white-tailed deer population is estimated at approximately 1.75 million animals, giving the state one of the highest deer densities in the country.
Hunters harvest roughly 270,000 to 280,000 deer annually in Mississippi.
Mississippi’s modern deer herd represents a major conservation recovery. Deer numbers had fallen to only a few thousand animals by the early 1900s before restoration and management programs rebuilt the population.
High deer densities make hunter harvest and successful recovery particularly important to Mississippi’s broader deer-management efforts. State wildlife specialists have emphasized that adequate harvest helps control deer numbers and can reduce disease-transmission pressure.

Mississippi Tracking Dog Regulations

The primary Mississippi wounded-deer tracking law is Mississippi Code §49-7-95(6).

The statute expressly allows a licensed or exempt hunter or tracker to follow a deer that was lawfully wounded during legal hunting hours into the night after normal hunting hours. Lights and blood-trailing or tracking dogs may be used to assist with the recovery, and no more than two dogs may be used.

Unlike some states, Mississippi’s statute does not require the dog to remain on a leash and does not establish a maximum lead length.

The law also provides a specific after-hours dispatch method. If the deer is found alive and wounded, the hunter or tracker may dispatch it with a handgun having a barrel no longer than six inches and chambered in a caliber no larger than .45 caliber.

The current recovery provisions became effective July 1, 2023, following enactment of House Bill 979. The legislation clarified nighttime wounded-deer recovery and the use of blood-trailing dogs.

Why Mississippi Allows Tracking Dogs

Mississippi law recognizes a distinction between hunting healthy deer with dogs and using trained dogs to recover a specific deer that has already been legally wounded.

The state strengthened that distinction in 2023 by expressly allowing licensed hunters and trackers to continue following wounded deer after legal hunting hours and specifically identifying blood-trailing and tracking dogs as permissible recovery tools.

This provides hunters with a responsible method of recovering animals after visible blood becomes difficult or impossible to follow. Tracking dogs can be especially useful in Mississippi’s bottomland hardwoods, pine forests, agricultural fields, thick understory, swamps, creek bottoms, and other dense habitat. Mississippi State University describes white-tailed deer as highly adaptable animals occupying mixtures of hardwoods, cropland, brushland, pasture, pine forests, and other vegetation types.

Mississippi balances that recovery opportunity by limiting the number of dogs to two, requiring appropriate deer-hunting licensing or an exemption, restricting after-hours dispatch equipment, and making clear that wounded-game recovery does not create a right to trespass.

Certification and Training

Mississippi does not require a state-administered blood-tracking certification test for either the tracking dog or handler. The state’s wounded-deer statute instead focuses on licensing, the number of dogs that may be used, nighttime recovery procedures, dispatch equipment, and property access.

Some Mississippi trackers voluntarily participate in training, seminars, and tracking tests offered through organizations such as United Blood Trackers, the American Blood Trackers Association, breed organizations, and private blood-tracking programs.

Because formal state certification is not required, hunters may also want to consider a tracking team’s experience, number of completed tracks, service area, availability, equipment, reviews, and the experience of the individual dog when choosing a tracker.

TRAKR in Mississippi

At this time, Mississippi does not have an official statewide TRAKR Network.

Hunters can still use the TRAKR app to submit a tracking request and notify available tracking dog handlers who provide service in their area.

If you’re a Mississippi tracking dog handler interested in helping hunters recover wounded deer, TRAKR is actively expanding across the United States and welcomes experienced recovery teams interested in helping build an official Mississippi network.

MISSISSIPPI DEER TRACKING