The Southeast Deer Study Group was formed as a subcommittee of the Forest Game Committee of the Southeastern Section of The Wildlife Society. The Deer Subcommittee was given full committee status in November 1985 at the Southeastern Section of The Wildlife Society's annual business meeting.

The first meeting was held as a joint Northeast-Southeast Meeting in Virginia in 1977. Appreciating the economic, aesthetic, and biological value of the white-tailed deer in the southeastern United States, the desirability of conducting an annual Southeast Deer Study Group Meeting was recognized and urged by the participants. Since February 1979, these meetings have been held annually for the purpose of bringing together managers, researchers, administrators, and users of this vitally important renewable natural resource.