the objectives of the work were to: determine the amounts and kinds of fallout gamma emitting radionuclides in an important food and sport animal, the white-tailed deer (odocoileus virginianus) in the southeastern u.s.a.; elucidate some of the food chain interrelationships around the year; and see if a relationship exists between bioaccumulation in deer, the soils, the deer foods available, the rumen contents, and uptake in man. whole body counters were constructed to measure the gamma rays emitted by animals varying in size from warblers (10 grams) and cotton rats (100 grams) up through live deer and people. over 1800 deer from throughout the southeast were analyzed. deer from the flatwoods sub-type of the lower coastal plain region often have exp 137 cs levels exceeding those reported for alaskan caribou at their peak and exp 90 sr is as effectively transported through the lower coastal plains environment as exp 137 cs. detailed studies have been conducted on two sites (piedmont and lower coastal plain) to determine the characteristics of soil and vegetation contributing to biomagnification. (era citation 03:025133)