Deer Management News This Week

Public input, comments sought on local deer herd management plans September 24, 2018 Colorado, Aspen Daily News
...  updating herd-management plans for deer in Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin counties, and the agency is seeking public input on population and sex-ratio objectives... A public meeting ... scheduled for Oct. 3 ...

Preference system changes big part of latest GFP deer hunting proposal September 23, 2018 South Dakota, The Capital Journal
... The Sept. 7 proposal, if it gets approved, would force hunters to pick from one of four of the state’s six firearms deer seasons to apply for in the first limited issue license lottery drawing. The idea is to limit hunters to one license in those four seasons through two rounds of lottery drawings ...

Spotlight counts provide information and are fun September 23, 2018 Texas, Tyler Morning Telegraph 
... the regional TPWD biologist who runs them through a computer program to determine a recommended harvest size, including how many bucks and does are to be taken. In an effort to go from a deer to an acre to a deer to 5 or 6 acres ... the count comes with a multiplier of 3.7 to determine an estimated herd size... 

... state game and agriculture officials are calling for a unified effort on the part of hunters and other outdoors enthusiasts, along with deer farmers, to avoid becoming another Wisconsin. Some parts of that state are seeing half their deer population infected ...

Deer season 2018 opens Oct. 1 with promise September 23, 2018 Oklahoma, Tulsa World
... The 2017 season came along and the harvest hit 107,914 ... Most areas of the state have seen fair amounts of precipitation this past year and temperatures and weather events were not unusual — save a late, cold spring and continuing drought in the southwest. Browse is plentiful this fall..,

Car-moose collisions on decline in Maine September 23, 2018 Press Herald
... In 2017, there were 287 car crashes in Maine involving a moose ... less than half the 646 crashes 10 years earlier, in 2007, and down 32 percent from five years earlier, in 2012... Moose populations ... probably aren’t a big factor ...

Recent trends indicate 'great' deer season September 22, 2018 Ohio, The Columbus Dispatch
... Barring unforeseen conditions such as bad weather, the numbers should be similar or higher than a year ago... The statewide bag limit remains six ... Only one deer may be antlered..,

Abundant acorns might disperse deer, but WV DNR still expects good archery kill September 22, 2018 West Virginia, Charleston Gazette-Mail
... white oak and chestnut oak trees have borne good crops of acorns this year... “Last year was a pretty good mast year, too, which means deer went into the winter well-fed,” ...The state’s deer population is highest in the northern and western counties ..,

Wildfires produce elk food as nutritious as alfalfa, Montana study shows September 22, 2018 Casper Star-Tribune Online
... Barker’s study found that “ … Recently burned (1-6 year prior) dry forests at higher elevations provided forage quality approximately equivalent to that of irrigated agriculture.” ... “If summer nutrition is bad, they won’t have a calf,” Toman said. “It takes summer nutrition to drive that elk herd.” ...

'Deer dog' hunting dispute goes to Florida Supreme Court September 22, 2018 Florida, Orlando Weekly 
... residents have gone to the state Supreme Court in a legal battle aimed at reining in “deer dog” hunting on property around the Blackwater Wildlife Management Area... Property owners filed a lawsuit in 2016, seeking to prevent deer-dog hunting ...

... Hunters are prohibited from harvesting antlerless deer during the first 15 days of the Illinois Archery Deer Season in five east-central Illinois counties as part of an effort to grow the deer herd in the region, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) announced today..,

Deer ‘stakeholders’ group does due diligence September 21, 2018 Ohio, Outdoornews
... a sea-change from political-boundary management, county by county, to habitat management, or deer-management units. DMUs are the way to go, enlightened, and take deer management out of the Dark Ages. The proposed DMUs can be viewed in a chart in the Stakeholders report ...

New CWD rule will impact 55 Wisconsin counties September 21, 2018 Wisconsin, WAOW
... will ban hunters from transferring deer carcasses from a CWD affected county to another county... have to take it either to a licensed meat processor or taxidermist ...

Wyoming commission punts on mule deer versus minerals debate September 21, 2018 Casper Star-Tribune Online
...  the aim of encouraging companies to keep surface disturbances outside of the mule deer corridor. If a company refuses, Game and Fish will object and the BLM will require the company to complete an Environmental Impact Statement ...

FWP proposes conservation easement in the Bridgers September 21, 2018 Montana, Explore Big Sky
... A 400-acre stretch of private land located in the foothills of the Bridger Mountains is currently being considered for a conservation easement by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks... Public comment closes Sept. 27  ...

Deer hunting has evolved over 50 years September 21, 2018 Michigan, Escanaba Daily Press
... Bait hunting has been around since the early 1970s. ... Old hunters quickly questioned the use of bait as taking advantage of the wildlife outside of fair chase standards. The bait business has since grown into the primary mode in which hunters take a deer ...

As fall arrives, ODOT warns: Watch out for wildlife  September 20, 2018 Oregon, KTVZ
... ODOT has built two wildlife undercrossings that have proven effective in nearly eliminating deer-vehicle crashes. ODOT said will be building another wildlife crossing just north of Gilchrist at the site of a project to add passing lanes to the highway...

Solar panels replaced tarmac on a motorway September 21, 2018 Phys.org
... a company called Solar Roadways has developed a smart highway with solar panels, including sensors and LED lights to display traffic warnings about any upcoming hazards, such as a deer. It also has heating pads to melt snow in winter...

Wildlife commission votes for multiple hunting regulation changes September 21, 2018 Mississippi, Jackson Clarion Ledger
...  hunters were required to be at least 100 yards away ... the commission voted in favor of removing the 100-yard minimum distance between ...

... investigating dozens of reports of dead deer ... localized events have occurred in the past and were caused by epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD)...

DNREC's Division of Fish & Wildlife announces expanded deer hunting  September 20, 2018 Delaware, news.delaware.gov
... Recent changes in state law substantially increase the number of Sundays when deer can be hunted, and also allow the use of certain straight-wall, pistol-caliber rifles for some deer hunting seasons...

... exceptionally dry conditions ... in Central Oregon ... The meager snowpack last winter has made for extremely dry conditions ... deer numbers are in decline across much of Central and Eastern Oregon ... Buck ratios are near management goals districtwide with a ratio of 19 bucks per 100 does..,

The price of Oregon's failed cougar management September 20, 2018 Portland Tribune
... Back in the early 1990s, the Oregon cougar population was estimated at about 2,000. Today, that number is approximately 6,600... the decline in deer and elk herds can be attributed to a number of factors — climate, availability of food and water, loss of habitat, as well as predation...,

Bloomington, Local Hunter-Led Deer Cull Approved For Griffy Lake Preserve September 20, 2018 Indiana, WFIU 
... The amendment will allow the city’s Parks and Recreation Department to move forward with an organized deer cull led by local hunters... Many residents opposed to the plan call the cull unnecessary and an invasion of the Griffy Lake area...

... Jawbones should be submitted from does and bucks of all ages, not just large deer. Biologists use the information from this program to estimate the age structure of the harvest...

Vermont officials warn hunters of Chronic Wasting Disease in Quebec September 19, 2018 MyChamplainValley.com FOX44 & ABC22
...  CWD was detected by Canadian officials in a captive red deer herd within 100 miles of the border with Vermont...

Elk raffle license proposed September 19, 2018 South Dakota, Rapid City Journal
... this raffle license would be available for qualifying residents only and would be made available to 501(c)3 non-profit conservation organizations dedicated to wildlife management to apply for the opportunity to use as a fundraiser...

Big Game Hunting in Northwest Montana September 19, 2018 Flathead Beacon
... a slightly smaller contingent of whitetail and mule deer, the result of consecutive snowier-than-normal winters that have made it difficult for deer fawns to survive... elk populations are similar to last year..,

Three deer or elk farms depopulated over CWD this year September 19, 2018 Wisconsin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 ... nine other CWD-positive facilities in Wisconsin are quarantined but allowed to stay open ... 380 deer or elk farms in Wisconsin, according to DATCP records. Since 2002, CWD has been found at 23 of the captive facilities; 14 have been depopulated, including the three this year...,

Wisconsin senator looks to kill CWD regulations September 19, 2018 Minneapolis Star Tribune
... A powerful Republican legislator is trying to derail new regulations that Gov. Scott Walker ordered to help slow the spread of chronic wasting disease in deer... State Sen. Steve Nass ...

Bloomington City council: Vote against killing more deer   September 19, 2018 Indiana,  by Maria Katrien Heslin, former Bloomington deputy mayor, heraldtimesonline
... There’s no public demand for the kill... The city doesn’t know how many deer remain in the preserve ... it was stated 10-to-30 deer per square mile was sufficient for plant regeneration; inexplicably now staff says it should be 5 per square mile ...

...  the Creek traded in deerskins and Indians for slavery that they captured in Florida ... By the 1750s ... shipping as many as 60,000 deerskins a year... Eventually, the deer population crashed ...

Deer hunting and airboats proposed for Loxahatchee wildlife refuge September 19, 2018 Florida, Sun-Sentinel 
... Almost all of the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge would be opened up to hunting, under a proposal ... U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has made a priority of opening up more federal land to public use, including mining, hunting and oil drilling...

Compared to the previous three mild winters, heavier snows and colder temperatures
were measured across much of the north in 2017-18.  However, except for a relatively
small area centered on Iron County and diminishing outward, most of the north
experienced moderate winter conditions while the southern two-thirds of the state received considerably less snowfall, more mild temperatures, and little impact on the deer herd. A late April snow storm caused some concerns due to its lateness in the winter during a critical time for deer. While the storm likely had little impact on overall deer survival or fawn recruitment, antlerless harvest quotas were reduced in some northern counties.  An excellent growing season that is providing abundant food sources and reports from across the state indicate plentiful deer ..,

...would require that all antlered deer harvest in St. Clair, Sanilac, Tuscola, Huron and Lapeer counties have at least four points on one side ... mandatory regulations proposed by organizations will be implemented only when a majority of 66 percent support among hunters in the proposed area is documented ..,

Roadkill Report a Roadmap to Avoiding Wildlife Collisions September 18, 2018 California, UC Davis
... Collisions with wildlife continue to cost up to half a billion dollars each year in California ... according to the annual roadkill report from the UC Davis Road Ecology Center... Deer make up about 90 percent of wildlife collisions reported...

Fish and Game: Idaho outdoorsmen to have some of the best elk hunting conditions of all time September 17, 2018 Idaho Statesman ·
... In 2017, hunters took 22,751 elk ... The 10-year average from 2008-17 is 18,865 ... historic high harvests in Idaho that topped out at 28,000 in 1994... mule deer  ...a tough winter in 2016-17 and cutbacks in antlerless tags to protect breeding age does dropped the harvest by nearly a third from 37,070 in 2016 to 25,496 last year ...

It’s called the Land and Water Conservation Fund or LWCF—money generated from royalties paid by energy companies drilling for oil and gas on the Outer Continental Shelf. Congress has the ability to take those royalties and fully fund LWCF at $900 million annually, but unfortunately most of that is diverted to other federal programs. -- September 17, 2018 Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation


Enviros take feeding lawsuit September 17, 2018 Wyoming, Jackson Hole News&Guide
...  A federal judge has ordered the Bridger-Teton National Forest to re-examine its decision allowing the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to feed elk on 91 acres of national forest perched above the Gros Ventre River. ...  could become a reservoir for [chronic wasting disease] ...

... officers used DNA samples taken from the remains of an illegally hunted deer to nail a poacher in a recent court case near Buffalo...  located the suspect's 10-point buck at a taxidermist shop ...

... “This [information] would have been known about 10 months later [than now] if we didn’t have electronic information.” ... had to wait for months in order to tell how many moose, deer, bears ...

Deer population up in Ashland County September 17, 2018 Wisconsin, Ashland Daily Press
... Deer populations in Ashland County have rebounded so well in recent years that the state will allow some hunters to bag antlerless deer during this fall’s gun-deer season... A 12-inch snowfall in mid-April temporarily dimmed the agency’s outlook for deer population growth but fortunately, the snow did not last long ..,

2018 South Dakota big game populations September 17, 2018 Rapid City Journal
... management objective for the Black Hills elk population is 6,000 to 8,000 overall... “We’ve been at about 7,000, and we’re at roughly 6,900 now.”... the deer [in the Black Hills] population is estimated at just shy of 60,000... the overall objective is to add to the whitetail population ... We saw overwinter fawn survival drop in the Black Hills last year ...  we’re in a rebuilding stage in most of our deer units [West Prairie] ... everybody wants more muleys..,

Habitat conditions supporting big game herd health September 17, 2018 Wyoming, wyomingbusinessreport
... Abundant spring and summer moisture across southeast Wyoming this year ... Mule deer populations are increasing, and buck ratios in many places are the highest they’ve been in a decade or more... Most elk herds in the area are larger than the department’s population objectives ..,

Crossbows account for majority of PA archery deer kills September 17, 2018 Pennsylvania, LancasterOnline
...Within the archery harvest, 61 percent of all deer shot were taken with crossbows.  That’s a 10 percent increase from just four years earlier, when crossbows accounted for 51 percent of the total archery kill...

Climate change stokes fiery future for California September 17, 2018 Santa Rosa Press Democrat
... fire shaped the drought-prone landscape for thousands of years, as Native Americans used it to maintain meadows and forests that provided deer, elk and acorns for food as well as grasses for basketry...

New Experimental Regulations for Mule Deer Restrictions September 16, 2018 Texas, MyHighPlains.com
... in the Southeast Texas panhandle ... prohibiting the harvest of mule deer with a spread of antlers less than 20 inches... implementing the new experimental regulations in the hopes of improving buck's age structure and sex ratio ...

Expanding GIS Analyses to Monitor and Assess North American Moose Distribution and Density  [PDF] WF Jensen, JR Smith, M Carstensen, CE Penne … Biology and Management …, 2018 North Dakota
...  we summarize 3 decades of North American moose (Alces alces) population and harvest densities collected at the management unit scale for the years 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010... Distributions in 2010 indicate that moose now occupy an area > 9,492,000 km in North America. We also identified that a core range of boreal habitat, only 30% of the occupied range across the continent, supports 89% of the estimated 1 million
moose in North America..,
KL Schuler, JA Jenks, RW Klaver, CS Jennelle… - Wildlife Biology, 2018
... data best supported a model with time-invariant encounter probability and an annual survival of 72.8%. Even without direct pressure from hunting within the park, average life expectancy in this population was 3.2 years. Only 68% of mortalities contained sufficient
material for CWD sampling (because of predation and scavenger activity) and >42% of these were CWD-positive. These findings underscore the possible biases in postmortem  surveillance estimates of disease prevalence because of potential for subclinical infected animals to be removed by predators and not tested.

... Our finding of higher fawn survival in woodland habitat suggests that managers should maintain woodland habitat in agricultural regions. Disease caused most of our fawn mortality in contrast to predation as reported in other Midwestern studies. Our survival estimates through 30 and 60 days post-capture were similar to estimates from other Midwestern regions; however, survival through 7 months was much lower.

Mule deer migration corridor should be protected September 16, 2018 Wyoming, Casper Star-Tribune
... Mule deer populations are dwindling. Energy development in critical habitat may only increase their struggle ... these 33 parcels of land, less than 2 percent of the total acreage proposed for lease by the BLM, should not be leased without further consideration ... the notices have no legal teeth...

Experts give WV high marks for elk-reintroduction effort September 15, 2018 West Virginia, Charleston Gazette-Mail
... Officials at the nearby Chief Logan Lodge and Conference Center recently started conducting “elk management tours” of the Tomblin Wildlife Management Area, the epicenter of the 44,000 newly acquired acres... Kentucky wildlife officials ... in the early 2000s ... imported 1,500 elk and placed them on reclaimed mine sites. Those elk not only survived, they thrived. Today, an estimated 11,000 elk ...

...  deer that appeared to be lethargic, blind, walking in circles and unaware of their surroundings ... samples from three animals and sent them to a laboratory for testing... confirmed the presence of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) in all three deer, as well as bluetongue in one of the three animals...







Searching the internet to find and conserve deer information.  

Deer in the News

... Firefighters got down into the water and were able to get the deer out safely ...

Summer with 'Bambi': How a family of deer found a home in my yard — and then slipped away September 21, 2018 New Jersey, NorthJersey.com
... “Mike, there’s a deer in our backyard.”  So began what we have come to remember as our “deer summer.” ... As I turn the calendar from summer to fall, I will miss them.  And I hope they come back...

...  near the municipalities of Lublin, Stanley and Owen ... Wildlife biologists said the most likely reason for the bull to be in the area is he is searching for a mate...

Firefighters rescue deer trapped in Cherokee County retention pond September 17, 2018 Georgia, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
... aren’t quite sure how two deer found their way into a retention pond enclosure, surrounded by high concrete walls ...  doe was a bit thin and looked weak from her time in the pond ...

... Ironically, it was Powell himself who initially contacted Game and Fish. He had reached out to the agency for help in finding Baby a sanctuary or to release him into the wild... "Being a hunter myself, this is something I am very close to... You don't kill something that you're not going to eat. You just don't." [neighbor] ...

A reporter in North Carolina was interrupted on Saturday, September 15, 2018 as several deer waded through water almost up to their necks in Jacksonville as Tropical Storm Florence continued to bear down on the U.S. East Coast. - September 15, 2018 North Carolina


Coues Deer Hunt in Mexico September 12, 2018 New Mexico,  PetersenHunting.com
...The Coues whitetail has a distinct range, usually found in mountains, in elevations from 4,000 to 8,000 feet. It is ideally adapted to desert environment, thinly distributed in arid habitat...

... The trail for decades has been a shortcut used by hikers and equestrians  ... photos from the motion-activated cameras, which appeared perfectly angled to capture any scavengers that preyed on the carcass... allege that Sherwood Development had placed the deer on the trail ... to lure mountain lions to my ranch ...

... irregular brown and white markings ... a red collar around its neck ... Putting a collar on a deer is technically legal in North Carolina, but doing so and treating them as pets is "strongly discouraged" ...

As I was driving down the road, I saw a deer and told Tia, “look there’s a deer, nope it’s a dog. Nope, that’s a deer and a dog!” ...September 5, 2018


  Deer's antlers get tangled in soccer net at park on Detroit's west side September 5, 2018 Michigan, sideclickondetroit.com
... The net was badly entwined in the deer's antlers... freed and went back to the woods...

Ohio police rescue deer lodged in between two fences  September 3, 2018 RTV6 Indianapolis
... they were able to move the fence and the deer fled the area ...

... in the case of California Mule Deer, they generally have a white tail that ends in a black tip, like a black tassel at the end. In the case of pure Black-tailed Deer, not only is their entire tail black, but a dark stripe extends up the tail and all the way along their back...

We've been watching her painfully limping around for about 3 or 4 weeks, at first with her mom and sibling. But the last week or so she has been all alone ...Is there anything we can do for her?


Rare White Fawn Born in New York City August 31, 2018 New York, National Geographic 
... The creature’s coloration is a result of a condition called leucism, which causes a lightening of skin and fur and is found in only one percent of deer. When the white pelt is flecked with the red-brown of normal deer the result is called “piebald.” ...


Police officer rescues deer stuck in fence in Eugene August 30, 2018 Oregon, Oregonian
... A passer-by walking with her children in the afternoon reported seeing the small deer stuck toward the top of a picket fence ... The fawn apparently tried jumping over the barrier and landed between the boards...

... sticking out of its head ... Officials believe the arrow went through the deer's left eye and throat area ...

Deer Rescued From Well In Wilmington, Delaware August 19, 2018 Delaware, CBS Philly 
... A deer is safe thanks to an alert resident walking his dog in Wilmington, Delaware...

Firefighters battling the Holy Jim wildfire pause to save the life of dehydrated deer August 13, 2018 California, The San Diego Union-Tribune 
... They provided her with water and helped her get back on her feet ...

... stationed in Redding to help firefighters battle the massive Carr fire when they found a baby deer struggling to escape burning bushes. They pulled the animal out before it was injured...

  ...  fawn following its mother into the water ... the little one started swimming over to the boat ... the Miles family took the fawn over to the bank, and watched as mother and baby headed back into the forest...

Ranch owners share white-tailed pets with summer campers July 25, 2018 Pennsylvania,  CourierExpress
... white-tail deer have become family to Rusty and Roger “Shorty” Snyder, the owners of Double Diamond Deer Ranch...  In the beginning, the Snyders had deer as pets, but after so many people would come to visit them, they turned their pets into a business...

... the young female deer first showed up in her backyard with the zip tie a few weeks ago... deer's ribs were visible and she appeared to be foaming at the mouth ...

Keeping a deer as a pet illegal in Delaware July 23, 2018 Delaware, 6abc Action News
... Wildlife police rescued a white tail fawn from an apartment near Wilmington ... individual was fined $107 ...