Deer Management News This Week

Proposal would prohibit permanent deer stands on state lands January 28, 2015 Minnesota, Minneapolis Star Tribune
... Big changes could be coming for thousands of Minnesota deer hunters who climb into permanent stands each fall on state and county forest lands.  Forestry officials from the state and counties would like to get rid of those permanent stands — and allow hunters to use only portable stands...

Hunters lament drop in deer numbers January 28, 2015 Ohio, Marietta Times
... The number of deer harvested during the first 116 days of the season in Washington County is down 10.5 percent from last year, slightly worse than the 8.8 percent statewide decline...

Elk hunts have become rarity in Tennessee January 28, 2015 Tennessee, The Hartsville Vidette
... In 1783, men surveying a road reported seeing numerous herds of elk in Middle Tennessee and Davy Crockett wrote of seeing elk in the bottomlands of Obion and Dyer counties in the 1820s. But by the time Crockett was seeing elk in West Tennessee, they were already gone from Middle Tennessee...

Three 4-year-olds reported killing deer in 2013 January 28, 2015 Pennsylvania, Lancaster Online 
... When the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners on Tuesday proposed setting 7 as the minimum age for kids ... "How many kids that young are actually killing deer and turkeys?" ... [Hunting stats show three 4-year olds] ...

... Republicans in the Missouri General Assembly have introduced four bills — three in the House and one in the Senate — which, together, could drain the department of 80 percent of its funding... It draws about 60 percent of its funding from a permanent sales tax of one-eighth cent and another 20 percent from permit sales ...

2 General Assembly bills raising ire of Virgina hunters January 27, 2015 Virginia, Roanoke Times
... HB 2343 would allow the feeding of wildlife on private property regardless of whether hunting season is open or closed.  HB 2345 would end Virginia’s long-standing right-to-retrieve law by requiring hunters to gain permission from a landowner before going onto private property to retrieve their dogs...

Work being done to slow down chronic wasting disease January 27, 2015 Pennsylvania, Standard Speaker 
... To control the spread of the disease, the commission bans hunters from transporting infected parts out of deer management areas or into Pennsylvania from other states that have the disease.  Hunters cannot feed deer or use deer urine in deer management areas. That keeps deer from congregating and slows the transmission, which can occur through bodily fluids, feces and carcasses. The prion that causes CWD can remain alive in soil...

'Like spokes on a wheel': Researchers map elk migrations in Greater Yellowstone January 27, 2015 Wyoming, Helena Independent Record
... The initiative’s study tracks nine major elk herds into Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. Migrations range from 30 to 90 miles, with the Northern and Cody herd's traveling the longest distances... “Another question we’re asking is whether we can use camera trapping placed along those migration bottlenecks to conduct these surveys,” ...

Two New Cases of CWD Found in Missouri January 27, 2015 Kansas City infoZine 
... New cases bring statewide total of deer testing positive for Chronic Wasting Disease to 26... CWD (chronic wasting disease) was first discovered in Missouri in 2010 at a private hunting preserve in Linn County. All cases of CWD in Missouri have been limited to Macon, Linn, and Adair counties ...

Not all in harmony with DNR elk import January 27, 2015 Wisconsin, Eau Claire Country Today
... Joel Espe, owner of Hawk’s Hill Elk Ranch ...  has long contended that the best elk for Wisconsin’s woods are ones that have been raised in a northern climate and have the best genetics possible.  “(Kentucky elk) have never known or dreamed of a northern Wisconsin winter, and now that wolves are (here), this could be about a half million dollars of wolf food,” ...

... Organizers say it is not only more humane than killing the animals, it is also more effective.  "It's called the vacuum effect. If you remove all of them, you're just gonna have neighboring guys come into the neighborhood," ...

... A century ago, the American chestnut was the primary food source tree for forest wildlife. Deer, bear, turkey, ... Field tests by wildlife experts have shown that Dunstan Chestnuts are chosen by deer over all other acorns because of their taste and nutrition...

Some hunter groups opposed fenced-in Indiana deer preserves January 26, 2015 Indiana, The Herald Bulletin
... Opponents — including the Indiana Deer Hunters Association, the Indiana Wildlife Federation, the Hoosier Environmental Council and the state chapter of the Humane Society — called the preserves "canned hunting" and said they increase the risk of spreading the fatal chronic wasting disease to the state's wild deer...

State game department to study coyotes impact on deer January 26, 2015 Alabama, Montgomery Advertiser 
... A study isn’t needed to find out the impact coyotes have on fawns, said Stan Edwards, a Prattville deer hunter. He hunts on property in Macon and Lowndes counties.   “Coyotes really moved in over at our land in Macon County about six years ago,” he said. “Since then we have seen fewer deer, especially younger deer...

Minn. cattlemen angered by court ruling restoring wolf protection January 26, 2015 Minnesota, AG Week
... critics point to a recent Washington State University study, which found that killing wolves to protect livestock leads to more cattle deaths, not fewer, at least initially. “It just disrupts the pack and leads to more problems for farmers,” ... The average wolf will take 18 to 20 adult-sized deer per year ...

Canned Hunting Legislation 2015 January 25, 2015 Indiana, Indiana Wildlife Federation
... The House Natural Resources Committee will hear HB1453  in an attempt to legalize canned hunting in Indiana this Monday, January 26th, 10:30am in Statehouse Room 156-A.  The bill is authored by Rep. Sean Eberhart, House District 57 representing Bartholomew, Hancock, and Shelby counties...

Good and bad legislation in the hunt January 25, 2014 Maine, Press Herald
... Two are constitutional amendments that would exclude wildlife issues or laws governing hunting and fishing from the citizens’ initiative process... another proposal would amend Maine’s constitution “to limit the application of citizen initiatives concerning wildlife matters to counties in which they are approved.” ...

... about 10 percent more deer this year ...  the consensus of Wildlife Department biologists based in northwestern Oklahoma is that deer numbers, and hunter success, were lower.  Similar trends were observed in southwestern Oklahoma....

Pennsylvania Game Commission studies deer predator effects January 25, 2015 The Sentinel Cumberlink 
... Randy Santucci ... president of Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, said he was concerned about the state’s declining deer population five years ago and presented research to the Pennsylvania Game Commission explaining his reasoning.  “The point was very, very strong that there is this growing coyote population on the eastern seaboard that is affecting deer populations dramatically,” ...

An unlikely conservation champion January 25, 2015 Wyoming, Casper Star-Tribune 
... John Eddins, who retired last month after a 27-year career with the Wyoming Department of Transportation ...On behalf of the hundreds of deer and antelope whose lives were directly saved by his actions, their many descendants, and the thousands of animals who will benefit from the surge of new wildlife crossing structures in Wyoming and neighboring states in the years to come, the Wyoming Migration Initiative thanks John Eddins for his contributions ...

Wait for live CWD test before adding elk January 25, 2015 Wisconsin, Madison
...  State officials are looking to bring elk from Kentucky into two parts of Wisconsin... Kentucky originally got its elk from out West, mainly Utah, in the late 1990s and early 2000s. That was about the same time CWD [chronic wasting disease] was first discovered in Utah in deer...

Miscanthus x Giganteus planted for use as deer habitat/cover. Hedge rowing, field planting, and double rows are featured. Deer prefer the double row planting for cover. - January 25, 2015


Do the crime, pay fine - but what is a deer worth? January 24, 2015 Michigan, Traverse City Record Eagle
... Is a 21-point trophy buck worth 25,000 bucks? ...  state Court of Appeals, which upheld Baker’s criminal conviction and prison sentence but ordered a Crawford County Circuit Court judge to reconsider the amount of restitution he owes the ranch....

State's wildlife faring well in mild winter January 24, 2015 Minnesota, St. Cloud Times
... Pheasants, deer, turkeys and grouse all are benefiting from the mild winter conditions up to this point... “It’s exactly what the doctor ordered for this northern deer herd and the conditions are good region-wide,” ...

... Mike Tonkovich ... in charge of managing Ohio's white-tailed deer...  herd is shrinking by design, and Tonkovich's job was to explain to a full house of 90 sportsmen why that is a good thing... take a fresh look at deer population goals again this spring, surveying both farmers and hunters  ...

Keep deer under Department of Conservation's management January 24, 2015 Missouri, STLtoday.com
... Missouri’s deer herd is being threatened by irresponsible breeders across the state. A recent outbreak in Macon County was centered around one such shooting preserve. Late last year, just across the border in Iowa, 284 deer in a preserve were found to be infected with chronic wasting disease ...

Wildlife biologist counts antler inches instead of deer on hunt, mule deer January 24, 2015 Texas, Tyler Morning Telegraph
... Found across the Trans Pecos region and portions of the Panhandle, mule deer are Texas’ other deer. They don’t exist in nearly the numbers that white-tailed deer do, and a conservative attitude by landowners concerning the deer has meant limited hunting options....

Should Hoosiers have a constitutional right to hunt and fish? January 23, 2015 Indiana, Indianapolis Star
... On Monday, the state Senate's Natural Resources Committee will hear a resolution authored by Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, that would amend the constitution to forever protect the rights of hunters and anglers... HB 1208 passes ... would set up a lottery system to allow 100 hunters to kill a second buck during deer season...

Camp Ripley deer by the number January 23, 2015 Minnesota, Brainerd Daily Dispatch
...  During a deer study conducted from 1999 to 2002 researchers recorded all of the causes of deer mortality. Of 29 radio-collared adult female deer that died during the study, over 50 percent died from hunting, but less than 15 percent from predation, not all of which was attributed to wolves...

... some elk farmers are worried about their herds on the off chance that Kentucky elk bring chronic wasting disease with them to Wisconsin... But the DNR says they'll quarantine the elk for 120 days and monitor conditions to make sure Kentucky elk don't spread disease...

D.C. Circuit Rejects Psychological Harm Theory in Deer-Culling Case January 23, 2015 Washington, D.C. JD Supra (press release)
... This Tuesday, the D.C. Circuit issued an opinion in No. 13-5136, Grunewald v. Jarvis, affirming the lower court’s decision that the National Park Service’s promulgation of the White-Tailed Deer Management Plan was lawful. At issue in that case was whether the service’s adoption of a plan for culling the population of white-tailed deer in Rock Creek National Park violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by failing to comply with certain federal statutes ...

...   When you restrict the number of does that can be harvested, it eventually leads to a larger herd. That's the track that Missouri is on after seeing a poor harvest in 2013...

DNR issues along with the wolves and deer population is discussed. - January 23, 2015 Minnesota



Captive Deer Hunting Operations Under Scrutiny In Rural America January 22, 2015 Texas, International Business Times 
    Some farmers in rural America have taken to flipping their land from growing crops to breeding whitetail deer for a lucrative hunting business that some wildlife officials are cracking down on... “We feel we are approaching a $1 billion industry,” says Chase Clark, president of the Texas Deer Association ... About half of states already prohibit deer from being sold across borders ...

Deer hunting experiences a big drop January 22, 2015 Virginia, Richmond.com 
...  deer hunting season numbers for 2014 could be down as much as 30 percent in Powhatan County.... Statewide, the number of deer kills is expected to be down about 20 percent ... The deer management staff expected that increased antlerless deer kill on private lands would eventually result in a reduced deer herd and deer kill, even without an assist from a second factor, which was hemorrhagic disease ...

Hunting faces issues, but still considered in good shape January 22, 2015 Texas, Tyler Morning Telegraph
... Hunter numbers have actually climbed in recent years, but the percentage of hunters within the total population remains low. According to the most recent national numbers from 2011, there were 13.7 million hunters in the U.S., or about 6 percent of the population. That compares to 12.5 million, or about 5 percent, in 2006...

... This survey will be conducted using a helicopter and will require about 60-65 hours of flight time ... This is a valuable piece of information to independently verify the population estimates Wyoming Game and Fish produces annually based on classification and harvest information...  in 2014 yearling buck/doe ratios were good ...

Nature Conservancy Completes Purchase of 117,000 Acres in Blackfoot River Valley January 22, 2015 Montana, The Nature Conservancy
... The Clearwater-Blackfoot lands are part of the Conservancy’s $134 million, two-state Great Western Checkerboards Project, which will preserve recreational access and ecological integrity across more than 257 square miles in Montana and the Cascade Mountains of Washington ... “This project helps protect critical habitat for bull trout, lynx, elk and mule deer in Montana’s spectacular 10 million acre Crown of the Continent,” said Richard Jeo, director of The Nature Conservancy of Montana...

Idaho takes aim at hunting with drones January 21, 2015 KIVI-TV
... "It's illegal strictly from a fair chase issue," said Greg Wooten with Idaho Fish and Game ... Drones can, however, be useful in scouting terrain. Tiny transmitters can send video back instantly to a monitor or special goggles. Under Idaho rules, if you happen to spot a deer you can pursue it, as long as you wait until the next day...

Hunters nearly exterminated deer in state January 21, 2015 Tennessee, The Hartsville Vidette
... By the 1940s the deer in Tennessee numbered less than 2,000, all located in the high hills of the Great Smokies... From 1950 to 1985 around 9,000 deer were released across the state ...

Bloomington, Advocates accuse council members of suppressing information January 21, 2015 Indiana, Indiana Daily Student
... Sandy Shapshay, president of Bloomington Advocates for Nonviolent and Innovative Deer Stewardship, said documents from a Freedom of Information Act 
request reveals a predetermined outcome to the decision to cull 
the deer.  Shapshay said Dave Rollo, head of the Deer Task Force and president of the Bloomington City Council, had suppressed scientific information in order to go ahead with the deer cull...

Mt. Lebanon awaits formal letter nixing extended deer season January 21, 2015 Pennsylvania, Tribune-Review
... Public Works Director Tom Kelley said staff at the regional game commission office told him they had never extended the hunting season for a single municipality, and weren't going to start with Mt. Lebanon... Hunting on public property is one of the state's prerequisites for other deer-control methods such as trapping and surgical sterilization, both of which the municipality has applied to do ...

High Country News
... The Sublette Mule Deer Herd has seen a 20 percent decline, he says. But the portion that winters on the Pinedale Mesa has fared worse.  “The Pinedale Anticline has seen, at one point, a 50 percent decline,” he says. “It’s rebounded to a 40 percent decline.” ... Boiled down, research seeks to understand the relationship between nutrition, habitat and mule deer behavior, Dwinnell says... 

Two more wild deer test positive for Chronic Wasting Disease January 21, 2015 Iowa, Radio Iowa 
... confirmed the presence of Chronic Wasting Disease in wild deer for the second straight year... within a five-mile radius of where the first wild deer that tested positive last year was found — and that’s a little bit southwest of Harpers Ferry in Allamakee County ...  what we believe is the deer from last year wandered in from nearby Wisconsin...

Bountiful deer relocation program still going strong January 21, 2015 Utah, The Davis Clipper 
... the Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) has trapped and moved more than 90 deer since last November... hopes to trap and relocate 200 deer from the city ...  We’ll study the survival rates ...

Grant to help restore oak habitat in Oregon, California January 20, 2015 Oregon, Daily Astorian
... About 93 percent of Oregon's oak woodlands have fallen to development or overgrowth from decades of fire suppression, and oak-dependent animals ranging from acorn woodpeckers to titmice [and deer] are suffering along with their lost habitat... The Klamath-Rogue Oak Woodland Health and Habitat Conservation Project was one of five Oregon projects that collectively received about $22 million of federal Farm Bill money ...

Top carnivores increase their kill rates on prey as a response to human-induced fear  Justine A. Smith, Yiwei Wang, Christopher C. Wilmers January, 2015 California
... We observed strong behavioural responses by female pumas to human development, whereby their fidelity to kill sites and overall consumption time of prey declined with increasing housing density by 36 and 42%, respectively. Females responded to this decline in prey consumption time by increasing the number of deer they killed in high housing density areas by 36% over what they killed in areas with little residential development. The loss of food from declines in prey consumption time paired with increases in energetic costs associated with killing more prey may have consequences for puma populations, particularly with regard to reproductive success. In addition, greater carcass availability is likely to alter community dynamics by augmenting food resources for scavengers...

East Hampton deer sterilization spays 114 January 20, 2015 New York, Shelter Island Reporter 
... Wildlife biologist Anthony DeNicola, of Connecticut-based White Buffalo, a leading nonprofit in deer management, ran the program for 10 days and 114 does were spayed. “That’s about 60 percent of the females in the herd,” Mr. DeNicola said. “We’ll be back in February for another 20 percent.” ... The cost is about $1,000 per deer if done by professionals, or about $500 when done by trained volunteers ...

DWR crews relocate 100 mule deer off Antelope Island January 20, 2015 Utah, Fox 13 Now
... The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources airlifted 100 mule deer off Antelope Island, Tuesday, to help control its growing animal population.  The process of capturing the mule deer is called mugging, basically the helicopter pilot herds the animals, until a man armed with a net gun can get a drop on them...

Deer harvest totals exceed 100,000 January 20, 2015 West Virginia, Independent Herald
... Preliminary counts of game checking tags indicate West Virginia hunters harvested 104,223 white-tailed deer ...  31 percent less than the 2013 deer harvest of 150,877 and 23 percent below the five-year average of 136,168...

Research seeks reasons for demise of mule deer January 20, 2015 Wyoming, High Country News
...  “Mule deer are declining across Wyoming and the West.” ... Matt Kauffman, University of Wyoming professor of zoology and physiology, who with his crew, caught, wrangled and released 175 deer one week last December.  Wyoming Game and Fish Department strives for a population of 564,150 mule deer, but the last statewide estimate was 374,400 ...
...  in northern Maine, the whitetail deer is struggling to persist. Excuses are abundant: severe winters, deer are at their northern range (although further north in portions of Canada there’s not necessarily the same struggle), loss of habitat, the pope is Catholic, etc. ...

Improving winter deer range in U.P. a priority January 20, 2015  Michigan,  bcsn.tv
... Biologists calculate that a winter of extremes could cull as many as 75,000 deer from the U.P. herd, which some unofficial estimates put at around 400,000 strong. Winter habitat is crucial for the U.P. whitetails, and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is calling together its Upper Peninsula Habitat Workgroup to tackle this important issue...

...  will hold its fire on a proposal to have sharpshooters kill deer at the state park, and instead will study whether the abundant deer population is damaging the island's maritime forests...

Six Deer Positive for CWD in Md. January 20, 2015 Maryland, WBOC TV 16
... Four more white-tailed deer harvested in Maryland have tested positive from chronic wasting disease (CWD) ... brings the total to six... harvested in the CWD Management Area in Allegany County ...

Archers called to airport to shoot deer on the runway January 20, 2015 Idaho, Daily Telegraph 
... An urban deer hunt was just what city authorities decided was needed to deal with a herd of up to 50 deer, and so a crowd brought their bows and arrows onto the grounds of Sandpoint airport ... [the airport in Racine, Wisconsin, effectively uses noisemakers to haze the deer]

Pa. Game Commission meetings prepared for controversy January 20, 2015 Pennsylvania, The Morning Call 
... proposal seems simple enough on its face: limit the age for a youngster taking part in the various Mentored Youth Hunts to 9 years and older for the purpose of hunting turkeys and deer... Several years ago, current PGC commissioner Ron Weaner proposed this and was basically shouted down in open meetings...

Senate ready to take up deer farm bill after remake January 19, 2015 West Virginia, The Register Herald
... Sen. Daniel Hall, R-Wyoming, as he has for is for the last several years, is sponsoring a bill that would allow state residents to keep "captive cervids" on their property. Hall is now the chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, and as he'd promised, deer farming is one of the first bills to move this session...

Study to examine predators' effect on deer populations January 19, 2015 Pennsylvania, lehighvalleylive.com
... If the agency does find that predators are having a higher that desired impact on deer populations, there may or may not be much the agency can do depending on the predators that are the primarily culprits.  For example, population control efforts to manage coyote populations have by and large proven to be unsuccessful over the years...

... About 30 years ago, the practice of construction high (game-proof) fences became popular in Texas.  The reason for building these high fences was to create an environment where the overall quality of the animals could be improved... decide exactly which bucks he wished to harvest each season and assure that he had mature bucks to harvest in upcoming years... 

Deer harvest total near average January 19, 2015 Oklahoma, Grand Lake News 
... The dry, hot summers in years past, plus ample numbers of animals, sent deer harvest totals through the roof.  However, the cooler and wetter summers in 2013 and 2014 produced more native forage ... nearly 99,000 harvested for the 2014-2015 season. Since 2000, the average number of harvested deer per year is 105,000...

National Deer Alliance pledges to be a a new 'voice for deer hunters' January 18, 2015 Pennsylvania, Lancaster Online
... The National Deer Alliance is a fledgling organization born out of a summit on deer and deer hunting organized last year by QDMA... Many threats to deer were identified at that summit — loss of habitat, disease, increased predation, to name a few...

     Predators can exert powerful influence on their prey, independent of direct killing, by inducing antipredator responses. Coyotes (Canis latrans) have recently achieved abundances capable of influencing white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) population demography in the southeastern USA, but the effects of antipredator responses have not been reported ... his work provided evidence that coyotes can influence white-tailed deer space use and vigilance while foraging, and documented a negative relationship between coyote abundance and body mass of adult female deer during an 11-year period...

Ideas aimed at killing more Maryland deer January 18, 2015 Maryland, Cumberland Times News Homepage
...  Maryland’s estimated summertime deer population is 227,000. In 2002, that number was significantly higher at 295,000... With almost half of the deer in the state being killed it is no wonder that hunting season harvest numbers have dwindled robustly from 15 to 20 years ago ...

... Kazmierski is widely credited/castigated as the force behind the deer-trustee initiative that brought Texas’ James Kroll to Wisconsin in 2012 to revamp the state’s deer-management program. DNR insiders acknowledge Kazmierski was also instrumental in setting the Deer Trustee Report’s final rules, most of which took effect in 2014...

Racine, Deer on the runway: Batten Airport deals with furry visitors January 18, 2015 Wisconsin, Journal Times
... In order to keep the deer away from danger, airport employees have special noisemakers to scare the animals away. A deer depredation program at the airport uses bow hunting to remove the deer, but employees try to avoid these measures... According to David Mann ...

Salem Township, Protesters Rally Against Community’s Plan to Kill Deer January 18, 2015 Pennsylvania, WNEP-TV 16  
... They are upset at the prospect of having 300 deer killed. A recent USDA study estimated there are around 600 deer in the Hideout.  The protesters said seeing the Pennsylvania state animal in their backyards is one of the best things about living in the development near Lake Ariel...

Elk euthanasia to begin soon in Southwest Washington January 18, 2015 Washington, The Columbian
... State Department of Fish and Wildlife employees soon will begin shooting emaciated elk that are suffering from hoof disease ... And dozens of volunteers will be asked to help count limping elk this spring as the agency continues it research on the disease afflicting many elk in Southwest Washington.  Biologists also will fit cow elk with radio collars and track them for years ...

Using drones as hunting tool to track wildlife at issue November 18, 2015 New Hampshire, Union Leader ·
... The state Fish and Game Department's proposal to regulate drone, live-action camera, and "smart rifle" use among hunters because of a possible unethical "unfair technological advantage" is being strongly opposed by at least one New Hampshire hunting group ... public at a hearing in Concord at Fish and Game headquarters at noon on Jan. 29 ...

Taking a message to Harrisburg January 17, 2015 Pennsylvania, Times-Leader
... Sorber, who is the new president of the North Mountain Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association, will attend the Pennsylvania Game Commission board meeting and let them know it’s time to give the deer herd in northeastern Pennsylvania a break... considering reducing the antlerless license allocations for the entire northeast region... close doe season all together on State Game Lands 13, 57 and 66 ...

Competing bills would ban, legalize fenced deer hunts January 17, 2015 Indiana, Indianapolis Star
... Senate Bill 442 authored by Sen. Pete Miller, R-Avon, would ban high-fence hunting outright. And this week ... partly due to concerns raised in a four-part investigative series published last spring by the Indianapolis Star... Eberhart’s House Bill 1453 would legalize high-fence hunting in Indiana. It would set licensing standards for fenced hunting ranches and place them under the oversight of state agricultural officials ...

Help dummy down the MN deer fact set January 17, 2015 Minnesota, All Things Habitat 
...  our DNR uses a model to estimate the size of the herd... In 2008, Marret Grund (MN DNR Wildlife Populations and Research) came right out and said the model is performing so poorly ... MN DNR manipulation of the numbers used to estimate the size of the herd makes the model function on paper, but that model is not working for the hunters of Minnesota ...

Age restrictions for mentored youth get another shot January 17, 2015 Pennsylvania, Gettysburg Times 
...  calls for youngsters under 9 years of age, to no longer be able to shoot deer or wild turkey. They could still shoot squirrels, groundhogs and coyotes. Rules for kids 9 and over would not change – they can shoot deer, wild turkeys, squirrels, groundhogs and coyotes...

...  695 acres of wildlife habitat. Most of the acres are adjacent to the Rio Blanco State Wildlife Area, located a few miles west of Meeker... some limited big game hunting opportunities. It will also provide winter range for deer and elk, which is critical for their survival...

Blue Hills, Deer hunting in the Blue Hills? January 17, 2015 Massachusetta, The Boston Globe ·
... State Senator Brian A. Joyce, whose district includes the Blue Hills, said 6 to 8 deer per square mile is considered to be a healthy population for this region [see other recommendations, U.S. Forest Service recommend 15 to 28 deer per square mile] ... Joyce added a provision to last year’s Environmental Bond Bill calling for the state to develop and implement a plan to control deer populations in areas where their density exceeds 50 per square mile ...

Death of Utah wolf is collateral damage January 16, 2015 High Country News
... a hunter took aim at a big canine... speculation swirled that the 3-year-old female was none other than Echo (named by schoolchildren), who appeared on the north rim of the Grand Canyon in October ... The second, the Mule Deer Protection Act, sets aside $500,000 dollars per year to pay hunters a $50 bounty for every coyote they kill in areas deemed important mule deer habitat...

Game Commission to propose seasons and bag limits at meeting January 16, 2015 Pennsylvania, Lebanon Daily News
... After a rather dismal hunting season for deer – with reports coming in from almost every corner of the state from butcher shops stating they processed 50 percent fewer deer this year – the proposed agenda does nothing to elevate hunting pressure on whitetails...

... The agenda for the Monday-Tuesday, Jan. 26-27, meeting of the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners has triggered heated online opposition ... the commission's management of the state's deer population at a significantly reduced level than most middle-aged and older hunters remember from the 1970s through the early 1990s continues to stoke deep anger among some of those hunters...

UGA Deer Lab to partner in coyote study January 16, 2015 Georgia, Online Athens
... Coyotes, which are not native to Georgia and southeastern states, are a likely cause of drastic reductions in the survival rates of deer fawns....

... West Virginia hunters harvested 104,223 deer in 2014 ...  This year's total was 31 percent less than the 2013 harvest of 150,877 deer and 23 percent below the five-year average of 136,168...

2014 deer kills in West Virginia down 31 percent January 16, 2015 West Virginia The Exponent Telegram
... killed 104,223 deer during the bucks-only, antlerless, muzzleloader, archery and youth/Class Q and Class XS deer seasons.  That's down from 150,268 in 2013 and 23 percent below the five-year average of 136,168...

... “The Boone and Crockett Club maintains that selective breeding and artificially growing deer and elk with unnaturally large antlers to be sold and then shot in a put-and-take situation is not representative of traditional hunting, and these practices should be discouraged,” the paper states. “The captive-cervid industry is ignoring the fact that society rightfully expects hunting to be conducted ethically... Read the position paper from Boone and Crockett

A look from above January 16, 2015 Rhode Island, Block Island Times
... wildlife biologist Susan Bernatas took to the air on Wednesday for the final infrared survey for the Deer Task Force (DTF). Bernatas, who founded the company Vision Air Research out of Idaho, has been hired in order to get fairly accurate numbers of the Block Island deer population... 

How to provide winter cover for wildlife January 15, 2015 Minnesota, Minneapolis Star Tribune
... consider planting evergreens — any species of spruce, pine or fir trees that retain their needles during winter... On cold winter days, especially when the wind is blowing from the north, deer and other wildlife will often gather on the downwind side of my evergreen plantings ...

Fire Is Good Wildlife Management Tool January 15, 2015 Alabama, courierjournal
... Fire is one of the best tools available to promote wildlife habitat ... Today’s more urban society is increasingly separated from the natural world, so many people do not realize the importance of fire on a landscape ... White-tailed deer management may be the driving force for utilizing prescribed fire on a specific property, yet many other species using the same habitat benefit greatly as a result of fire...

... Deer hunters complain the ODOW has simply allowed too many deer to be killed in recent years, depleting the population...  While gun hunters once killed 90 percent of the deer during their short week-long season, bowhunters now harvest more than 50 percent of the deer aided by a four-month campaign. More deer are now taken with crossbows ...

TN deer harvest tops 160,000 for 5th year in a row January 15, 2015 Tennessee, WBIR-TV 
... The final harvest was 164,638, which was 3,869 below last season ... 42 percent of the bucks harvested were 2 1/2 years of age or older...

Hunts show deer herd is healthy January 15, 2015 Vermont, Rutland Herald
... hunters took a total of 13,590 deer — an increase over the last three years’ averages...

Md. deer biologist reacts to Outdoor Editor Mike Sawyers' column January 15, 2015 Maryland, Cumberland Times News Homepage 
... DNR makes decisions regarding deer seasons and bag limits largely based on annual female harvest and deer population estimates. The general rule is to harvest 30-35 percent of the female population to stabilize the herd, and over 40 percent to reduce it...

Fort Meade targets 1,000 deer January 15, 2015  Maryland, capitalgazette.com 
... The herd inside the fenced boundaries of the post has been growing since hunting was last permitted decades ago ... The operation will be conducted by U.S. Department of Agriculture marksmen and will cost $73,877 [$739 per deer] ...


Study on Coyotes Will Provide Needed Information for Management January 15, 2015 Gerogia, GDNR News
...   A new multi-agency study, scheduled to begin in 2015, will help answer many coyote-related questions, including determining what types of resources, such as prey availability and hiding cover, are important to coyotes when establishing territories.  “We know that coyotes play a critical role in ecological communities,” says project coordinator Joseph Hinton, a University of Georgia post-doctoral researcher.  “But, they are a relatively new predator to Georgia that rapidly colonized the state... More Information: Full News Release re: Coyote Study,  Coyote Information - Georgia Wildlife Resources Division,  Coyote Study - University of Georgia




Searching the internet to find and conserve deer information

Deer in the News

...  the deer has been seen in several of their neighbor’s yards, and has had lots of interaction with folks in the area. According to McKown the deer has posed for a selfie, gives “kisses” and lets kids and adults pet her and has even played kick ball with one of our neighbor boys...

Mule deer are far less populous and are much less widespread than whitetail deer. Mule deer get their name from their large ears which somewhat resemble the large ears of a mule. The mule deer's range covers much of the western half of North America, from the Yukon down into Mexico, east from the crest of the Cascades and Sierras, over the Rockies into the prairie.On average, mule deer are larger in body and more robustly built than the whitetail. A mule deer's tail is much smaller than that of a whitetail, white all over with a black tip. Unlike a whitetail, a mule deer's tail is short, narrow, and cylindrical in shape. Mule deer, especially large bucks, are much less tolerant of human activity than whitetails. Currently, mule deer populations across the west are in decline ... - January 25, 2015



Whitetails built to weather the cold season January 21, 2015 Pennsylvania, York Daily Record/Sunday News
... Before the weather turns cold, whitetails begin to store fat under their hide and around internal organs, which will provide energy when temperatures drop and snow falls. The fat reserves will compensate for the lack of energy supplied by a winter diet that is lower in protein...

Equally majestic, horns and antlers are not the same January 18, 2015 Massachusetts, South Coast Today
... While antlers are shed each year, horns stay with an animal for its entire life, with a few exceptions, including the pronghorn antelope... Antlers are made of bone, while horns are made of compressed hair (keratin, like fingernails), around a bony core... Animals in the deer family, such as whitetail and mule deer, elk, moose and caribou, have antlers...

... The couple manage to keep him around long enough for the rescue operation to eventually succeed...

Wildlife antics and oddities noted by Central Pennsylvania readers January 13, 2015 Pennsylvania, Penn Live 
... We get a couple of pictures of him every year ... named him 'High Rack.' ... estimated the buck's most recent spike at nearly 20 inches.  The deer has an injured rear leg, which causes the asymmetrical antler growth...


...  according to Rick Hargrave, a spokesman with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, "It's not unusual for elk or deer to swim in rivers." [photo by JoAnna Dotson] ...

... These are not albino deer... oldiers spotted a pair of white fawns roaming the woods. The depot commander was so taken with him that he gave special orders to his men. No one was to shoot any white deer. With the fence keeping predators out, and humans concentrating their hunting efforts on regular deer, the white deer population flourished...

Oh, Deer: It’s an Antlered Doe January 12, 2015 Kansas, Wall Street Journal
... Biologically female, it is typically able to conceive, bear and nurse fawns. But this doe typically manufactures above-average levels of testosterone, giving it a masculinity expressed through the sprouting of antlers ... acclaim followed the killings this season of three other antlered females ... [in Montana, Maine, and Arkansas]

Deer Rescue from Icy River January 12, 2015
Idaho, Twin Falls Times-News
...  three deer trapped in a diversion of the Snake River... One fawn was beyond saving, the other two deer eventually wandered back into the brush ... 

Coeur d'Alene man tries to help deer hit by arrow January 10, 2015 Idaho, KREM · 
... a deer that had an arrow stuck in its back was trapped inside his yard... the deer had been trapped in his yard for three days and it was tough trying to help it...  The deer got spooked and jumped the fence officers approached it...
Coeur d'Alene, Buck stuck and injured in CDA backyard January 9, 2015 Idaho, KXLY Spokane
...Lawyer contacted Idaho Fish and Wildlife right away, they said there was little to be done expect to let nature take its course, so Lawyer reached out to the Coeur d'Alene Press....

Why do elk move from fall to winter ground? January 8, 2015 Montana, Great Falls Tribune
... They are big animals with lots of body mass that produces lots of heat... thick fur coat can take a lot of winter...  it takes deep or crusted snow, or some combination, and a prolonged period of temperatures below freezing to force elk to migrate...

Deer caught on St. John River ice floe January 5, 2015 Maine,  outthere.bangordailynews.com 
... I could see the water pushing up over the ice and the ice started breaking up and flowing downstream, these deer being taken for a ride on a frozen raft of ice...  one of the deer did safely make it to shore ...

Iowa DNR Facebook post shows albino deer January 5, 2015 ON YOUR SIDE
... the Iowa Department of Natural Resources shared photos sent to them from Max Grover in Buchanan County, showing an albino deer ...

... individuals that favor animal rights and who were essentially rooting for the deer, and avid hunters who thought it was inhumane to think that the hunter “deserved” what happened to him...

... Joe Hutto, a trained wildlife biologist, says in the video that his seven-year journey started with a chance encounter with a young mule deer buck in the sagebrush ... When her buck fawn dies, Rag Tag is distraught. Hutto observes her “exhausted and despondent” like any mother when a family member is killed. He documented: “Of course, in the case of a mother losing a fawn, the grieving process is clear — it’s almost irrefutable...

... "Most of our hunters are respectable folks, but we have some that are true idiots," ... The supervisors reviewed photos showing showed blood-stained cement, plus plastic bags and deer carcasses hanging off railings and wedged among bridge supports ...

Couple shoots two dogs, claims they are justified January 3, 2015 Utah, Good4Utah
...  Seven snow-covered deer lie dead in secluded corners of an orchard ... "They have their butts chewed out the same way... . We saw that the dogs just chased them until they got stuck, and the dogs would just chew them ... According to Utah Code 18-1-3, ... Legally, the couple is justified ...

... The Gilmanton Fire Department posted this photo to its Facebook page showing a firefighter in a cold water suit leading a dear off the ice on Crystal Lake...

Herd of Elk Die in Southern Colorado as Ice on Reservoir Gives Way January 2, 2015 Tech Times
... which killed about 20 animals ... the herd ventured into the ice about 50 feet from shore but the ice gave way due likely to the combined weight of the animals...

Deer rescued from icy waters December 31, 2014 Wyoming, Green River Star 
... residents reported seeing her fall through the ice...  The ice rescue team used a a number of ropes, along with special ice rescue suits and an inflatable device known as a nebulus to conduct their rescue...



New Jersey zoo now a haven for mistreated animals December 28, 2014 NJ.com
... It began decades ago with a mistreated fawn and an injured raccoon... the Associated Humane Societies' Popcorn Park Zoo in the township's Forked River section in the township's (Lacey) Forked River section ... The zoo relies on donations and is open seven days a week ...



Pulaski's beloved 'Bella the Deer' makes it through another hunting season December 26, 2014 New York, Syracuse Post-Standard 
... Bella will be six in June.  "She's been walking better lately. It appears her hooves have been trimmed. And from what I hear, she's been getting flea and tick treatments year-round...

Deer are here to stay, so just get used to it January 26, 2014 New York, Daily Star
... When I lived in the Adirondacks, the towns fed deer. As winter approached and the echoes of the last gun shots of hunting season vanished, the deer headed to town. Huge bucks that had eluded hunters for the last couple of months showed up next to houses and fed on the piles of lush, second-cutting alfalfa...

Rescued Deer Aaron visited us on Christmas Day 2014



‘The Night Before Christmas Legally Speaking’ December 24, 2014 The Wall Street Journal
...The party of the first part witnessed Claus, the Vehicle and the Deer intentionally and willfully trespass upon the roofs of several residences located adjacent to and in the vicinity of the House …



Reindeer games: Up on the housetop December 23, 2014 Kentucky, The Middlesboro Daily News
...  In Europe they are called reindeer, but here in North America they are known as caribou. And they do indeed live at the North Pole ...

... From unicorn deer to vampire deer to even cannabis-loving deer, it just goes to show that this amazing animal still has ways of surprising us...

Doe caught on trailcam is thriving at 13 1⁄2 years December 22, 2014 Pennsylvania, Outdoor News
    A doe tagged as an 8.6-pound fawn in 2001 in preparation for the launch of the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s new deer management plan surfaced in recent months, alive and well, in the Quehanna Wild Area... captured the old girl’s picture on a trail camera ...



... fee would have been $19,900 for 17-year-old Alex Wright had he shot the 30-point buck behind the fence, but the deer had escaped ...

Carl’s deer — a Christmas fare thee well December 21, 2014 Wisconsin, The Cap Times
 
  “This is my church — the deer, turkey, nature.” — Carl Drake, 82-year-old American Indian ... Carl was out searching for the young buck he had raised the year before. He had put a red collar on the little guy when he released him, hoping hunters would not kill a tame deer.  Carl had already visited the DNR offices in Madison to buy a deer license to tag the deer as his deer — but a living deer. The DNR staff laughed in his face... [Photo by Patricia Randolf]

The Odds of this Video on my trail Cam are Astronomical, It's rare enough to see 1 Deer with a half Rack and a stump on 1 side, But to see 2 Deer, each with a half Rack, with each half Racks on Opposite sides, and a Stump on the other side - December 20, 2014


Firefighters rescue deer floundering on thin ice December 20, 2014 Michigan, Detroit Free Press
... "There was this little dog out there," Cook said. First, it went nose-to-nose with the stranded deer. Then, "the dog went around the back and pulled on the deer's tail."  She said the little dog disappeared, then returned accompanied by a larger dog. The big dog wouldn't go out onto the ice, but appeared to be rushing around in search of a human helper...


Apparently deer hunting just isn't what it used to be December 18, 2014 New York, Niagara Gazette
...  suddenly I hear about 20 to 25 rounds go off within seven to eight seconds. OMG! It was close but not dangerously close to where I was sitting. Then about 45 to 50 minutes later, another round, same thing 20 to 25 rounds in a very short amount of time! This is not a drive, it’s a firing squad! ...

Mississippi man cited for drowning deer in La. December 17, 2014 Jackson Clarion-Ledger
... taking deer from a vessel while the deer was swimming.  A witness saw Hayes approach the deer in the river, wrap a rope around its antlers and drown the deer...

Dear to their hearts: Gladwin family raises whitetails December 15, 2014 Ohio, Midland Daily News
... The couple has always been fascinated with whitetail deer, and decided they wanted to get into raising their own after a trip to a deer farm... guests can feed the cereal to the deer during their visits... bucks get aggressive during the mating season. Antlers need to be removed after their velvet covering drops ... There are about 300 whitetail farms in Michigan right now, but there used to be a lot more ...

Florida wildlife: White-tailed deer December 14, 2014 The News-Press 
... Their size varies depending on their habitat, but, on average, an adult male deer in Florida averages 115 pounds while the smaller females average 90 pounds...

Deer rescued from icy Kennebec River December 10, 2014 Maine, Bangor Daily News 
... rescued by firefighters and game wardens... After about 20 minutes of warming, the deer was able to stand and walk away ...