Deer Management News This Week

25 Local Deer Test Positive For Chronic Wasting Disease May 26, 2019 Maryland, WCBC Radio 
     The Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported this week that 25 white-tailed deer sampled in Allegany and Washington counties during 2018 tested positive for chronic wasting disease, a neurological disease found in deer and elk... A total of 561 samples were collected during 2018..,

...  for the first time in 10 years, all 72 counties have antlerless permits available; and more county delegations each year are expressing frustration at failures to reduce deer numbers ...

DNR releases summary of questionnaire May 25, 2019 West Virginia, The Inter-Mountain
... DNR sought the opinion as to whether hunters would be in favor of reducing the annual antlered deer bag limit from three to two antlered bucks per year. Sixty-nine percent of the individuals were in favor of this, to 31 percent who were opposed...

... Deer come to the landfill each winter seeking food then fall ill after ingesting plastic and other toxins ... One photo shows dozens of decaying deer carcasses mixed with trash ...

TFWC Creates A CWD Deer Hunting Unit ... May 24, 2019 Tennessee, The Chattanoogan
... approved the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s recommendation to establish a new CWD deer hunting unit for the counties in which we have found CWD-positive deer ... and counties within 10 miles of a positive CWD deer location ...

Watch Mule Deer use one of the underpasses constructed for wildlife at Trapper's Point. - May 23, 2019 Wyoming


... The idea of a UDOT staff member, the device uses radar to detect wildlife near the road and then sends a signal that triggers LED lights on a “deer caution” sign to alert drivers...

Conservation Congress rejects CWD bounties idea May 22, 2019 Wisconsin, Minneapolis Star Tribune
... The Wisconsin Conservation Congress has rejected the idea of paying bounties for deer carcasses infected with chronic wasting disease...

Declining Ovulation Rates in Certain Populations May 22, 2019 Colorado, Pagosa Daily Post
... from a study titled Mule Deer Management in Texas, published by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department:  Deer herd nutrition, as it relates to reproduction, is important to the land manager. Successful breeding depends largely upon the doe’s health during the rut. The ovulation rate is strongly affected by the doe’s level of nutrition and physical condition just prior to and during the rutting period. The doe’s nutritional condition during gestation has an effect upon the size and survival of fawns at birth...

Further spread of Chronic Wasting Disease alarms hunters, wildlife officials May 21, 2019 South Dakota, South Dakota News Watch
... The new case in Clark County ...  the first time in more than 15 years that a deer or elk in one of the state’s 70 captive deer facilities had tested positive  ... In 1997, a captive elk died and tested positive for CWD on a farm in the Black Hills ... After the 1997 discovery, GFP aggressively tested wild elk and deer killed near the captive herds..,

... a gruesome death ... the first sign of the disease creeping into the wild outside of southeastern Minnesota, where an outbreak is raging ... there have been 51 confirmed cases in wild deer ... 

Fawn survival is below average May 22, 2019 Idaho, Idaho Mountain Express Newspaper
... Through the end of April, mule deer fawn survival was below the 20-year average of 58 percent, which is tracked annually through the end of May. Some additional mortality is expected during May ... it appears that elk calf survival is doing just fine ..,

... because of the high number of does taken last season ... proposed issuing 68,145 any-deer permits for the fall hunt, a 20 percent reduction from last year’s record number of 84,745... Severe winter conditions in northern and western Maine this year ... [population] estimated at 230,000 to 250,000 white-tailed deer ..,

Vaccine may prevent deadly deer disease (EHD) May 21, 2019 Florida, Feed Stuffs
... University of Florida scientists are working with deer farmers to test a new vaccine that could help prevent epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) ... 

...  Methods Using non-invasive sampling across a broad region of southern California, we investigated genetic structure among several natural areas that were separated by major highways and applied least-cost path modelling to determine if landscape context and highway attributes influence genetic distance for mule deer. Results We observed significant yet variable differentiation between subregions. We show that genetic structure corresponds with highway boundaries in certain habitat patches, and that particular landscape configurations more greatly limit gene flow between patches ...

... City Council voted against an amendment overnight that would have put a stop to deer culling ...
     Ann Arbor council to vote on ending deer cull ... May 20, 2019 Michigan, MLive.com
... “Activities surrounding deer culling operations remain controversial to large segments of the community who oppose these operations based on cost, denial of access to public parks, use of firearms within city limits and in proximity to residential dwellings, and other moral dilemmas presented by the act,” states a proposal from Council Member Jeff Hayner, D-1st Ward...

G&F approves reduced deer tags May 20, 2019 Wyoming, Cody Enterprise
... Upper Shoshone mule deer herd in areas 110-115 and the Clarks Fork mule deer herd in areas 105, 106 and 109, will see seasons close a week earlier ... herd populations have been declining...

Wolf plan vote set for early June May 20, 2019 Oregon, East Oregonian
... Wolf hunts would be considered if and when wolves were determined to be a major cause of the decline in deer and elk populations... as with the most recent adoption of the cougar plan, the department manages other predators for ungulate populations, as well...

Another wildlife crossing planned for Highway 97 May 20, 2019 Oregon, The Bulletin
... A groundswell of public and private support for a wildlife tunnel near Gilchrist has managed to raise over $500,000 for fencing, more than half of what is needed for a project that aims to save mule deer and elk along an important migration route...

... “I have seen deer and elk move back into a burned area in the fall following a fire in the spring.” ...  low-elevation fires can have negative impacts if they burn sagebrush areas, which don’t recover from fires as well. Those areas are typically where deer and elk range during the winter months...

Study on pesticide impacts to deer cites Stevi researcher's work May 19, 2019  Montana, Ravalli Republic
... documented ... circumstantial evidence on birth defects on deer that could be associated with the pesticide... observations of deer with pronounced underbites and genital deformities ... Researchers found that animals with larger amounts of the pesticide in their spleen had pronounced underbites. Fawns also died...

River Vale Council 'Pauses' in Considering Deer Bow Hunt May 17, 2019 New Jersey, Pascack Press & Northern Valley Press
... Following nearly two dozen speakers May 13 voicing opposition to a proposed deer bow hunt later this year—plus many anti-hunt social media comments and a street protest by animal advocates—Mayor Glen Jasionowski said the council would “pause” its decision to hold a hunt ... approved a $3,367 drone deer census survey ...

IDFG panel gets earful in Grangeville May 17, 2019 Idaho, Lewiston Morning Tribune
... Those who addressed the commissioners said deer and elk numbers have slid over the past decade or more, and changes are needed to hunting seasons to bring them back. They also said the Idaho Department of Fish and Game needs to collect more data on deer herd sizes and composition...

CWD testing finds a total of 34 positives in 2018-2019 season May 16, 2019 Minnesota, DNR News
     Chronic wasting disease sampling has wrapped up, with just over 8,000 samples collected and tested from November 2018 through April 2019, which will inform CWD surveillance zones and boundaries for the 2019 hunting season. Across the state, 34 wild deer tested positive for the disease: 27 in deer permit area 603 in southeastern Minnesota; six in southeastern Minnesota, outside of DPA 603; and one in north central Minnesota. (No wild deer tested positive for CWD in central Minnesota.) Since 2016, a total of 51 CWD positive wild deer have been identified. Complete test results are available on the DNR’s CWD test results page.

New deer hunting regulations are in place to combat CWD May 16, 2019 Mississippi, Jackson Clarion Ledger
... "It will be the five antlerless bag limit everywhere but the Southeast Zone," said Russ Walsh, Mississippi Department of Wildlife ... in states where the deer density has been reduced, prevalence of the disease has been somewhat managed...

Activity patterns and temporal predator avoidance of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during the fawning season SD Higdon, CA Diggins, MJ Cherry, WM Ford - Journal of Ethology, 2019, North Carolina and Tennessee
...  We analyzed activity patterns of bucks, does, and nursery groups (i.e., groups that included fawns) relative to those of coyotes to determine the coefficient of overlap ... Because adult deer are rarely prey for coyotes, whereas fawns are common prey during summer, the shift in activity patterns of nursery groups demonstrates a behavioral shift likely aimed at avoiding coyote predation on fawns...

... Bradley counted 146 elk in the North Hills-Evaro herd. That’s about half what was counted last year. The herd has a population objective of 300, and FWP Region 2 has spent years trying to get down to that goal through liberal hunting opportunities...

...  “There’s no safety issues with bowhunting—none at all,” [see safety issues] ... asked if Andover had been able to show that its forest had improved since the hunting program had been implemented... no systematic study had been done...

... “Deer and elk will love this,” said the U.S. Forest Service “burn boss,” gesturing to a cluster of blackened trees that eventually will fall and create more space for forage plants...

Discussion regarding permit for deer baiting continues May 15, 2019 Michigan, UpperMichigansSource.com
... "Bait in my opinion contributes heavily to survival rates of U.P. deer, because October through January, they have an additional food supplement ... " [banned in Lower Peninsula] due to increased risk of CWD, or chronic wasting disease...

Port Jefferson, Locals protest against killing deer in Port Jefferson May 15, 2019 New York, TBR News Media
... The mayor said that no decisions have yet been made on the issue of deer population, and at the meeting left it open to any forms of suggestions, saying for the moment, the code restricting hunting remains on the books...

... The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation plans to purchase 442 acres of private land in the Dearborn Canyon area to turn over to the U.S. Forest Service...

More CWD found near Cedar Valley May 15, 2019 Minnesota, Winona Post
... Earlier this spring, state officials found two more CWD-infected wild deer near Cedar Valley in Winona County... Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) experts said the new detections increase the likelihood that an infected deer farm in Cedar Valley was the source of the outbreak ...

... Almost 100 deer have been hit and killed in the past four years by vehicles driving along a mile-stretch of the highway ... decided to install radar-equipped signs along the road to alert drivers of passing deer..,

... deer in the North Fork, South Fork and Sunlight areas ... have undergone severe population declines due to tough winters and poor fawn production and recruitment... reducing doe harvest ... and four-point antler restrictions to reduce buck harvest..,

How sheep ranching spreads disease May 13, 2019 The Hill
... Domestic sheep were housed in an agricultural experiment station in Fort Collins, Colorado, at a time when mule deer and elk penned up in the same facility contracted the first known cases of chronic wasting disease. It soon spread throughout elk and mule deer herds in Colorado ..,

Quarantine lifted on Bayfield County deer farm May 13, 2019 Wisconsin, Superior Telegram-14 hours ago
...  placed under quarantine March 7, 2018, when a trace investigation showed the animals came from a Washington County deer farm that tested positive for CWD.  ... CWD was not detected in any of the Bayfield County deet ...

Deer herd grew from near extinction to millions May 12, 2019 Arkansas, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
...  by 1946, biologists estimated there were nearly 32,000 whitetails in the state...  an estimated 40,000 deer by 1950. In the 10 years that followed, the population increased to an estimated 200,000 animals. By 1972, when the population had reached 300,000, deer had spread to nearly every part of the state..,

...  a reflection of a continued recovery from lower deer numbers in northern Wisconsin. The northern deer herd ... was hit hard by especially tough winters in 2012-13 and 2013-14...  winters of 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 were considered mild ...This year conditions improved early enough to allow deer good access to food ..,

Abandoned Fencing Is Detrimental to Mule Deer and Other Wildlife May 11, 2019  North Dakota, John In The Wild
... Up here in North Dakota, our mule deer groups do a lot of dilapidated-fence removal, which benefits the mule deer by our removing barriers that prevent mule deer from having more access to more land. Some of the barbed wire we’re removing has been on the land for 75 years and is bent-down and wound-up. Unfortunately, sometimes mule deer get tangled in that wire...

... Results from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s annual deer harvest summary indicates hunters across the state reported harvesting 143,529 deer during the 2018-19 hunting season ... deer hunt data ...








Searching the internet to find and conserve deer information.  

Deer in the News

When Understanding 'Love Thy Neighbor' May 26, 2019 Kentucky, SurfKY News
... young deer lay in the field, thinking they are hiding, and are killed by the farmer’s tractor or the hay implements. It happens every year... 

Deputy saves fawns with CPR May 24, 2019 Minnesota, Star Tribune
...found the pair of baby deer submerged in a wetland. After pulling them to safety, he performed CPR with a breathing bag ... video

New born fawn and mother just born this morning - May 25, 2019


... people have spotted the animal at least twice in the past two weeks. The first, on May 6, was in the canal near Fred Meyer in the early morning. The second, which ODFW identified on Wednesday as a deer kill, was at the east rim of the Deschutes River Canyon...

... the center is caring for eight fawns... Unless you know that the mother is dead, leave the fawn alone...
...  Fawns are being left orphaned all over the Bay Area. Animal Rescuers in Bradenton say they’re taking care of eight babies after their moms were killed... development has led to less habitat and more traffic ...

Fawns are Arriving; Leave them Alone Urges F&W May 14, 2019 Vermont Fish and Wildlife
... Fawns do not attempt to evade predators during their first few weeks, instead relying on camouflage and stillness to remain undetected... Deer nurse their young at different times during the day and often leave their young alone for long periods of time...

Design That Defies Deer and Drought May 14, 2019 California, Fine Gardening
... By planting a wide variety, of deer-resistant plants, you won’t end up with an entire section of your garden decimated should the deer develop a taste for one particular plant... I could easily replace varieties that had been eaten with those that had not and still maintain the integrity of design..,

... Video shows a mama deer grooming her fawn in an area near the 405 Freeway. The images were taken from a remote camera used to capture wildlife...

Happy ending for deer with wire wrapped around chest May 12, 2019 Colorado, KKTV 11 News
...  "The deer showed up in my yard today and I called CPW. They came out, tranquilized the deer and cut off what appeared to be the top ring of a tomato cage. ... He is up and walking around again, though a little drowsy still." ...

Fawns that appear abandoned rarely are May 10, 2019 Michigan, DNR News
... While fawns may seem abandoned, they rarely are. All wild white-tailed deer begin life this way.  A fawn’s spots are excellent camouflage and will help it stay hidden from predators... hidden by its mother ... they are virtually odorless when they are young..,

... It took the surfers about 30 minutes to rescue the deer.. a surfer cradled and carried the deer back to shore...

...  sounded like a meowing cat to one neighbor who heard it, KTVU reports.  But the sound was coming from a baby deer trapped in the drain ... 

Low esteem for DNR's actions with deer May 4, 2019 Michigan, Alpena News-9 hours ago
... saw a doe along the side of the road dead and a newborn fawn alive beside her. They picked it up and got goat’s milk to feed it until it could eat on its own.  The deer was never penned and was always free-ranging... Michigan Department of Natural Resources was on the way to the farm to euthanize the deer...

Neighbors rescue deer struggling in flowing Dolores canal May 1, 2019 Colorado, The Durango Herald
... A Dolores woman jumped into a flowing irrigation ditch ... to rescue three deer that were struggling to escape...  using a lariat ...helped pull the shivering animals out of the steep ditch ...

Motorists rescue preemie fawn April 30, 2019 Georgia, Northwest Georgia News
... “He hit a doe and she had the fawn. It killed the doe, but the fawn was OK,” Waters said. “It was literally born right in front of them.” ...

Rare albino deer stops traffic at Kensington Metropark April 22, 2019 Michigan, clickondetroit.com9h
...  it was illegal to hunt the Albino Deer, but that law changed in 2008, that’s because hunters claim it is difficult to determine if a deer is all white, Albino or Pie Bald from a distance...

McSweeney bases children's book on true story April 20, 2019 Oklahoma, Tahlequah Daily Press
... a farmer accidentally runs over a doe's back legs with his tractor, he rushes the little deer to a veterinarian ... he helps rehabilitate her injuries ... Based on a true story, "A Deer Named Daisy,"  ...