Deer Management News This Week

... starting with the 2018 hunting season, big bore PCP air guns .35 caliber or larger such as the .357 Caliber Benjamin Bulldog will be legal to hunt Deer, Elk, and Bear ...

... a clear increase in shed hunting over the past few years. That led to the creation of a seasonal closure in the mid-1990s to protect weaker wintering elk, just as more of a market began appearing for antlers...

... Cattle fed extremely high oral doses of chronic wasting disease (CWD)-infected brain material or kept in heavily prion-contaminated facilities for 10 years showed no neurological signs of the disease... Even in deer or elk, animals can take years to succumb to the disease ...

Elk, deer surveys for Region 6 released May 22, 2018 Montana, Great Falls Tribune
...  numbers above average overall, mule deer from the 11 deer trend areas range from slightly below average to above average... The 2018 survey showed 57 fawns to 100 adults across the region, which is above the average of 53 fawns to 100 adults. However, winter mortality affected fawns... Whitetail deer populations continue to recover...  density is at an average of 9.6 deer per square mile across trend areas, which is approximately 10 percent below the long-term average ..,

... the projected doe harvest was not reached last fall. State biologists projected a doe harvest of 7,114 in 2017 but the actual reported doe harvest was 5,950.  “This is one of the reasons for the proposed increase in permits for 2018,” ...

... four counts of importing deer into Kansas in violation of the Lacey Act, was sentenced Monday to five years' probation, fined $30,000 and banned from doing business in the Sunflower State ...

... It is a disease that threatens the health of Colorado wildlife populations already hammered by rapid human population growth and a development boom that devours open habitat... a beloved herd of 500 deer in foothills by Boulder  ... dwindled to about 300. Testing on the herd showed 40 percent of the males had CWD...

Tribes Want Seat At The Table On CWD Management May 21, 2018 Wisconsin, Wisconsin Public Radio News
... Representatives of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) say they’ve been pushing for tighter controls for years to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease ...

NY has new plan to control tick population May 20, 2018 New York, CT Post
...expand the use of deer feeding stations that automatically apply tick treatment to deer as they eat. The stations have already been used on Long Island and in other areas...

... For Jefferson County, there will now be a reduction in the bag limit -- from three deer per county to two deer per county.  All other county bag limits remain the same and the statewide bag limit remains at six deer...

... Where yearlings once made up nearly 70 percent of the national buck harvest, today that number is around 34 percent and holding... The MSU study, led by Rebecca Cain, used hunter harvest data collected before and after the implementation of APRs. The result was that yearling buck harvest dropped significantly while harvest of 2½-year-old and older bucks climbed. 

... The deer were at Windy Ridge Whitetails farm ... Last fall the Bertrams sold 26 deer to a hunting preserve. It was determined that 11 of those deer had tested positive for chronic wasting disease ... We’ve been double fenced for 12 years ...

After 20 years, once-controversial deer cull is now routine May 18, 2018 Pennsylvania, Chestnut Hill Local Philadelphia PA
...  In 1999, The Fairmount Park Commission decided to tackle the problem of a booming deer population by hiring a sharpshooter... since the cull was first implemented, sharpshooters have removed 3,793 deer from city parks, or approximately 190 deer a year.  .... A total of 324 deer were killed in this year’s Fairmount Park Deer Management Program ...

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission passes new hunting regulations May 18, 2018 The Northwest Arkansas Times
...  Removing the three-point rule from counties in the Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone... Reducing the cost of private land elk hunting permits from $35 to $5... 

... Two years ago, more than 50 protestors held signs outside City Hall, then attended City Council meetings in which they let their anti-culling feelings be known. Many of those who protested were upset by the trap-and-bolt method the city was using... looking into the possibility of using a different method ...

... Pennsylvanians who harvest deer anywhere in New York, Ohio, Maryland or West Virginia no longer may bring them home without first removing the carcass parts with the highest risk of transmitting chronic wasting disease (CWD)... there are a total of 24 states and two Canadian provinces from which high-risk cervid parts cannot be imported into Pennsylvania...

... The suspects documented their kill in graphic photos -- grinning near slumped over carcasses, posing with a decapitated elk head and taking a selfie with animal blood splattered over one of the alleged poacher's face...
... Prosecutors in Oregon have filed more than a hundred charges in an investigation of wildlife poaching that has spanned state lines and allegedly left dozens of animals shot illegally and often left to rot.  The Wasco, Ore., County District Attorney’s office charged eleven people ...

... Montana has lost 64 percent of its aspen trees over the last century ... it’s common for deer, elk and moose to graze on aspen, and because of their high moisture content they can act as natural barriers during wildfires...

... discovered in Oneida County wild and captive white-tailed deer in 2005... More than 49,000 deer have been tested in New York since 2002, and there have been no reoccurrences of the disease since 2005..,

Most at meeting against more nonresident elk tags May 16, 2018 Wyoming, Cody Enterprise
... many there would likely hunt even if licenses were $100 or $200 – he said he’d be fine with a hike in nonresident license fees – but it was not the time to give nonresidents a larger share...

... The Colorado Chronic Wasting Disease Advisory Group held its first meeting on April 26 i  ... The Colorado Chronic Wasting Disease Advisory Group will hold monthly meetings through July to help CPW finalize the draft response plan... 

... The environmental conditions have made it a better place for ticks to live, to the detriment of both humans and some young moose...  in western Maine ... there’s going to be less moose ... There was no moose season in Maine from 1936 through 1979...

... New York is the Only State to Eliminate CWD after Discovery in Wild Populations ... conducting joint inspections of cervid farms and increased record sharing among agencies, the plan will prohibit the importation of certain parts from any CWD-susceptible cervid taken outside of New York ...

Record year for big game hunt auctions, raffles May 15, 2018 Oregon, ODFW News
... A total of 145,105 raffle tickets were sold, grossing $380,730 and breaking previous records for raffle sales... The Governor’s combination deer/elk tag went for $78,000, breaking the previous record of $70,000 set in 2016. See the list of auction events and winning bids  ...

Wyoming Range Mule Deer - 2018 Project Update, May 15, 2018


... preliminary numbers showed there were about 580,000 deer hunters last year, while more than 620,000 hunters bought licenses. The preliminary numbers showed the estimated harvest in 2017 was 390,000, which was 14 percent higher than 2016..,

...  Fifty elk transported from Arizona now officially call West Virginia “home.”  ... The free-ranging elk were captured in late January and held near Flagstaff, Arizona, for disease testing, before being transported in early March to a holding pen near Holden, West Virginia ..,

... “We had a really hard winter a couple of years ago, and we're actually seeing the impacts of that just now because animals were weakened and then became susceptible to TB and are now dying,” Autenrieth said. “So, it can be kind of a two-fold effect.” ..,

Can White Canvas Bags Reduce Deer-Vehicle Collisions? May 15, 2018 Wyoming,  blog.nature.org
... according to research published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin, researchers found that reflectors covered in white canvas bags as a control were more effective than the actual reflectors... funded by the Wyoming Department of Transportation, focused on three wildlife-vehicle collision hotspots ...

...  55,150 licenses available to hunters this fall, 650 more than last year.  In total, antlered mule deer licenses increased by 150 from last year, antlerless mule deer by 550, antlered whitetail by 150 and antlerless whitetail by 150..,

Town to conduct deer census with local volunteers May 15, 2018 New York, Suffolk Times
... Helpers will be given a time frame around dusk to set out for the count, and the process will be repeated on three separate occasions. An average will be calculated to be show result ... Southold Town runs a deer management program that formed in 2008 with the goal of reducing deer numbers through bow-hunting ... 

... a big difference in the new plan is that biologists will spend less time trying to meet predetermined population goals, and more time focusing on the overall health of the deer herd... 

... Seneca White Deer, Inc.,— has become a major player in the Finger Lakes tourism industry with the opening of Deer Haven Park.  The eco-tourism destination features a spacious $255,000 welcome center on Route 96A and began offering a regular schedule of tours last November ...

How deer management has evolved overtime in Maine May 14, 2018 Bangor Daily News
...1830: First restrictions on deer hunting; season set at Sept. 1 through Dec. 31, no bag limit... 1873: First bag limit, three deer per hunter per year..,

The end of deer hunting in Wisconsin? May 13, 2018 La Crosse Tribune
... The DNR report concludes the section on Principles of CWD and Disease Management with these words: “There is no evidence that CWD will ‘disappear’ or ‘run its course’ on its own in the absence of management.” ... the strategies in the report are anything but drastic. They consist mainly of continued monitoring and research in the hopes that some solution will come along in the future...

State rejects Saddle River's plan to sterilize deer May 12, 2018 New Jersey, NorthJersey.com
... The Community Based Deer Management permit application to capture then sterilize female deer was formerly rejected May 3 by the Division of Fish and Wildlife “based on the low likelihood of success” ...

Hunting Applications Higher in Oregon May 11, 3028 Mail Tribune
.. As of Monday, 176,911 applications had been received by the ODFW ... 2.8 percent higher than the same time last year, she says... The agency has reduced tag numbers for some Eastern Oregon big-game hunts to account for high winter mortality of deer and pronghorn ...

‘Don't feed the deer' bill moves forward May 11, 2018 New Jersey, New Jersey Herald 
... The Senate version (S2419) ... will make it illegal to feed whitetail deer, except as bait for hunting ... 

Local mountain caribou herds down to seven, survey shows May 10, 2018 Idaho, Coeur d'Alene Press
... The minute populations of Idaho’s mountain caribou took another blow as pregnancy test results of three cows that biologists hoped would reproduce came back negative ... Last year, biologists counted 11 caribou in the local Selkirk population and 16 on the Purcell side...

Changes coming to Michigan deer management? May 10, 2018 Cadillac Evening News
... Since May 2015, CWD-positive deer have been found in Clinton, Ingham, Ionia, Kent and Montcalm counties. As of mid-January 2018, 57 free-ranging deer in those counties have tested positive for chronic wasting disease...   recommendations include hiring an outside marketing agency to develop a campaign to address how the state wants to conduct surveillance and management ..,

A plan to reduce animal-vehicle collisions on Hwy 17 May 10, 2018 California, The Tracy Press
... The concept is to make an undercrossing, long and wide enough, for animals to go through safely without having to cross the busy highway...  roadkill data shows mountain lions, deer, bobcats etc. are going onto the highway to cross over, causing the animal-vehicle collisions...

... In the deer management plan, a “new, high-priority” goal involves developing a chronic wasting disease response plan. The disease hasn’t been detected in Maine, but managers are taking a possible outbreak seriously... “Moose densities themselves may be the biggest reason why winter tick has exerted such an influence on moose abundance ...

Iowa deer hunters fight DNR's proposed rule changes May 9, 2018 The Des Moines Register
... fighting rule changes they say would prevent the use of AR pistols for hunting deer...  Iowa Department of Natural Resources has proposed several changes to state hunting rules that include restricting the amount of ammo hunters can keep in their guns to six rounds...

New state law could allow city to kill deer in town May 9, 2018 Oregon, Baker City Herald
... common issue is the animals’ appetite for city residents’ flowers, shrubs and trees... Senate Bill 373 requires the state Fish and Wildlife Commission to start a pilot program, by Jan. 1, 2019, designed to allow cities to reduce their deer populations by applying to the state for permits allowing the city to kill deer ...

...  returning to the former definition of an “antlerless” buck – one with antlers less than three inches long ... definition was changed last year, restricting “antlerless” to only deer on which the antlers don’t protrude above the hairline ... difficult to discern such a barely-visible antler on little button bucks ...

Mineral licks as environmental reservoirs of chronic wasting disease prions IH Plummer, CJ Johnson, AR Chesney, JA Pedersen… - PloS one, 2018
... We show mineral licks can serve as reservoirs of CWD prions and thus facilitate disease transmission. Furthermore, mineral licks attract livestock and other wildlife that also obtain mineral nutrients via soil and water consumption. Exposure to CWD prions at mineral licks provides potential for cross-species transmission ...

... Our results indicated that coyote control can decrease mortality and increase survival of neonate mule deer in some situations. Removal of coyotes was most effective when removal efforts occurred for multiple consecutive years, and when control efforts occurred in or near fawning habitat...

New focus on stopping spread of deadly deer disease May 8, 2018 Virginia, The Roanoke Times
... the DGIF has tested more than 12,500 deer for Chronic Wasting Disease, turning up 38 positive cases... Since its detection in Frederick County in 2009, $800,000 has been spent dealing with it, and that doesn’t count staff salaries ... Banning hunting over bait... Limiting the feeding of deer..,

... As written, a camera couldn’t be used at a water if the images were going to assist in the take of wildlife, but bird or wildlife watchers would not be under that same restriction. They could have cameras there at waters with no restrictions...

Chronic Wasting Disease, Walker discovers sick deer May 8, 2018 Wisconsin, Isthmus
... of the almost 200,000 deer killed last year, only about 9,900 were tested. In the first season after CWD was discovered, over 40,000 deer were tested... CWD had been confined to a few mountain states before it popped up near a game farm in south central Wisconsin. “I know the deer didn’t walk to Wisconsin,” ...

Groups seek protection for mule deer migration route May 7, 2018 Wyoming, Gillette News Record
... asking Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to keep oil and gas rigs out of a migration route used by mule deer that spend the summer in the Hoback region.  At issue is roughly 10 square miles of Bureau of Land Management property near the Red Desert and Pinedale that fall within a 150-mile migration route ...

... The conjoined twin fawns, which were stillborn, are believed to be the first ones found to have reached full term and then be delivered by their mother. The only other examples of conjoined twin fawns have been found still in utero ...

Wolves Are Losing Ground to Industrial Logging in Southeast Alaska May 7, 2018 Earth Island Journal
... For 12,000 years, wolves have roamed Southeast Alaska’s rugged Alexander Archipelago ... study of wolves on Prince of Wales was recently published in Forest Ecology and Management. Logging primarily affects wolves by reducing habitat for deer, their primary source of prey...

... We talk about the Secretary’s morning experience helping MDF with the urban deer transplant project, the department’s focus on restoring sagebrush habitats, his focus on the “frontlines” of the department to work on the landscape, and more. ..

Spring Mule Deer Survey Complete May 7, 2018 North Dakota, NDGF News
... western North Dakota’s mule deer population is similar to last year, and 45 percent above the long-term average.  Biologists counted 2,540 mule deer in 245.8 square miles during this year’s survey. Overall mule deer density in the badlands was 10.3 deer per square mile, compared to 10.9 in 2017...

Wisconsin deer hunters want carcass tags, in-person registration May 7, 2018 Outdoornews
... One-third of the counties passed some type of resolution on April 9 asking lawmakers to reinstate the mandatory tagging of deer and/or turkey.  Combined, more than a 75 percent approval across the board – 1,325 yes to 430 no – said they would like to see the DNR again require that hunters attach a carcass tag to a deer immediately its harvest...

...  require deer farms and hunting ranches to install "enhanced fencing" in the form of either two 8-foot high wire fences, a secondary electric fence or an impermeable wall. Walker also ordered DATCP to draft a rule banning the movement of live deer from farms in counties that have had positive cases of CWD...






Searching the internet to find and conserve deer information.  

Deer in the News

Petersburg teenager pleads guilty to running down deer May 23, 2018 Alaska, Anchorage Daily News
... a 5-second video of the incident that had been posted to Snapchat began circulating online. Shot from inside a vehicle, it appears to show deer walking on the side of the road that are then hit by the car, followed by a burst of laughter from the people inside...

... Despite the injury, the deer was walking. The Police put a dog leash on the deer for a little bit to keep the animal out of traffic...

   New Jersey Cop Performs Emergency C-Section to Deliver Baby Deer May 21, 2018 Time
 its mother was struck and killed on a road... the fawn was moving inside the mother’s body...



Frightened Deer Narrowly Escapes Shark Attack In Monterey Bay May 20, 2018 California, CBS San Francisco Bay Area
... Shark researcher Sean Van Sommeran was out on the water when he saw a deer swimming nearby... swimming just on the other side of his boat was a 9-foot great white shark...

...  "mother deer leave their babies alone the majority of the day. A fawn lying quietly in a curled position on its stomach is very likely not in need of rescue." ... two are still in our care, sadly, two did not survive their encounters with humans...

Fort Wayne firefighters pull fawn from pool May 18, 2018 Indiana, WANE
...  eventually pulled from the water and the firefighters administered oxygen to it.  The fawn was later reunited with its mother...

In Search of Antlers May 18, 2018 Oregon, bendsource.com
... It's becoming one of the more popular outdoor pursuits in regions where deer and elk herds thrive. ... Tanner helped form a 7,000-member Facebook group called Oregon Shed Hunters in 2005. "From that point on, it's been like a big Easter egg hunt for adults." ...

 If you care about young wildlife, leave it alone May 17, 2018 New York, Press & Sun-Bulletin
... touching a young animal will not cause the mother to abandon it.  On the contrary, if you find a newborn by itself but in harm’s way, you can move it slightly to a safer position. Just don’t take it far. Mom will find it and will not be bothered by your scent on it...   

... The fawn Zimmerman saw was leucistic since it had colored eyes.  A third color classification – piebald – is used to describe deer with patches of brown and white hair...

...solved a year after the shooting by a phone tip   ... in the Deming area...  "had frequently spotted the doe for several years, as it raised several sets of fawns." ...  "Local deer hunters had formed a pact to leave the deer alone." ....

Brave man saves a drowning deer -Texas,USA, May 13, 2018


A Raleigh family kept a deer as a pet and named it Bambi May 10, 2018 North Carolina, The News & Observe
... injured white-tailed deer entered a Raleigh family's property, they reportedly bandaged its leg  ... at that point the deer was not in captivity, but had been in captivity ... "It answered to the name of Bambi," ... wildlife authorities ... decided to euthanize it...

The deer had been struck, and the driver brought it to the animal wildlife center in Weymouth for medical attention. - May 10, 2018 Massachusetts


...  the deer had brown eyes, meaning it is not albino. While white deer are unusual, they're not as rare as albino deer that typically have pink eyes...

Curious baby deer climbs into California police car May 8, 2018 Upi.com
... Marin County Sheriff's Office tweeted a video showing the baby deer exploring behind the driver's seat of a patrol car after police stopped to offer the small animal some assistance...

Deer shot by arrow spotted in Salem May 5, 2018 Oregon, KGW
... This time in Salem... the deer “has a little bit of a limp but it does move around and eat.” ... A hunter called them and said he’d shot a deer but couldn't retrieve the arrow or find the deer...

DNR: Stop taking fawns out of nature May 4, 2018 Utah, KUTV 2News
... they think the fawns have been abandoned by their mother or are hurt. But Carver said what is really happening is the mother has drawn off predators away, making it seem like the fawn has been left behind...

... Two deer, illegally shot with arrows in the Shady Cove area, were successfully tranquilized yesterday and the arrows removed... “This is not ethical hunting ...
     Authorities remove arrows from impaled deer May 3, 2018 Oregon, Oregonian
... removed arrows from the head and body of a pair of deer in the Shady Cove area ... reward for information leading to the arrest or citation of those responsible for the shooting has been bumped to $2,600...

     Deer spotted swimming at Seacliff State Beach May 2, 2018 California, KTVU
... Two deer took at dip near the cement ship at Seacliff State Beach on Wednesday morning...


... caused quite a stir with its gorgeous trailer, in which a deer and her fawn navigate a flooded facility and nose through abandoned belongings in a post-apocalyptic world ... 

... a $2,000 reward for information ... two deer that had arrows protruding from them...  there might be a third deer with an arrow stuck in it...

Snow-white deer appears in Edisto Island April 28, 2018 South Carolina, ABC 4 News
     ... the deer is not an albino deer, but rather a "piebald."  “You will note that it’s eyes and nose are dark and it has a dark patch on its forehead. This would not be the case with a true albino ...

Loss of Deer Park's white doe was tragic, unnecessary April 25, 2018 Minnesota, Winona Daily News
... the little white doe that we have come to know and love is gone... acquired from a deer farm in Winona County a couple of years ago...the DNR decided that these three deer should be analyzed for the disease to make sure that they were not contaminated with CWD... the tests for this disease came back negative on all three deer ...

... Allagash and St. John rivers  ... a young deer floated past on an ice floe... people began to congregate on the riverbank and began to root for the deer... other video of it making it to shore! The deer never panicked and was so nimble ...

Maine deer trapped on floating ice in Allagash


Archaeologists possibly discover the earliest known Greek art inside a cave April 24, 2018 Rhode Island, realmofhistory.com
...  more than 11,000 years ago... first known case of Paleolithic art ever found in Greece, with the 37 portrayals depicting an extinct species of the dwarf deer... According to Dr. Thomas Strasser of Providence College, Rhode Island ...

... “I jumped into the flames and saved the little guy,” Shockley said in a written statement. “He was all by himself and running for his life into the fire.”...

New charges are filed in case of Petersburg teens hitting deer April 19, 2018 Alaska, Alaska Public Media
... The video shows the vehicle approaching and then hitting two deer. Ohmer is heard laughing and Davis is heard saying that they got two of them...


  McLean's neighborhood deer relocated to a new home April 19, 2018 Illinois, WEEK
... A white-tailed doe who had become friendly with residents of the village of McLean was relocated Wednesday to a new home...

...On Bar MB Ranches lives a pet mule deer named Bambi...The yearling had lost her mother ...  "She was already grown up enough and she made her mind up about where she was going to be...

Baraboo, Deer get new home at Baraboo zoo April 17, 2018 Wisconsin, WiscNews
... The Baraboo zoo’s deer will move from their current home ... A $40,000 gift from the Sauey Family Foundation is funding new fences and a large elevated deck ...


Observing the social structure of deer April 15, 2018 Minnesota, St. Cloud Times
... the segregation of sexes that takes place in the winter months. For the most part, the does are with the does and the bucks form bachelor groups... in the weeks ahead as the mature does will chase away last year’s fawns as they prepare to drop this year’s crop...

Abnormal White Deer Struggle to Survive in Virginia Wild April 14, 2018 Virginia, U.S. News & World Report
... Held for centuries as magical, mystical and even sacred, white deer are simply genetic mutations often crippled by birth defects — from blind eyes to twisted spines and hunched backs — and have a slim chance of survival in the wild...

... new to this year, a deer safari park ... more information ...