Deer Management News This Week
... public input played a major role in the decision.  “It wasn’t only hunters who contacted us. Wildlife watchers also complained about seeing far fewer deer,” ... The limitless harvest of does was allowed during the years when Missouri’s deer herd was skyrocketing as a way to control populations...

UW Researchers to Detail Newly Discovered Deer Migration April 19, 2014 Wyoming, Gillette News Record
... A team of researchers including University of Wyoming scientists has documented the longest migration of mule deer ever recorded ... The latest discovery of the 150-mile mule deer migration, detailed in a new publication led by Sawyer and produced by the Wyoming Migration Initiative, demonstrates the need for further research into the movement of the state’s most prized big game animals ...

... We tested for both direct and indirect (through body mass) effects of spring and autumn phenology on winter survival of 2315 mule deer fawns across a wide range of environmental conditions in Idaho, USA... A path analysis showed that early winter precipitation and direct and indirect effects of spring and autumn NDVI functional components accounted for 45% of observed variation in overwinter survival. The effect size of autumn phenology on body mass was about twice that of spring phenology, while direct effects of phenology on survival were similar between spring and autumn...

Targeting mitigation efforts: The role of speed limit and road edge clearance for deer–vehicle collisions EL Meisingset, LE Loe, Ø Brekkum, A Mysterud - The Journal of Wildlife Management, 2014
... The relative risk for DVCs increased with speed limit. We found a higher risk for DVCs during winter compared to the other seasons. Forest cover, distance to pasture, and terrain ruggedness substantially affected risk of DVCs. Road edge clearance reduced the frequency of DVCs, but the effect appeared in the winter season only with a decrease of 53%. Our study highlights that speed limit reduction and road edge clearance are both powerful mitigation tools to reduce the number of DVCs....

... There has been a steady decline in the mule deer population all across the West, especially across Colorado’s West Slope... CPW is asking for input ... A flyer with the dates and times of these meetings can be downloaded at http://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/MuleDeer/MuleDeerPublicMeetings.pdf.

Conservation reduces antlerless deer permits April 18, 2014 Missouri, News-Press Now
... the first antlerless deer harvest in the state was implemented in 1951 to curb a rapidly growing population. In 2000, an increase of antlerless permits meant that more does than antlered bucks were being harvested ...  other factors have also contributed to the decrease in the deer population ... two years of severe drought in 2012 and 2013 caused the worst outbreak of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) in the state’s history...

New deer rules attract crowds at conservation hearings April 18, 2014 Wisconsin, Green Bay Press-Gazette 
... Official attendance for Monday’s hearings, held in all 72 Wisconsin counties, was 7,053 ... Much of the 2013 increase occurred in Dane, Door, Polk, Marathon and Milwaukee counties. Representatives of animal-rights and silent-sports groups won four races — two in Polk, and one each in Dane and Milwaukee — to become county delegates to the WCC last year.  These groups were present again Monday, but won only one of four elections they entered ...

Oneida County, Local DNR officials to propose buck only hunt April 18, 2014 Wisconsin, Star Journal 
... DNR Wildlife Specialist Jeremy Holtz told the crowd that his office will recommend a buck only hunt this year in order to alleviate pressures on a dwindling deer herd... “And our deer numbers are a concern. We have an estimated 20,000 deer in Oneida County and we have 13,000 to 15,000 hunters. So you can see how those numbers are an issue.” ...

Bloomington mayor vetoes deer hunt plan April 18, 2014 Indiana, Indianapolis Star 
... Mayor Mark Kruzan says he can’t support the proposal and that he also opposed the start of deer hunts in Indiana’s state parks while he was a state legislator ...  A letter to Mayor Kruzan from the Center For Wildlife Ethics [PDF]

Deer Won’t Be Livestock April 18, 2014 Missouri, Ozarks First. 
... Senator Brad Lager of Savannah had hoped to pass a bill this year considering captive deer as livestock under control of the state Agriculture Department...  [audio of the debate from MissouriNet]

MDC to limit antlerless deer tags April 18, 2014 Missouri, WGEM
... The changes are in response to lower deer populations statewide. But it's a decision local business owners and deer hunters say will make a big impact... Before the changes, hunters could get as many antlerless permits as they wanted...

...  State wildlife officials in northern Idaho say poachers are killing far more game animals than wolves...

Expect deer permit areas to drop back April 18, 2014 Minnesota,  messagemedia.co 
... With the brutal winter ... I think most in the far northeast will probably be Bucks only this year ...  Antler Point Restriction (APR)...  is designed to save two thirds of the yearling bucks (one and a half years old) and move them to the two and a half year old class. About one third of the yearlings will be harvested as some will have small racks with four points on one side ... This regulation seems to work quite well ...

DNR gauging winter's effects on deer herd April 17, 2014 Wisconsin, Wausau Daily Herald 
... about 30 percent of the collared fawns in the northern study have died this winter, while roughly 15 percent have died in the farmland area. In contrast, adult deer in both study areas appear to be doing well with six percent losses in the north and two percent losses in the farmlands...

Zero antlerless permits likely to be issued in Northern Forest Zone April 17, 2014 Wisconsin, Price County Daily
... Last May the Northwoods was “treated” to a late season snowstorm that dumped over a foot of snow on the ground. That also seems to have had a profound impact on the health of the herd. Beringer said antler development on nearly every buck he saw at the registration stations last fall had lower-than-normal development and that nearly every yearling buck, along with many two-year old deer, were spikes...

...  although CWD was previously detected in the state, the prior cases were all found in captive deer “used as breeding stock or for some kind of shooting preserve.”

Voters want to protect albino deer, but not in CWD zones April 16, 2014 Wisconsin, Baraboo News Republic
... Wisconsin Conservation Congress ... Attendees voted 3,939 to 1,915 against a proposal to legalize the harvest of white and albino deer statewide. However, they voted 2,963 to 2,665 against extending that protection to areas in which chronic wasting disease has been identified...

Proposal would limit feeding and baiting deer April 16, 2014 Wisconsin, Fox11
...  hunters from across the state took part in a survey... The question calling for the ban had backing from 60 percent of the voters... Any changes in deer hunting rules will be made by the state Legislature...

Ashland County, Extremely severe winter has major impact on area deer herd April 16, 2014 Wisconsin, Ashland Wi 
... Naas said because of the severe deer mortality over the past two winters, he would not recommend any antlerless permits for this season, and that there might not be any available in 2015, except for youth, class A and C disabled hunters and military members home on leave ...  in 2013, the local buck harvest was down 23 percent, while the antlerless harvest was down 40 percent...

... the annual Sawyer County fishing and hunting rules hearing and Conservation Congress ... DNR wildlife biologist Laine Stowell, who said biologists are recommending a “bucks only” hunt this fall in northern Wisconsin units due to the effects on the deer herd of the brutal winter of 2013-14... starting in 2015, a Sawyer County committee (not yet established) will make the annual antlerless harvest quota recommendations...

Graying moose: proof that ticks suck April 16, 2014 Idaho, The Bulletin 
...  “When a moose contacts the brushy vegetation covered by interlocked tick larvae, strings of thousands of tick larvae cling onto the hair of the moose and crawl toward the skin ... These tick larvae can also cling to deer; however, deer appear to be able to scratch them off.” ... “The cause of mortality can be loss of blood, hypothermia due to loss of hair, or starvation ...

...  The report says some deer died from trauma associated with running into the fence...  the DNR confirmed Tuesday evening that they were husky breed dogs. The USDA report says that two of the dogs were killed by the property owner inside the facility fence ...

Chronic wasting disease found in wild deer April 15, 2014 Iowa, Ottumwa Courier
... Since 2002, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has collected more than 50,000 samples of captive and wild deer in Iowa in an effort to look for cases of chronic wasting disease. On April 9, they confirmed an infected wild deer had been found in the Hawkeye State for the first time... 

Outdoor lovers vote to ban baiting, feeding April 15, 2014 Wisconsin, Sheboygan Hub
...  One question asked whether the state should ban deer baiting and feeding statewide 10 days before and during the 9-day November gun season.  Results the DNR released late Tuesday afternoon show 3,639 people voted yes and 2,180 voted no...

Positive interactions between herbivores and plant diversity shape forest regeneration SC Cook-Patton, M LaForgia, JD Parker - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: …, 2014
... One experiment factorially manipulated plant diversity (one versus 15 species) and the presence/absence of deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We found that mixtures outperformed monocultures only in the presence of deer. Selective browsing on competitive dominants and associational protection from less palatable species appear responsible for this herbivore-driven diversity effect....

Deer season changes coming April 15, 2014 Wisconsin, EHEXTRA 
... Proposed antlerless quotas are much higher in the Central Farmland Zone of Marinette County than in the Northern Forest Zone, where quotas were lowered in part due to the high winter severity and expected deer mortality... Wisconsin is among the few states without automated deer registration. ...

Fish & Game Council concerned about geese and deer population April 15, 2014 New Jersey, North Jersey 
... the total harvest was 51,596 deer. This is an increase of 1,654 over last year’s harvest. The northern region was down, likely due to snow and ice cover. Bow hunting seasons showed the most increase, with an all-time high harvest of 28,680 for all bow seasons...

Moose Status and Management in Montana  NJ DeCesare, TD Smucker, RA Garrott, JA Gude - ALCES, 2014 [PDF]
... Moose (Alces alces) are currently widespread across Montana where regulated moose hunting has occurred since 1872 ...  data suggest a declining trend in the statewide population,despite some ambiguity of certain data. Potential limiting factors include harvest, predation, vegetativesuccession and degradation, parasites, and climatic conditions, which were all identified as concerns in surveys of state biologists...

National Deer Survey Results April 14, 2014 Outdoor Life 
... now a handful of indicators are suggesting that the deer hunting bubble is about to burst — or maybe that it already has. Increased predator numbers, deer diseases like EHD and CWD, and years of high antlerless harvests have put many deer herds on unstable ground. Hunters from corners of classic whitetail country like Montana's Milk River and the river bottoms of Illinois have already seen drastic declines in deer numbers ... [information about the decline of deer populations]

Medina County’s bagging limit reduced for deer season April 14, 2014 Ohio, The Medina-Gazette
... Natural Resources Department officials said the new deer bag limits reflect the decrease in the deer population in many counties, as the number approaches target levels... The Ohio Wildlife Council is an eight-member board that approves all of the ODNR Division of Wildlife proposed rules and regulations...

... A study of the spread of chronic wasting disease among white-tailed deer in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania found that infected deer tend to cluster in low-lying open and developed areas. These results suggest that state wildlife management agencies should concentrate surveillance efforts in such topography ...

Hunters refute FWP mountain lion study April 14, 2014 Montana, MTPR
... Opponents of the study accuse the state of using a faulty method to come to the higher population. They say the lion numbers are much lower, and hunting quotas should be lowered. The most vocal supporters of bringing down these quotas are the lion hunters themselves...

Chronic wasting disease detected in Northeast Iowa April 14, 2014 Iowa, Decorah Journal
... a mature male harvested near Harpers Ferry during the first shotgun season in early December 2013... no way to tell if the current case of CWD is linked to a previous Allamakee case involving a domestic elk...

... Programs to control coyotes and provide food are no match for the effects of severe winters and loss of habitat on Maine’s whitetail population... decades-long efforts to revitalize the region’s deer herd have failed ...  from 1955 until 2003 the population estimate most years was around 200,000. ... only for three years – 1998 to 2000 – did it come close to the department’s 1986 goal of more than 270,000 ...

New approach to deer management takes aim at urban and rural problems April 13, 2014 Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 
... The system he calls "tri-tag" or "earn a buck" would be an archery-only program. Hunters would apply for permits to hunt deer in problem urban areas that could be as narrowly focused as the township level. The tag would permit the hunter to take two does and buck. But because deer are most effectively controlled through managing does, an antlerless deer would have to be killed before the hunter could take a buck [urban deer management]

Warmer temps end Minnesota's emergency deer feeding program April 12, 2014 Minnesota, Star Tribune, startribune.com
... Johnson [Minnesota Deer Hunters] estimated that 20 percent or more of the northern deer may have died... DNR officials didn’t support the emergency deer feeding. “Based on previous feeding efforts, there’s not a significant portion of the population that is reached,’’ ... Johnson still disagrees.  “Our position is, from an emergency standpoint, it’s a viable alternative, and a necessary alternative,’’ ...

Winter deer-feeding program ends this weekend April 12, 2014 Minnesota, TwinCities Pioneer Press 
... The thaw couldn't come soon enough for Minnesota's deer. Malnourished and dead deer were reported throughout the northern half of the state, as winter severity indices climbed to the highest levels in nearly a decade... the total amount spent will be just shy of $200,000.   But Johnson said reports from volunteers consistently tracked improvements in the deer they saw...

New permit to address deer wasting disease April 12, 2014 Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
... Pennsylvania game commissioners shortened the antlerless deer season in wildlife management unit 4A and slashed the number of doe licenses to be available. The goal was to increase the deer herd by 20 percent... the commission is going to offer 14,000 “DMA 2 antlerless deer permits.” ... “Our idea is to harvest deer in the (disease area) and keep the herd down to control CWD,” ...

How many deer on Green Ridge? April 12, 2014 Maryland, Cumberland Times-News
... 20 to 30 deer per square mile on the Green Ridge State Forest ... The study showed a ratio of three does for every buck and a ratio of one fawn for every two does...  the density of 20 to 30 deer per square mile found on the Green Ridge is about the same number found statewide ...

... in January 2005, a jury in a federal courtroom heard tales from a now-notorious Indiana hunting preserve of deer being drugged and even a sick deer propped up in a 1-acre pen so a hunter could shoot a $15,000 trophy. ... Bellar ended up spending nine months in a federal prison ...

As It Turns Out, Deer Munching on Plants is Good for the Environment April 11, 2014 Maryland, Care2.com
... The latest study, published this month in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B ... The researchers, a team from the Smithsonian, chose a Maryland forest as their setting and planted 140 3x3 plots of saplings ... After three years, the researchers discovered that the plots with higher diversity were the ones the deer had grazed. The researchers believe that the deer acted, in a sense, as instinctual gardeners...

Role of Thermal Environment in Habitat Selection by Male White-Tailed Deer during Summer in Texas, USA DW Wiemers, TE Fulbright, DB Wester, JA Ortega-S… - Wildlife Biology, 2014
... Male white-tailed deer selected areas with taller vegetation in morning and midday activity periods but selected shorter vegetation during evening and nighttime. Forage quality was important in habitat selection in all activity periods. Male white-tailed deer did not select areas with greater concealment cover during any activity period...

... Volunteer leaders help organize MDF chapter banquets and on-the-ground conservation efforts spending thousands of hours every year restoring mule deer and black-tailed deer habitat... 

Researchers identify terrain likely to attract CWD-infected deer April 10, 2014 Pennsylvania, back40forums.com
... A study of the spread of chronic wasting disease among white-tailed deer in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania found that infected deer tend to cluster in low-lying open and developed areas. These results suggest that state wildlife management agencies should concentrate surveillance efforts in such topography and landscapes, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences...
Springtime brings recreation/tourism to State April 10, 2014 Missouri, El Dorado Springs Sun
... Over 520,000 deer hunters spend more than $750 million each year directly related to deer hunting in Missouri, which generates more than $1 billion in overall business activity in Missouri annually and supports more than 11,000 jobs....

State Hopes to Find Solution to Mule Deer Decline April 10, 2014 Colorado, The Watch 
... according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton, the state of Colorado has an estimated mule deer population of 400,000, one-third less than the 600,000 the state had in the early 2000s ... habitat fragmentation, a decline in habitat quality, a decline of winter range, which Hampton said is mostly due to human population growth, disease, predation, competition from elk and, potentially in some areas, competition from white tailed deer...

Chronic wasting disease in wild Iowa deer confirmed April 10, 2014 Des Moines Register 
... Prior to this case, chronic wasting disease had been detected in every state bordering Iowa, but not here...The deer was harvested near Harpers Ferry ... Since 2002, the DNR has collected more than 650 samples of deer from within a five-mile radius of where the deer is believed to have been harvested...

Deer farm under quarantine April 10, 2014 Pennsylvania,  WFMZ-TV
... Officials say a white-tailed deer, originally from Birch Creek Deer Farm in Walnutport, tested positive for the disease after its death...

Bloomington City Council Votes To Allow Deer Sharpshooting April 10, 2014 Indiana, Indiana Public Media 
... will apply only to sharpshooters contracted by the city of Bloomington to restore ecological balance by eliminating part of the deer population...

Bloomington, Council nears vote on deer, discourse at meeting April 10, 2014 Indiana, Indiana Daily Student 
... “When you actually read Dr. Shelton’s article, you see that, actually, the scientific findings in that study do not corroborate Mr. Rollo’s claim that there is an ecological catastrophe in Griffy that is so urgent we don’t have time to explore these nonlethal measures,” ... Sandra Shapshay, assistant professor

Doe licenses to see major decline April 10, 2014 Pennsylvania, Daily Item 
... Pressure from legislators and hunters to grow Pennsylvania’s deer herd was not lost on the board members, so they actually set the allocations below what was recommended by game commission biologists...
Low rainfall could hurt deer, turkey populations April 10, 2014 Texas, San Angelo Standard-Times
... Simons says that doe were bred up well in the early spring but it’s criti­cal for survival of fawns that there is ample forage and weeds when they hit the ground in early June... hopeful that West Texas sees some rainfall over the next 30 days... Rainfall in South Texas has been better ...

Deer mortality reported: 'They look like they just laid down and died' April 10, 2014 Virginia, Lynchburg News and Advance
...  in Craig County. She discovered six dead deer on a 187-acre property.  It was a classic case of starvation; all young deer with poor femur marrow... A week earlier, deer showing signs of starvation were reported in Prince William County...

...Robbie is a robot deer  ... "I can have the deer facing away from him, and then when they make a noise, I can have that head turn towards that noise ... 

... “In a world where there were no deer at all, we might lose some our plant diversity,” said ecologist Susan Cook-Patton of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, co-author of an April 8 Proceedings of the Royal Society B study describing the findings ... they found that the high-diversity plots actually did much better when deer had grazed in them. According to Cook-Patton, that’s because deer appetites prevented hardy, fast-growing species from proliferating...

Reduction in the number of deer tags recommended April 9, 2014 California, The Trinity Journal 
... Concerned that Trinity County deer herds appear to have experienced a drastic decline in numbers over the past 20 years, the Trinity County Fish & Game Advisory Commission has recommended to the California Fish & Game Commission a reduction in the number of deer hunt tags available here from two tags per person to one and a reduced season in the state regulations scheduled for update this year...

Elizabeth deer bow hunting plan drawing fire from opponents April 9, 2014 Colorado, Denver Channel ABC News
... "We love living here because of the wildlife out here," ... not a fan of the town's proposal to thin the herd by allowing a limited bow hunt within town limits...  administrators say complaints are on the rise and the deer population is out of control [Colorado's deer population is currently about one half to one third of the population in the 1940's] ... 

Syracuse, SUNY ESF study: Nearly 220 deer call the east end of Syracuse and part of DeWitt home April 9, 2014 New York, Syracuse Post-Standard 
... The highest concentration was recorded around St. Mary's Cemetery, where the researchers estimated a herd containing possibly as many as 60 deer are located...  "They destroy your beautiful landscaping and carry ticks that can make you very sick that can give you Lyme disease ... "  said Brian Underwood, a U.S. Geological Survey research wildlife biologist who teachers at SUNY ESF [The adult ticks found on deer are not in the stage that transmit Lyme to humans, deer are immune to Lyme, unlike mice, who transmit the disease.  The general research consensus is that a deer cull is not effective against Lyme]

... The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners on Tuesday set the 2014-15 antlerless deer license allocations at levels intended to allow the deer population to increase almost everywhere in the state ... Referring repeatedly to hunter comments and legislative pressure in favor of growing the deer herd, commissioners cut the allocations below last year's levels ... 

... Deer farms in another two far-flung spots at nearly opposite ends of Pennsylvania have joined the state's roster spots quarantined after chronic wasting disease has been found in a deer associated with them ... The always fatal CWD attacks the brains of infected antlered animals ...

Deer from Western PA Farm Tests Positive for CWD April 8, 2014 Pennsylvania, Gant Daily
...  A Jefferson County deer tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture today, marking the seventh case in a captive or wild deer since 2012.  The five-year-old white-tailed deer died on a Reynoldsville deer farm ...

... this is the second year in a row that the DWR’s population model marks an upturn in the winter survival rate...  The DWR has been using radio collars for three years now in Southern Utah, adding about 60 collared deer each year ... During the winter, it’s typical for 10-20 percent of the deer population in Southern Utah to die, usually more fawns then adults ...

East Hampton Town Website Unveils Deer Management Page April 8, 2014 New York, 27east.com
... East Hampton Town has added a deer management page to its website as part of its overall deer management plan, which was adopted by the Town Board in June 2013....

Magazine
... North Dakota currently has the lowest deer population in the last 30 years, a result of three consecutive hard winters, loss of CRP habitat and an aggressive deer harvest management program ...

Annual Conservation Congress meetings give residents a chance to be heard April 7, 2014 Wisconsin, Wisconsin Rapids Tribune 
... Wisconsin is the only state that has full-blown state-sanctioned hearings for collecting suggestions of fish and game management from the public, said Ed Culhane, DNR communications. The Conservation Congress has been in place in Wisconsin for 80 years ... “Everybody is claiming there’s no deer in the central forest area,” ...

... "It may be possible to get funding for humane solutions that wouldn't be there for methods of killing deer. Whereas those who favor killing some of the deer neither have a place where they could have that done nor any funding... any and all methods of deer population control require money and expertise, and must be a funded as an on-going program." ... Sandy Porter

As blue law fades, Sunday hunting moves forward April , 2014 Maryland, The Baltimore Sun
... hunting generally has been prohibited on Sundays in Maryland since the early 18th century ... In 2003, the General Assembly made it possible for some rural Maryland counties to allow Sunday hunting on private land... Steuart Pittman, who handles legislative matters for the Maryland Horse Council, says his organization's main concern is public safety during deer season.  "People who ride horses, hike, bird-watch, mountain-bike ... stay home when the hunters are out," ...

... The division’s big-game biologists and regional managers will be tapping the expertise of a University of Montana specialist, Paul Lukacs, to develop a computer database system for deer population work... Human dimensions — essentially opinions of sportsmen and others — will be integrated to a greater degree into management planning... 

Game Commission Prepares for Controlled Burn April 7, 2014 Pennsylvania, PGC News
... Depending on conditions, the Game Commission plans to burn up to five units totaling 340 acres... The purpose is to restore the pitch pine/scrub oak ecosystem on the Scotia Barrens.  Controlled burns are used by the Game Commission on game lands statewide to improve plant and wildlife habitats, and reduce the chance of wildfire...

... only eight doe were tranquilized, tagged and injected with birth control over the monthlong program in March, seven in the final week alone. That was far short of the goal of injecting 40 to 50 does in the first two years...

Long, hard winter has been tough on deer April 6, 2014 Minnesota, Minneapolis Star Tribune
... winter severity index (WSI) — used to predict winter’s impact to wildlife — is breaking records ... Until recently most of the dead whitetails Tom Rusch has encountered were fawns.  “Now we’re seeing and getting reports of adult deer starving, too,’’ said Rusch, DNR area wildlife manager at Tower in northeastern Minnesota...

Severe winters play key role in deer mortality April 6, 2014 Minnesota, Mining Journal 
... In recent years, deer abundance here has plummeted (now approaching 1970s levels) ... During a six-year study, I found that fawns and aged does comprised about 60 percent of the overwinter deer loses due to malnutrition and predation.  Although about 21 percent of the bucks wintering in my study area were yearlings, I found only one yearling buck among 124 dead deer identified to sex and age...

Differing definitions for deer April 6, 2014 Missouri, News Tribune
... Legislation is currently working its way through the Missouri Senate (SB964) and House of Representatives (HB2031) to change the classification of captive cervids (deer) from “wildlife” to “livestock.”  The legislation aims to transfer control of captive cervids from the Department of Conservation to the Department of Agriculture...

Cold, Snow Impacts Wild Animals  April 6, 2014 Wisconsin, WSAW-TV 
... Eric Anderson, Wildlife Ecology professor at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, said the deer and turkey population will be impacted the most by the cold and snow... he'd be surprised if the antler-less hunting list does not get cut down dramatically next year...

Elk plan in cross hairs  April 6, 2014 Montana, Great Falls Tribune 
... The plan calls for allowing the FWP to issue kill permits on ranches in the Paradise Valley until May 15 ... to prevent the spread of brucellosis through the commingling of elk and cattle... Opponents of the plan say it sets a bad precedent that would harm native wildlife populations and interrupt migration corridors for elk, deer, antelope and other large mammals. Critics also say the plan allows for lethal removal of cow elk too late in the reproductive cycle...

... The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced it will distribute nearly $1.1 billion in hunting and fishing excise tax revenues to state and territorial fish and wildlife agencies to fund fish and wildlife conservation and recreation projects.  The funding comes from two programs that have generated more than $15 billion since their inceptions:   Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration, Dingell-Johnson ... 

KL Monteith, VC Bleich, TR Stephenson, BM Pierce… - Wildlife Monographs, 2014
...  We intensively monitored nutritional and life-history characteristics of this population during 1997–2009 as it recovered from a population crash, which occurred during 1985–1991.  Deer in Round Valley migrated to high-elevation summer ranges on both sides of the crest of the Sierra Nevada (Sierra crest), where a rain shadow resulted in a mesic and more forested range on the west side compared with xeric conditions east of the Sierra crest... Our results indicate that management and conservation of large herbivore populations could be improved by integrating indices of nutritional condition into current monitoring and research programs. We offer a method to estimate the proximity of a population to nutritional carrying capacity (NCC) that is based on nutritional status of the population relative to population performance (termed animal-indicated NCC)...

Endangered cousins of local deer April 5, 2014 Washington, The Islands' Sounder
...  the beautiful Columbian white-tailed deer. Named for the Columbia River, herds of these deer tend to congregate near this river in the states of Washington and Oregon. The Columbian white-tailed deer was federally listed as an endangered species in Washington and Oregon in 1967. Thanks to immense effort by conservationists, the Douglas County, Oregon population of deer was removed from the Endangered Species Act in 2003...

'Canned hunts' call for better regulation April 4, 2014 Ohio, Lancaster Eagle Gazette
... There are 518 such high-fence hunting areas in the state, ranking Ohio fourth in the country for them... At a time when the captive-deer industry is pulling down regulations, it’s time to create common standards to ensure they play by the rules and make sure they are doing all they can to stop disease from spreading...

... Studies in several states, including Minnesota and Montana, are looking into tick infestations as one of several possibilities for general declines in moose populations... The ticks are called “moose ticks” or “winter ticks.” They are not attracted to humans...

State officials kept silent on CWD discovery at game farm April 4, 2014 Wisconsin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ·
... A state agriculture official acknowledged Friday that a second case of chronic wasting disease at a shooting preserve in Marathon County turned up on Feb. 24, but the agency declined to publicize the discovery... The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel learned of the newest case from veterinarian and former Natural Resources Board member David Clausen of Amery...

Studies planned to monitor Siskiyou deer herds April 4, 2014 California, Siskiyou Daily 
... Siskiyou County’s deer herds have experienced declining population trends, and two large-scale studies are expected ... helicopter surveys in 2009 covering 308 miles found only 163 deer, with males constituting less than 3 percent of the count... there are also efforts underway at the state level to provide a state-wide deer strategy, but it has been stalled multiple times...

... It is week 5 of the Emergency Winter Deer Feeding Initiative and the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association (MDHA) has purchased 110 tons of feed that was distributed Saturday.  This is an increase of 22 tons from last week....

The Minnesota deer heard is dying. This young button buck is too week to stand. All his legs work, but he does not have the energy to move. He is starving to death.


Harsh winter trims Maine deer herd, cuts permits April 4, 2014 Nashua Telegraph
... The winter mortality rate among the state’s approximately 200,000 deer was 12 percent, compared with 8 percent last winter and 10 percent for an average winter, said Kyle Ravana, the state’s deer biologist.... 19 percent in the northern reaches of the state ...



Searching the internet to find and conserve deer information

Deer in the News

... The state unexpectedly offered Deyo a settlement in December. She could keep the deer if she promised not to take in more wild animals. She happily agreed... And although she didn’t talk about it much, while she was fighting the state for 11 months, she also was fighting breast cancer...

Man befriends deer herd on PBS tonight April 16, 2014 Wyoming, Jackson Hole News&Guide Newspaper
...  his film “Touching the Wild,” which will show tonight on Wyoming Public Television. As he is shown approaching a group of eerily calm deer, and then walking among them, he says that it took a while.  “I’ve been doing this every day for six years,” ...

Mule Deer Have the Largest Brain of Any Deer in the World - PBS Documentary


The story of a resilient young deer in Kittery April 12, 2014 Maine, Seacoastonline.com
... we saw a young deer with a broken front right leg in the company of her mother and sister. A game warden who tracked them into the woods observed how well she could run and chose not to put her down...  She has made it through two winters...

If you are wondering, the deer did survive. It was just in shock. We didn't know how long it had been hanging there prior to this clip. - April 13, 2014




... "The big clue is that the UFO is lined up symmetrically over the deer, where the eyes would be," ... The "UFO" seen in the picture is actually the reflections of the deer's eyes ...

... Footage of a deer and UFO encounter has gone viral. Mysterious images from a game trail camera owned by couple in Jackson, Miss. showed photos of what looked like herd of deer being stalked by an unidentified flying object in February. Skeptics say the deer-UFO sighting was a government drone ...

Deer on a Sat Morning in April



Deer watches washing machine. - April 10, 2014



... Lorane McCarty, of Powell, Tenn., has felt the same pain. Two summers ago, she and her husband adopted a fawn that was injured and appeared motherless.... But the wildlife agents came for Buddy, too... "They just took him straight out and killed him," ...

Bennington, White tails dwindle at Vermont deer park April 6, 2014 Brattleboro Reformer
... While the home owns the park, the deer there are wild and thus considered property of the state... which will not allow new white-tailed deer to be introduced to the roughly 1.58-acre fenced enclosure. Since the herd has been without a buck ... once the white tails are gone there will be conversations about what kind of deer to bring in ...

First Encounter With a Young Buck | Touching The Wild



Hunting dogs and owners take up shed games April 5, 2014 Minnesota,  Minneapolis Star Tribune 
...  a dozen years or so ago, word spread among retriever owners particularly that the scent carried by antlers could alert dogs to their presence, even if covered by leaves or brush.  Perhaps predictably, bragging about whose dog could find antlers the quickest followed ...



... caught by their trail cameras ... a weird shape appears on the camera. The deer are brightly lit up but  the cameras is infrared and doesn't emit light... it looks like headlights, but well off the ground and there's no road. ...  flies away. ... 

PBS to Air NATURE's 'Touching the Wild', 4/16 April 4, 2014 Broadway World 
... Hutto presents and narrates his story of bonding with a wild herd of mule deer and their impact on him when Touching the Wild airs Wednesday, April 16 at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings)... Hutto seeks to observe behavior without preconceptions and from the animal's perspective. 

Author Hutto to appear in PBS documentary March 31, 2014 Florida, Tallahassee.com
... “Touching the Wild, Living with the Mule Deer of Deadman Gulch. ” ... A documentary film with the same title premieres April 16 on PBS at 8 p.m ... Joe’s last words in the clip, referring to a specific wild mule deer, are “I was not seeing something, I was seeing someone.” ...



... he spotted a young deer of about 60 pounds bound up in a net of connected Christmas lights that his mother used to decorate shrubs around her house... "It looked at me as I walked away and it seemed to be thinking, 'What the hell just happened?' "... 

World champion shed hunting dog competes to defend title March 27, 2014  New Hampshire, WMUR 
... New Hampshire has a world champion shed hunting dog who is headed out to Minnesota to defend her title. DeeDee can smell an antler dropped in the woods by a deer ...

Shed antlers — looking is more important than finding March 24, 2014 New York, Olean Times Herald
...  the key to finding shed antlers is to look for them in the right places — bedding and feeding areas...  getting our bodies back into summer shape is the number one reason you should get out into the deer woods and look for shed antlers ...

Antler Hunting March 24, 2014 Wisconsin, Wauwatosa Now (blog)
... Whitetail deer of the male persuasion shed their antlers every winter and begin growing a new set with the arrival of spring.  ... now is a good time to be outdoors getting your fresh air and exercise and doing some antler hunting...



5 Tips for Better Shed Hunting Success March 20, 2014 Bowhunting 
... Food is Key ... It’s a simple formula to finding nature’s treasures after the snow melt, find the food and you will find whitetail antlers...

Deer with arrow in head reappears in Rockaway Twp. March 20, 2014 New Jersey, Asbury Park Press
... Biologists tranquilized the then-five-month-old deer, removed the arrow, treated him with an antibiotic cream, and sent him on his way.  Now, Steve appears fully healed...

Deer stuck between I-395 and Van Dorn March 18, 2014 Virginia, ABC 7 News 
Alexandria...  A deer is stuck on a patch of land for a couple of years ... "  ... in another week it will be gone " ... VDOT is building an extra lane ... "someone needs to help her ..." ... so far no one seems able to help ...

Hunters start the spring with a shed hunt March 14, 2014 Kansas, Kansas First News
... The bulk of Kansas whitetail bucks,shed their antlers in February. Just like with any biological process, not every deer is the same. Some bucks have been known to shed as early as November/early December, while others have kept their antlers well into mid-April...



Ghost deer March 12, 2014 Wisconsin, The Stevens Point Journal 
... two extremely rare, albino deer stepped into a clearing in the snow-covered woodlands at sunset … The beauty of these angelic woodland dwellers is breathtaking, as is their silence as they slowly moved back into the deep trees ..

Three deer break into Maryland school to escape from dogs March 11, 2014 Maryland, Examiner.com
 ... a German shepherd and Labrador retriever scared the deer who were desperately trying to escape when they broke through the glass ... either died or were euthanized...

Family, Neighbors Upset After Officials Kill Pet Deer March 10, 2014 Missouri, OzarksFirst.com
... A family and their close friends are upset after a deer they all cared for was put down by officials last week... The deer's care has been a group effort. It was found near his mother after she was hit by a car ... 

Grosse Ile, Deer culling causes confusion March 9, 2014 Michigan, The News-Herald
...The man told the officer that he saw the deer in the woods ... it had been standing with blood coming off its head and face and that he believed it had been shot by a member of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources deer culling group... A member of the culling group later confirmed to a Grosse Ile police officer that they shot the deer and left it there to die. When they returned to the site, the deer was gone ...



... Mark Miller is president of the North American Shed Hunters Club (NASHC) based in Lyndon Station, Wis. He said that February is a good time to start looking for shed antlers, but that March is typically prime time ...

Marsh ice thickens, deer are herding March 6, 2014 New York, The Sun News 
...  Our whitetail deer seem to have survived the exposures pretty well, and have started to herd up, part of their usual winter activities... Look for deer to herd southerly facing hillsides when the sun is high and in some locations ... the bucks have shed their antlers over the last two months and all deer look like doe right now ...

How did a plane hit a deer in Nashua - while climbing? March 6, 2014 New Hampshire, Nashua Telegraph ·
... the FAA's database of aircraft bird strikes ... May 22, 1994 ... The FAA report says the Nashua plane (a Piper PA028) hit the deer not while taxiing or taking off or landing, but while climbing ... The most likely answer is that the database is wrong ...

18 dead animals found at Santa's Land March 3, 2014 Vermont,  Berkshire Eagle
...  deputies found 16 dead deer, as well as a dead pheasant and a pot-bellied pig when they arrived at the theme park on Route 5 Saturday.  There were also four deer unaccounted for ... cited for animal cruelty...

Thousands attend Iowa Deer Classic March 3, 2014 KCCI 8 Des Moines
... Around 20,000 deer hunting enthusiasts were in Des Moines ... hunting numbers are trending downward from 400,000 to 350,000 ... the stress on deer from the winter will have a noticeable effect on next hunting season...

Snow brings out the dewclaws this time of year March 2, 2014 New York, Press Republican 
...  wet snow .. Clearly the animals had been having a tough time getting around ...almost all the deer tracks registered dewclaws — the two extra digits on the back of deer’s feet. Dewclaws help deer balance. They are equivalent to the index finger and pinky on a human hand but arranged higher and behind the two middle “fingers” on a deer’s foot...

Upton, an antler search 'deer' to their hearts March 1, 2014 Massachusetts, Wicked Local 
...  Two local groups will search for newly shed deer antlers later this month to spur an appreciation of nature.  The event, called a "shed hunt," will be run by the Friends of the Upton State Forest and the town's Open Space Committee. Open to the public, the hunt is scheduled for March 30...

Arrest made for deer meat used at Searcy tamale stand February 27, 2014 Arkansas, Baxter Bulletin 
...  Wildlife officers with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission arrested a White County couple Thursday on several wildlife violations. The pair allegedly used wild animals, such as deer, to make tamales in their roadside stand...

Huge Spike Buck Taken in North Carolina February 26, 2014 North Carolina, Outdoor Life Magazine
... The whitetail turned out to be a mature spike with a pair of two-foot long tines... Bowman’s taxidermist estimated the buck was at least 10 to 12 years old ...  rare for an older buck to have spikes, it’s not unheard of... an extreme example of genetic diversity ...

Fayette judge convicts man in deer spotting shooting February 26, 2014 Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
...A Fayette County judge convicted a Normalville man Thursday of aggravated assault for shooting a teen girl with a shotgun as she spotted deer with her family... he did not intend to hurt anyone, but rather hoped the shot would deter poaching and deer spotting near his home...

One deer missing, one dead after Allegheny incident February 24, 2014 Pennsylvania, 27 First News
...  One of two deer stranded on the frozen Allegheny River earlier Monday has drowned, and the location of the other is uncertain, according to the Parker, Pa., fire chief...
     Ice On Allegheny River Leaves Deer Trapped On Water February 23, 2014 Pennsylvania, pittsburgh.cbslocal.com
... “There’s no way they can get off there … unless you got a way to helicopter them out there ... They’re stranded now ...

Antlers ... and more about deer antlers February 23, 2014 New York, Wellsville Daily Reporter 
... There is a growing market for whitetail sheds. Little antlers are sold by the pound rate, usually around $3 per pound, while the giant, long-tined antlers going for $200 each or more. Antlers are used mostly for chandeliers, lamps, carvings, and are even becoming popular as dog chews...

Searching for shed antlers soars in popularity February 22, 2014 Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
... looking for “sheds,” the antlers dropped by deer and elk. It's a phenomenon soaring in popularity. “In the 1980s, nobody stopped to pick up a shed antler unless they were going to trip over it. ... North American Shed Hunters Club ... a registered Pennsylvania elk hunting guide, even has started offering guided elk shed hunts...

Deer survival in southeast Pennsylvania February 21, 2014 examiner.com ·
... deer ... underfur is 5 times as dense as sheep underfur ... traps layers of air ... deer decrease movement which lowers their metabolic rate and ... seek shelter in conifer stands that reduce wind speeds and snow pack and which provides overhead thermal cover...

Shed hunting February 20, 2014 South Dakota, Watertown Public Opinion · 
... Deer drop their antlers every winter and grow new ones each spring. I think deer normally lose their antlers between Jan. 15 and Feb. 15, however, every year is a little bit different. This year I am finding that most deer have kept them longer. There is some literature that supports that deer will shed earlier when they are stressed ...