Deer Management News This Week

‘Zombie’ deer disease: Why deer with CWD are actually nothing like zombies February 19, 2019 USA Today
... it's "baffling" to think of a deer dying from CWD as a frightening "zombie." He instead compares the disease to dementia, as infected animals appear more confused than threatening... Deer in the final stage of CWD could also appear weak, and underweight...

National Park Service Sued to Stop Deer Kill on Fire Island February 18, 2019 New York, Animal Welfare Institute 
... filed for a temporary restraining order ... against ... the National Park Service (NPS) to halt a planned deer kill this month, which violates an existing agreement between the wildlife conservation groups and park officials... failing to take a “hard look” at reasonable alternatives ...

Those high-flyin' Kansas deer February 18, 2019 Hays Post
... The study began as a means to help KS Dept of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism biologists understand why mule deer are steadily regressing westward and being replaced by whitetails... This year the goal was to capture, tag and collar an additional 30 does near Scott City and an additional 30 farther north near Lenora ...

Idaho Fish and Game adding big game proposals February 18, 2019 LocalNews8.com
... Winter surveys are also showing that mule deer populations in 66 and 69 are 38 percent lower in 2019 than they were when last surveyed in 2013... wildlife managers are recommending elimination of either-sex hunts in units ...

Changes sought after CWD found in Rapid City deer February 17, 2019 South Dakota, Rapid City Journal 
... 17 deer shot recently by city snipers and butchered together ... venison was ground into more than 600 pounds of burger and sent to the local Feeding South Dakota warehouse ... Samples from the 17 deer showed that one had CWD [chronic wasting disease] ...

Minnesota lawmakers, hunters target CWD February 17, 2019 Duluth News Tribune 
... a package of new bills that they hope will pass during the 2019 legislative session and help battle chronic wasting disease... more state general tax money for the Department of Natural Resources to combat the always fatal deer disease...

NMSU researchers work to restore fire-damaged forests February 17, 2019 New Mexico, Las Cruces Sun-News 
...   elk are really responding to the wildfire burned areas, because they like the new grass growth ... The mule deer avoid the wildfire areas completely after the fire ... will visit prescribed burn areas, particularly those burned within the previous two years. Deer select thinned areas, but only those thinned more than five years previous, once the shrubs have grown back...

... “One incident in Bonner County which did result in a prosecution involved around a dozen deer and elk that were incidentally caught in snares and killed by one trapper. The trapper’s only crime was that he did not report the catches...

Does Legislature want to go back to 'bad old days' of deer management? February 16, 2019 West Virginia, Charleston Daily Mail 
... West Virginia lawmakers only learned after decades of embarrassing attempts to manage the deer herd.  They’re the folks whose biological ineptitude brought us the Tucker Buck War of 1951, which so decimated the whitetail population that it took almost a decade to recover...

... found dead a half-mile from a farm where captive deer have tested positive for the disease ...  previously found in Minnesota wild deer only in Fillmore, Houston and Winona Counties. This latest discovery was in Crow Wing County...
     Another CWD deer is found, this one near Brainerd February 15, 2019 Minnesota, Minneapolis Star Tribune
... discovered Jan. 23 in an adult female in Merrifield, Minn., not far from a private game farm known to have had infected deer ...

... This week marks the second time the BLM will lease public land parcels for oil and gas development inside the Red Desert to Hoback mule deer migration corridor...  The corridor’s northern end was protected in 2012, when Wyoming citizens raised $8.75 million to buy out and retire oil and gas leases in the Wyoming Range’s Upper Hoback...

Saving the elk through conservation and advocacy February 15, 2019 Colorado, Vail Daily News
... With more than 4,000 less elk in the Eagle Valley today than in 2002, including sharp declines in the annual number of elk calves, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is particularly focused on elk calf retention rates and recruitment... We're losing extreme amounts of wildlife habitat every day...

Maryland Hunters Harvest 77,000 Deer during 2018-2019 Season February 15, 2019 Maryland.gov
... The Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported today that deer hunters harvested 77,382 deer during the combined archery, firearms and muzzleloader seasons, from Sept. 7, 2018, through Jan. 31, 2019. The statewide harvest included 29,699 antlered and 44,249 antlerless white-tailed deer; and 1,609 antlered and 1,825 antlerless sika deer...

Commercial deer, elk scents under scrutiny February 15, 2019 Oregon, Mail Tribune
... A 2017 study shows that CWD-infected elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer can shed the prion protein causing CWD in their urine, even before they exhibit CWD symptoms ... At least seven other states have banned commercial sale of urine from captive deer and elk, allowing only synthetic alternatives ...

... 77 percent of antlered deer harvested in the 2017-2018 season were 3½ years old or older... Wisconsin harvested the lowest percentage of 3½-year-old bucks at 12 percent. The second lowest state was New York at 19 percent ...

Volvo S90 Research February 15, 2019 The Car Connection 
...  The S90 also has a segment-leading animal detection system to help identify deer and other animals that may be in the roadway—helping to reduce or avoid a collision...

Chronic Wasting Disease, Scientists warn 'zombie' deer disease could spread to humans February 14, 2019 Minnesota, triblive.com
... Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said , “It is probable that human cases of CWD associated with the consumption of contaminated meat will be documented in the years ahead...

New Proposal Addresses Deer Firearm Regulations February 14, 2019 South Dakota, Tri-State Livestock News
... The new proposal has gone through multiple changes and would now allow for a deer hunter to apply for two, instead of all six, seasons in the first draw. "We have about 6,344 hunters that applied for three or more of the six seasons last year in the first draw...

Despite storms, Idaho winter is normal and emergency feeding is unneeded  February 14, 2019  Idaho, Coeur d'Alene Press 
... in mid February, Idaho’s snowpack was ranging from 81 percent to 112 percent of average with the majority of drainages running between 85 and 95 percent.  Fish and Game has winter feeding advisory committees in each region of the state except the Panhandle ...

Exclude wild pigs from wildlife feeders with panel fencing February 14, 2019 Georgia, Rockdale Newton Citizen
... results showed that 20-inch fences only reduced adult wild pig access, while the 28- and 34-inch fences excluded all wild pigs... adult deer visits to the game feeders did not decline significantly ... a different study ...found that fencing over 33 inches tall limited fawn access to feeding stations...

DGIF confirms Chronic Wasting Disease in 28 deer February 14, 2019 Virginia, Augusta Free Press ·
... Chronic Wasting Disease was confirmed by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries in 26 deer from Frederick County and two deer from Shenandoah County during 2018... Over 1,550 deer from Frederick, Clarke, Warren, and Shenandoah counties were tested for CWD during the 2018 hunting season...

Proposed SC bill would put bounty on coyotes February 14, 2019 South Carolina, WYFF Greenville
... would create a bounty program offering $75 for adult coyotes lawfully removed from South Carolina...  the animals are negatively impacting white-tailed deer by preying heavily on deer fawns...

Ohio Wildlife Council Receives 2019-2020 Deer Hunting Proposals February 14, 2019 Ohio Department of Natural Resources
... Deer bag limits were proposed to remain the same for all counties. The statewide bag limit was proposed to remain at six deer, only one of which may be antlered, and a hunter cannot exceed a county bag limit...

...  in less than 12 months it has been documented multiple times CWD has been spread by the deer farming industry.  For fairness, it's important to acknowledge the disease has likely been spread by hunters moving CWD-positive carcasses around the state and nation, too...

There's a crisis of another kind on our border February 14, 2019 Montana, The Bozeman Daily Chronicle
... Chronic wasting disease was introduced to north central Montana in part from deer that escaped Canadian game farms. Fatal to deer, but not found to be transmissible to humans, CWD was first reported in Montana in 2017..,

... The ranger was part of a team working in Hampton Hills Metro Park the evening of Jan. 24 to reduce the deer population ... Walton declined to share details about the incident ... The bullet that hit the ranger came from the weapon of another Summit Metro Parks employee who also was participating in the deer culling ... This year’s deer culling program has been suspended “out of an abundance of caution” ...

... Under AB83 such a killing could be a category E felony or gross misdemeanor, similar to taking an elk or deer without a license and tag... there are records of moose sightings in Nevada dating back to the 1950s..,

... The $369,760 grant comes from a California Department of Fish and Wildlife big game fund to thin about 350 acres of trees and shrubs that survived the Rim Fire and are now too dense, with interlocking crowns that restrict deer access, mobility, and predator avoidance ...

Effects of Hunting Activities on Deer Vehicle Collisions February 2019, Yunhe Ma, North Carolina
... an econometric analysis of the relationship between hunting activities and deer-related vehicle crashes during hunting season from year 2009 to 2016. Increases in the deer harvest increases the frequency of DVCs during hunting season. The buck population has a bigger impact on DVCs than the doe population. Harvesting deer on private lands has a smaller effect on DVC than harvesting on public hunting lands...

DNR explains deer kill at Gratiot nature area February 13, 2019 Michigan, The Morning Sun
... An attempt to stop the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease ... In November, the DNR confirmed a 4-year-old buck shot in Gratiot County's Pine River Township tested positive for CWD ...

A recording of the Migration Corridor Forum meeting at the Casper Regional Office from February 11th, 2019 - Wyoming


...  the bulk of its funding comes from licenses, tags and permits. Fish and Game gets additional revenue from taxes on hunting and fishing equipment, but the state's share of those funds is determined by the number of license holders in the state...

Woodland Park, Third annual count collects data on Woodland Park deer population  February 13, 2019 Colorado, The Gazette 
... Counters use data sheets to record the number and age of bucks, does and fawns, map their locations and record the times of observations. Recording the locations of observations is important to help map deer distribution. The time of the sighting is recorded to help avoid double counting deer that may wander into a different count area...

... A total of 148 deer were removed ... Over the 10 years since Lower Merion began its culling program, the only year more deer were removed was last year, when 170 were killed...

Legislation would lower buck limit and raise license fees February 12, 2019 West Virginia, West Virginia MetroNews
... The legislation would reduce the current limit of three bucks annually to two and would restrict hunters to only one buck per hunting implement... The price for the Class A resident hunting and trapping license would immediately rise from $18 to $48. The Class E non-resident hunting and trapping license would jump from $110 to $250...

... with recent snowfalls pushing the Arrowhead’s snowpack beyond 2 feet in depth with areas along the North Shore approaching or surpassing depths of 40 inches. Even at 15 inches of snow, deer movements are hampered....

...  tests confirm the six-year-old whitetail buck was infected.  The deer was born on a Marinette County breeding farm and moved to the ranch in 2014...

Game cameras provide new methods for counting and managing wildlife February 11, 2019 Idaho, Idaho State Journal
... During November, biologists deployed a network of trail cameras on winter range of mule deer in Eastern Idaho ... An innovative approach using trail cameras to capture wildlife will allow Idaho Fish and Game biologists to estimate deer and elk populations in a safer, less invasive and less expensive way ...

Chronic Wasting Disease, Fatal deer disease poses 'beast' of a problem for Minnesota lawmakers February 11, 2019 Duluth News Tribune 
... Minnesota lawmakers agree that scientists should get nearly $2 million to create a test that would detect a fatal disease in deer...would fund research at the University of Minnesota...

... Sales of the licenses to young Mainers have dropped 40 percent, from 17,515 in 2002 to 10,593 in 2017 ... the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife ... funded almost entirely through the sale of hunting and fishing licenses and through a federal excise tax on hunting and fishing ... 

GFP Commission to vote on deer hunting changes in 3 weeks February 11, 2019 South Dakota, The Capital Journal
... Because there’s a limited number of licenses, hunters have to apply to draw license in a weighted lottery drawing. Last year 53,524 people submitted 81,494 applications for deer hunting licenses...

In Sonora, Hunting Means Big Business And Conservation February 11, 2019 Arizona, Fronteras
... A successful [deer] hunt for Barnwell could cost up to $15,000... State officials are estimating up to $30 million in economic impact this season. ... the state agency that oversees the hunts, SAGARHPA ... they’ve taken in around $140,000 in tag sales so far this year. Currently, all tags — regardless of species — cost the same flat fee of roughly $16 ...

Maryland legislative season kind to hunters, so far February 11, 2018 DelmarvaNow
... Senate Bill 0390 opening Sunday hunting statewide for all the deer season ... House Bill 0619 would add Sundays for deer muzzleloader season. House Bill 0620 would add the second and third Sundays of firearms deer season to the allotted hunting days...

Could we be wrong about what causes dreaded chronic wasting disease in deer?  February 10, 2019 Pennsylvania, LancasterOnline 
... the prion explanation is simply wrong as a cause for chronic wasting disease, Bastian and Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania insist... not prions but a super-tiny bacterium, according to Bastian. The prion is only a secondary bacterial byproduct and a marker for deer with chronic wasting disease, he says...

WV's 2018 whitetail harvest: Slight gains in all areas except antlerless deer February 9, 2019 West Virginia, Charleston Daily Mail ·
... Gains made during the buck, archery/crossbow and muzzleloader hunts were enough to offset a 2.5 percent decline in the antlerless-deer harvest. Antlerless kills as a whole have fallen steadily over the past six seasons ... despite the efforts of state wildlife officials to create additional antlerless-deer hunting opportunities...

NJ deer policy needs more honesty, less schtick February 9, 2018 New Jersey, NorthJersey.com
... Oswald Schmitz, Ph.D., the forest ecologist and director of Yale University’s Institute for Biospheric Studies, refuted a claimed need to kill deer in Rock Creek Park, Maryland. Adverse effects were “patently overstated,” wrote Schmitz. “The study shows the opposite, that deer eat tree seedlings in the Park, but that this particular reduction in the number of tree seedlings has no measurable effect on forest regeneration.” ...

100 years ago, private deer hunt a flop on Rock Island February 9, 2019 Michigan, Green Bay Press Gazette
... only two deer being killed. The hunt had been permitted by the state conservation commission to exterminate the deer. The hunt was strongly resented by the residents of Washington Island  ... They volunteered to go to Rock Island ... owner of the island, objected on the grounds they would be trespassing...

Federal Lawmakers Try To Tackle Chronic Wasting Disease In Western Deer, Elk, Moose February 8, 2019 Wyoming Public Media
... The bipartisan bill ...would require the departments of agriculture and interior to pay the National Academies of Sciences to figure out how the disease moves between animals, and how to keep it from spreading further...

On the trail of the hunt: bill to enable dogs to search for big game February 8, 2019 Wyoming, Gillette News Record
... House Bill 73 places conditions on hunters including:  Maintaining physical control of the dog at all times by using a leash. “If you use a dog in this manner, you must maintain physical control of the dog at all times by means of a maximum 50-foot leash ...

General crossbow usage builds change February 9, 2019 Illinois, Chicago Sun-Times
... Nearly all of the 2018-19 harvest spike came from archery season ... The rise in crossbow harvest in Illinois mirrors what has happened even more dramatically in Wisconsin. In the last two seasons, bowhunters in Wisconsin have harvested more with crossbows than with vertical bows...

Mt. Lebanon to launch sharpshooting program for third year February 8, 2019 Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
... White Buffalo will be paid $59,605 for the upcoming cull... The Game Commission permit authorizes White Buffalo to kill up to 100 deer during the upcoming cull, which is defined as a sanctioned wildlife-control operation not bound by state hunting regulations...







Searching the internet to find and conserve deer information.  

Deer in the News

Greetings from the UP, where winter is just a state of mind February 18, 2019 Michigan, Lansing State Journal
... "you go to the local pub, order a pizza and sit in the back and watch the deer ...There's a donation canister to buy food for the deer." ...

The Post-Star 
... It had just fallen on the ice and could not get traction to get up. He picked it up, and for the most part, it allowed him to carry it off the ice...

Maine Wildlife Park's 'most excellent moose' has died February 14, 2019 Bangor Daily News
... For nearly 14 years, George the Moose has fascinated visitors to the Maine Wildlife Park ... found with his sister ... stranded on the banks of the St. John River ... mother nowhere to be found ...

Olathe deer rescued from manhole February 11, 2019 Kansas, KCTV5 News 
... “It was kind of panicking when it saw us. It was going around in circles and circles,”  ... used a catch pole to lift the doe to the surface...

Albino deer shot with pellet gun in Cambria County February 8, 2019 Pennsylvania, WTAJ - www.wearecentralpa.com
... An albino deer was shot with a pellet gun and left to lay in the woods ... 

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers took part in a rather dramatic wildlife rescue Monday night.


Herd of elk raising concern near Rexburg/Sugar City February 7, 2019 Idaho, Idaho Fish and Game
... On Feb. 4 a herd of about 100 elk wandered into a rural area between Sugar City and Rexburg ... “They are in a tough spot to move given their proximity to Highway 20, Highway 33 and the high density of fences in the area,” ...

Surveillance video captured a scene out of the wild as a mountain lion and a deer faced off, but the setting was unusual: a Glendale backyard. - February 7, 2019 California


Firefighters rescue deer stuck on Lake Zoar February 3, 2019 Connecticut, CT Post
...  the deer had wandered onto a part of the lake that was still frozen, gotten about 500 feet from shore, lost traction and fell. She tried repeatedly to get up, but couldn’t...

... a herd of elk standing on railroad tracks was hit by a Union Pacific freight train traveling between Montpelier and Soda Springs... wild animals often walk on train tracks in the winter in Idaho because the tracks are usually not covered by snow ...

Deer rescued from frozen river (photos and videos) February 1, 2019 Wisconsin, thelocalne.ws 
... firefighters have successfully rescued a deer stuck in the Ipswich River Friday... used a rapid deployment craft, or “banana boat,” for the rescue...

East Hampton, Heartbreaking Deer Tale, Man's Message: 'All Life Is Precious" January 29, 2019 New York, USA Patch
  ... a deer was being chased down by four "unleashed and unattended dogs" who "viciously attacked" the yearling buck... Although its neck was injured, it was lifting its head up and down normally and drinking water... got a call that the deer had tripped at another spot, falling over a pile of deer fencing, and landing on its head, breaking its neck...


... Just when the buck was fixing to come out of the water a deer hunter close to the top of the hill shot at him twice... all the fishermen were shaken up at how close the shots came to where they were fishing...

... The deer Stoll took home — a young buck — had been in the icy water for several hours before the rescue, and Stoll said he didn't want to leave him to die...

... The rescuers put a rope around the deer and pulled it back to shore, where they covered it with a tarp while they untied it... scampered off to a wooded area...

A doorbell camera at a home in Olathe, Kansas captured a deer jumping over the family's dog.


... sedated the animal and removed the arrow. Then they gave it antibiotics, tagged it  ....

... The buck was being pulled onto the bank by rescuers and the fire department when he arrived, but it was trembling and cold. Stoll says he couldn't bear to see the deer suffering and offered to take the buck home...  Stoll could face a fine of up to $800... So, just let them suffer ...
... volunteered to take one of the deer home to try and save it, posting a Facebook update of the deer lying covered in blankets... the deer did not survive ...

MassWildlife Rescues Deer Stuck on Pontoosuc Lake January 17, 2018 Massachusetts, iBerkshires.com
... "This deer was out on the ice and couldn't get any grip, splayed out. It looks like he has some injury there. The deer is immobilized now and we'll take it off-site and assess the injuries," ...

Maine couple feed deer and feeds their own soul January 15, 2019 NewsCenterMaine.com WCSH-WLBZ
... feeding the local wildlife behind their store, "Raymond's Country Store," since 1978... begins at the start of December and runs until April Fool's Day...

Nature up close: White deer January 10, 2019 New York, CBS News
... part of the largest known population of white deer in the world, which is centered at the old Seneca Munitions Depot in Seneca County, New York,] ... White deer can result from two primary genetic mutations, leucism and albinism...

...  shows the moose browsing around some greenery near an entrance before ... sauntering out through an open door...

... This species of deer, from the Morenelaphus genus of which only fragmentary remains had been found until now, could reach up to 200 kilograms (440 pounds)...