Why Is Deer Hunting in the Northwoods on the Decline?

[Steve-o]

This is a good article in Outdoor Life that features the issues facing deer hunting in the MN North Woods

Why Is Deer Hunting in the Northwoods on the Decline? And Will It Ever Rebound?

Whitetail numbers are down in the Northwoods of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Here’s how wolves, winter, and habitat all play a complex role in the decline

[Leech~~]

So it's still Climate change but not Global warming-no.   

I still say Wolves taking Deer fawns and Moose calves are the issue.   
Was just reading an issue of the DNR Conservation Volunteer for 2021 don't remember the month. 
It talks about how the Wolve population and Wolf zone has expanded in the last 15 or so years.   

[Steve-o]

Yeah, I think the wolf population is greatly underestimated.

[dakids]

The dnr giving out fewer bear permits is also hurting the fawns.

[Leech~~]

The dnr giving out fewer bear permits is also hurting the fawns.

Lot's of stuff munching on fawns and moose calves.  Wolves, Bears, Yotes, Bobcats.   

[glenn57]

The dnr giving out fewer bear permits is also hurting the fawns.

Lot's of stuff munching on fawns and moose calves.  Wolves, Bears, Yotes, Bobcats.   

boar....................

[Boar]

Yu dont know..

[tangle tooth]

You people got to quit picking on them poor, helpless wolves. They just want to beloved. Next time you go in the woods, take a PETA member with you so they can give a wolf, or even a whole pack of wolves, a belly rub and play with them. It's your civic duty.

[LPS]

I think the biggest thing is that every year there are fewer parents that hunt so their kids never take up the sport.  Same as fishing.  It is colder up north and that takes away more people not wanting to brave the elements.  We as a whole are getting lazier all of the time. 

[Steve-o]

Yes, it is tough these days to engage many kids in any activity that requires effort and patience to achieve success.

And it doesn't help that city schools indoctrinate kids from the earliest grades that guns are evil.

[glenn57]

one thing noone has mentioned is mother nature. along with all the preditors. winters up there are or can be pretty harsh and hard on deer.

this time of year i look at the winter severity index a fair amount. it measures the elements of below 0 temps and snow depth to determine how deer cope.

i just looked and except for a few small areas in the state its currently at its lowest measurement yet!!!!!!!

[Steve-o]

Yes, that Outdoor Life article in the original post did mention weather and the WSI - specifically referencing 1995-97. 

Rusch recalls deer dying into the Memorial Day weekend during the infamous 1995-96 winter, which inflicted a 32 percent mortality rate on adult does monitored during a 15-year DNR research project led by DelGiudice. That winter generated WSI scores above 180—60 points higher than the “severe” threshold—across northern Minnesota. The following 1996-97 winter was nearly as harsh, generating WSI scores above 160 across the Arrowhead region.

“We basically lost all our fawns and mature bucks those years,” Rusch says. “The worst winters for predation have 26 to 30 inches of snow all season. The herd dropped into a hole. We had two tough winters and a poor mix of winter habitat, and combined it with a hungry wolf population. Then when black bears came out of hibernation, they found plenty of weak or dead deer to eat.”

I remember that was really bad then, but what about more recently?  I found this site that accumulates data for winter severity.  I don't know that they use the same scale as referenced above, but it is good data for comparison.

https://mrcc.purdue.edu/research/awssi/indexAwssi.jsp

I looked at the Grand Rapids location for the past 10 seasons.

2011-2012 = Mild
2012-2013 = Average
2013-2014 = Extreme (worst of the 10 year sample size)
2014-2015 = Moderate (this category is below average)
2015-2016 = Mild
2016-2017 = Moderate
2017-2018 = Right at the boundary line between Average and Severe
2018-2019 = Severe
2019-2020 = Right at the boundary line between Average and Severe
2020-2021 = Moderate
2021-now  = Moderate

So maybe three years of Severe or nearly Severe winters between 2017 and 2020 in northcentral MN are responsible for the deer population being knocked back a bit, and there hasn't been enough time for it to recover.   

[glenn57]

  the chart i looked at off the MN DNR website that was dated 1-29-2022 was at the lowest severity scale. with very few spots just above it????/

[Steve-o]

the chart i looked at off the MN DNR website that was dated 1-29-2022 was at the lowest severity scale. with very few spots just above it????/

My guess is the MN map doesn't have the same granularity as the nationwide data Purdue University is publishing.  The MN DNR scale goes from 0-120.  The Purdue data goes from 0-2500.

But otherwise, the MN map isn't too far off the Purdue data.  And I am just looking at Grand Rapids - the Purdue test station nearest where many of us hunt.

Here is the the current season in Grand Rapids.  Everything is tracking in the Moderate scale, with it just starting to creep into the Average category.

[Smokey Hills Bandit]

Predators are sure on the rise which leads to less deer sightings and less enjoyment even if you don't fill a tag. I went 5 years straight without seeing a deer in Paul Bunyan. Hunting Saturday - Tuesday of rifle, from sunup to sundown and was truly the most committed hunter in my group. I was beyond being done with the area after 20 years and my largest buck was a 6 pointer.

Luckily, I was able to secure private land and in the first year I saw 2 of the largest bucks I had ever seen with a gun in my hand. Didn't even get a shot, but my moral was at an all time high.
Where you hunt matters... If you're in for the hunt. If you're hunting for the atmosphere, family and friends, then it doesn't matter where you hunt.

[Leech~~]

Predators are sure on the rise which leads to less deer sightings and less enjoyment even if you don't fill a tag. I went 5 years straight without seeing a deer in Paul Bunyan. Hunting Saturday - Tuesday of rifle, from sunup to sundown and was truly the most committed hunter in my group. I was beyond being done with the area after 20 years and my largest buck was a 6 pointer.

That sucks to hear.  We hunted the Paul Bunyan for about 40year starting when I was like 14.  The 2 deer in my Avatar came out of there.  In all those years I never once saw or heard a Wolf, tons of Yotes but no wolves.  Also, even though I ride 4 wheelers and trail bikes. The other thing that has hurt the Paul Bunyan is the swiss cheese they have made out of it for Rec-trails.  When we first started hunting there you could hardly get a 4 wheel drive down some of the logging roads and no you could drive a RV down them.  Plus the consent logging.  But, we moved over by Outing which is loaded with Wolves and no better! 

[Smokey Hills Bandit]

That sucks to hear.  We hunted the Paul Bunyan for about 40year starting when I was like 14.  The 2 deer in my Avatar came out of there.  In all those years I never once saw or heard a Wolf, tons of Yotes but no wolves.  Also, even thought I ride 4 wheelers and trail bikes. The other thing that has hurt the Paul Bunyan is the swiss cheese they have made out of it for Rec-trails.  When we first started hunting there you could hardly get a 4 wheel drive down some of the logging roads and no you could drive a RV down them.  Plus the consent logging.  But, we moved over by Outing which is loaded with Wolves and no better! 
[/quote]

I will always love Paul Bunyan and even the dirt bikes that come ripping through when Grouse hunting. There are monsters out there and I am glad you got a couple. I have seen many wolves on camera in PB, though none in person. I have never been a great hunter, so admitting I have a problem is half the battle! 

[Leech~~]

I will always love Paul Bunyan and even the dirt bikes that come ripping through when Grouse hunting. There are monsters out there and I am glad you got a couple. I have seen many wolves on camera in PB, though none in person. I have never been a great hunter, so admitting I have a problem is half the battle! 

The thing I loved about the Bunyan was the hills and big ridges.  I hate hunting the flat lands now! 

[Steve-o]

I don't know nothing about nothing about deer hunting, but...

I've always known there to be mature bucks in the endless, big woods of State / National Forests, its just with the added pressure of small game hunters and RV riders, etc., I think they just get spookier and have more places to hide.

Private land has less pressure and is often times broken up by adjoining mixed areas of fields and woods.  I know I'm speaking in generalities, but where there are more open fields, the travel corridors are restricted and there are fewer deep-woods places for mature bucks to hide.

[delcecchi]

Back many years ago when I hunted in Pine county there were few deer.    Nowdays, up by our cabin on Vermilion there are deer all over the place.   I'm thinking that habitat is a big part of it.   Deer like that brush and young trees.   A bunch of 40 year old popple don't do them much good, and neither do pine and spruce.    Logging in Minnesota is way down.   That will hurt the deer population as much as anything.

[glenn57]

Back many years ago when I hunted in Pine county there were few deer.    Nowdays, up by our cabin on Vermilion there are deer all over the place.   I'm thinking that habitat is a big part of it.   Deer like that brush and young trees.   A bunch of 40 year old popple don't do them much good, and neither do pine and spruce.    Logging in Minnesota is way down.   That will hurt the deer population as much as anything.

yea that seems to have been a hot topic in the outdoors news that past month or so......logging and the health of the deer and ruffed grouse population.