Prolonged Winter Impacts Deer Population

One of Wisconsin’s favorite fall sports – deer hunting – may be impacted by the winter-like conditions this spring.

The deer herd is having trouble finding food with the ground covered in snow, or not greening up by now. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) big game ecologist Kevin Wallenfang says stress on the deer herd is common in the woods of northern Wisconsin, but this year more deer in the farmland areas of southern Wisconsin are having trouble finding food, and that could affect the number of fawns expected to be born in late spring.

“Not [a] catastrophic event by any imagination, but in the northern part of the state we are still seeing some areas with pretty significant snow depths and their winter is not quite over yet.”

Wallenfang says the impact of the herd’s winter survival will be one factor the DNR considers as it develops harvest quotas later this year.