From Twincities.com: Sometime early next week, men and women will fan out across the woods of northern Minnesota, many on snowmobiles, and begin laying out feed for wild whitetail deer.
A million pounds of feed, give or take. As much as $170,000 can buy….
“We’re at 130 volunteers and climbing fast,” Mark Johnson, executive director of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, said Wednesday….
Whose idea to feed the deer? Hunters, who put pressure on the state to do something because this brutal winter is surely killing some deer in the northern zones. Feeding from now through the spring green up will help the animals survive. The money for the project will come from a fund established from proceeds of hunting license sales.
The Minnesota DNR opposes the idea, arguing that feeding doesn’t have a significant effect on the overall deer population, plus it can congregate deer and encourage the spread of disease. Every biologist I’ve ever talked to says it’s a bad idea for people to feed deer anywhere and regardless of conditions.
But in this case the hunters are spot on. This winter is undoubtedly killing deer and weakening others in northern states where deer populations are already down due to weather, predators, etc. Minnesota’s 2013 firearms harvest was down about 7% statewide, more in the northern zones. This two-month feeding can only help!
Estimates say the effort, which will last until the snow melts and the first green vegetation appears, will feed from 12,000 to 16,000 deer.
I’m a little confused. The MN deer hunter’s association is spearheading this effort, with money coming from license sales, but the MN DNR opposes it? How does that work? Aren’t they the ones in charge of the money from license sales? How does that money end up in the hands of a private organization?
Hats off to Minnesota hunters for taking steps to help a stressed deer herd. I know that if you let them alone some would make it and you would have a downturn in the deer hunting for a certain amount of time. They would rebound (barring another bad winter) in a few years, but why waste a few years to downturned hunting when you can maintain good numbers. This keeps hunter numbers up and income for DNR up too. I know DNR does a good job, but sometimes hunters finish farther down on the list than they should. After all, we are the sole supporters of the wildlife in the first place. BIg atta’ boy to the Minnesota outdoors people!
They are here to help us so in return we should do the same. Keep up the good work Minnesota.
We do the same here in Eastern Wa. We should always take care of our wildlife.
We’re seeing some melt/grass in Michigan thanks to 4 warm days in a row. The deer are taking advantage, as I saw over 20 out in the middle of the day while driving a 2 mile stretch near home. Unfortunately within 24 hours we’re supposed to have another 6″ on the ground…