The Difficulties Inherent In The DNR Deer Audit
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Deer hunters get confused. They see deer, they know they are there, but where and how many is perplexing.
So the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources decided to do an audit.
"One of the key findings I guess you could say, from the report is they asked that DNR do a state-wide deer plan," said Paul Telander, the DNR's wildlife chief.
What Telander knows is that hunters have long requested is a plan; something scientific.
There are about 500,000 licenses purchased annually in the state. But when numbers dipped after big harvest about 10 years ago, they took note and wanted answers.
"That got a lot of people concerned about deer and deer numbers and did we over-harvest deer and do we know what we're doing with deer and all those kind of things," Telander said. "So a lot of those questions came in the forefront, and we've been dealing with those in the last 10 years. That culminated in this auditor's evaluation."
What you cannot account for, no matter how much data, is how much a previous winter helped or hurt a population.
"We try to manage for stable populations. We can do that in some areas of the state, but when you get things like severe winters, it takes a toll on deer no matter what," he said.
So the reality is they learn more about certain regions of the state, but there is a known and unknown that determine deer numbers.
"The two most impactful things to deer populations are hunting and winter weather," Telander said.
Click here for more information on the DNR's website.
