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Now that white-tailed deer hunting seasons have ended throughout most of New York State, it may be tempting to begin feeding deer to “help” them through the winter. However, feeding deer during the winter or other times of the year is unnecessary, prohibited in New York, and can have very negative consequences for deer, your neighbors, and surrounding wildlife habitat.
During the winter, deer mainly rely on woody vegetation (known as woody browse) for their nutritional needs. The digestive enzymes in a deer’s stomach change in the winter to better digest this browse. If deer are provided with unnatural food sources such as corn or hay after this change in diet has occurred, it can result in deer becoming ill or even dying. Deer will eat the unnatural food source, but can develop acidosis (grain overload disease) or enterotoxemia (Clostridium overgrowth) disease because they can’t digest the food properly. Both diseases can result in the rapid illness and death of deer even though their stomachs are full.
As temperatures drop and snow deepens, you may notice a group of white-tailed deer digging around in an open field or wandering through your yard in search of food. While you may be tempted to feed the deer, they are well adapted to our winter conditions. It is also illegal to feed deer, and 
Budget Includes Legislation Lowering the Age for Deer Hunting with a Firearm and Crossbow in Participating Upstate Counties
Plan Would Help Guide Current and Future State Deer Management Using Science and Public Input
The Department of Environmental Conservation tested 2,658 harvested deer across New York State for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in the animals harvested by hunters in the 2019 season. No evidence of CWD was found. “Preventing the introduction of CWD into New York is a high priority for DEC to ensure the health of our deer herd and to protect the recreational and viewing opportunities deer provide,” State DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said in a press release.
New York hunters harvested an estimated 224,190 deer during the 2019-20 hunting season. That’s according to Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos , who stated in a press release that “regulated hunting benefits all New Yorkers by reducing the negative impacts of deer on forests, communities, and crop producers, while also providing more than 10 million pounds of high quality, local protein to families and food pantries around the state every year.”
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (
The blast of a gunshot: a deep bass roar she feels in her chest, followed by a treble ringing in her ears.
Hunters in New York killed an estimated 227,787 deer during the 2018-19 hunting seasons, approximately 12 percent more than the previous season, State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced.
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Follow that Quacking: Observing 75 Mallards and one Black Duck in Inlet
Things at Eight Acre Wood look about the same as they did last week, with only an inch of new snow to make the landscape white. That shows the critters who have been wandering around the yard. [Some of these include] several deer, a coyote, a fisher, a mink, an otter, a snowshoe hare, one turkey, several varieties of mice, a pine marten, a couple red squirrels, a flying squirrel, ravens, crows, and a Bald Eagle stopped by for a snack on the dam. Most of them also got caught on one of my trail cameras, as many of them are night travelers. In all my hikes, I thought I might even see a bear track, but I guess they are smarter than that. There is nothing for them to eat right now, so they better stay napping.
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