Posts Tagged ‘Whitetail Deer’

Monday, January 31, 2022

How White-Tailed Deer Cope with Winter Weather

deer in winterAs 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 it may do more harm than good.

White-tailed deer go through both physical and behavioral changes that improve their survival odds during winter. Deer spend much of the fall season building up fat stores that will provide them with warmth and energy throughout winter. Externally, deer develop a thick winter coat of fur that helps them absorb more sunlight and traps in more body heat.

» Continue Reading.


Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Hunters in New York Harvested More than 253,000 Deer in 2020-21

deerChronic Wasting Disease Risk is Real, No Evidence Currently in New York State

Hunters in New York harvested an estimated 253,990 deer during the 2020-21 hunting seasons, an increase of 13 percent from last year, State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced.

“With a seven-percent increase in licensed deer hunters, a 30-percent increase in antlerless harvest, and two new record-breaking bucks taken by bowhunters, 2020 was a remarkable year despite pandemic-related challenges,” said Commissioner Seggos. “Regulated hunting benefits all New Yorkers by reducing the negative impacts of deer on forests, communities, and crop producers, while providing more than 10 million pounds of high quality, local protein to families and food pantries across the state annually.”

» Continue Reading.


Friday, June 5, 2020

The resiliency of white-tailed deer

Editor’s note: This is part two of a two-part series.

Deer appear in paleolithic cave paintings at Altamira, on the north coast of Spain, going back 36,000 years.

The white tailed deer has been in North America for about 4 million years, making the white tail one of the real veterans of nearly all varying habitats in North America, ranging from Nova Scotia west to southern Alberta, sweeping south into Central America, with gaps west of the Rockies.

To put that in perspective, modern moose have only been in North America about 15,000 years, having migrated through Berengia about the same time the ancestors of native Americans began to trickle across. 

» Continue Reading.


Thursday, June 4, 2020

Bucks, does and fawns: All about deer

Editor’s note: This is part one of a two-part series.

Following Bergman’s Rule, white tails in colder climates will be larger on average than deer in warmer climates, as larger deer in colder climates are more likely to survive cold winters, thus surviving to breed and pass along their genes for superior size. Adirondack bucks average about 200 lbs, with mature females at about 160 lbs.

While deer flourish in widely varying habitat, ideal habitat tends to be woodlands, river valleys, forest edge, swamp, meadow and farmlands. The Adirondacks, with its rough mountainous terrain, is not good habitat, and most of the hunters who hunt in the Adirondacks are here as much for the beauty and splendor of an Adirondack autumn, and would more likely find more deer in their back yards or local forest, than they will up here. 

» Continue Reading.


Wednesday, January 1, 2020

New Deer, Moose Feeding Regulations Adopted

whitetail deer provided by decNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner adoption of a regulation regarding feeding deer and moose.

DEC first prohibited deer feeding in 2002 in response to the threat of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) because concentrating deer or moose at feeding sites increases the risk of disease transmission. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, December 1, 2019

All About Antlers

antler by adelaide tyrolThe blast of a gunshot: a deep bass roar she feels in her chest, followed by a treble ringing in her ears.

The buck drops.

The hunter remains in her crouch, watching the animal’s last breaths through her scope. When he is still she rises, trembling from the cold and the moment, and approaches. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, August 11, 2019

DEC Plans Changes to Deer, Moose Policies

Adirondack moose 2 (DEC Photo)New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that they are proposing several regulatory changes in an effort to protect New York’s wild deer and moose from Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

CWD is a fatal and untreatable nervous-system disease affects deer, elk, and moose and is believed to be caused by abnormally shaped proteins called prions. » Continue Reading.


Monday, April 15, 2019

DEC Announces 2018-19 Deer Hunting Estimates

DEC logoHunters 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.

The estimated deer take included 114,402 antlerless deer and 113,385 antlered bucks. Statewide, this represents a 20-percent increase in antlerless deer and a five-percent increase in bucks from the last season. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, February 17, 2019

Feeding Deer Does Much Harm, Little Good

deeryard A few winters back, there was a doe who frequented our compost heap. The garden fence around it proved an inadequate barrier, as she simply hopped over it to nosh on the rotting shards of jack-o-lanterns and the latest veggie scraps tossed atop the pile. Not far from the garden sits an old orchard, and we’d also spot her there, scratching with sharp hooves to get to the long-frozen, shriveled fruit beneath the snow.

Watching deer forage for whatever bits of food they can find through the cold months of winter, I can understand why some people feel an urge to feed them. Only supplemental feeding isn’t helpful at all to deer. Instead, it’s detrimental to their digestive health, and it pulls them away from safer, more nutritious food sources. » Continue Reading.


Monday, January 14, 2019

Remembering Elk in the Adirondacks

elkHundreds of years ago, haunting bugle-like calls echoed through these hills and valleys. The sounds were made by bull elk to attract mates and fend off rivals.

Elk in the Northeast?  Yes, elk were once the most widely distributed of North American hoofed mammals. Millions roamed over much of the U.S. and Canada. Adaptable to a variety of habitats, elk were found in the Adirondacks, and in most ecosystems except the tundra, deserts, and the Gulf Coast. » Continue Reading.


Monday, December 31, 2018

DEC: Hunters Killed More Deer in 2018

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that New York State white-tailed deer hunters have been reporting more success in 2018 than last year through the end of the regular big game season.

Through December 16, hunters reported taking approximately 14 percent more deer in the Northern Zone and 11 percent more deer in the Southern Zone, compared to the same period in 2017. Reports from the Southern Zone and Northern Zone are up more than 26 percent and 33 percent from 2016 numbers, respectively, indicating an increase in harvest over the past three hunting seasons. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, December 9, 2018

Poaching Case In Schroon Lake

ECOs Nicols Lacroix and K9 Diesel with illegally taken button buckDEC Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Maxwell Nocols has reported that on November 21st he received a report of hunters trespassing, firing two shots and killing an antlerless deer on private property in the town of Schroon.

ECO Nicols said he arrived to find numerous footprints entering the woods off Letsonville Road and crossing two separate posted properties. ECO Matt Lacroix with K-9 Diesel were contacted to assist with the investigation. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Hunting Camp Talk: Moon Phase and the Deer Rut

rutty moon adelaide tyrolDeer hunters, like professional athletes, are always looking for an edge – it’s the nature of the pursuit. And so we’re susceptible to superstition, alluring gadgets, marketing campaigns. A classic genre that combines all three of those elements is the moon table – a chart that tells you when the best hunting days are based on the moon phase. These charts were a sporting magazine staple in the early days. In the print world they have largely gone the way of the Marlboro Man, but you can now buy an app which uses the moon to tell you when to take your hunting vacation.

Whether deer movement is affected by moonlight is an intriguing question. But because it’s hard to isolate the moon from all the other phenomena that affect deer behavior, I can’t imagine how you’d go about proving or disproving any particular theory. Scientists have conducted radio-collar studies with small groups of deer trying to gain insight, but the samples were so small, and the data ambiguous enough, that there’s not a lot to take from it. » Continue Reading.


Monday, November 19, 2018

Warren Co Man Charged With Poaching From The Road

illegally taken doe New York State Environmental Conservation Officer Sean Dewey reported he received a call on the evening of October 31, 2018 by someone saying a subject had just shot a deer from the road in Horicon, Warren County.

ECO Dewey reported that upon his arrival at the scene, he identified the suspect after interviewing nearby homeowners. Dewey and ECO Maxwell Nicols, reported the deer was shot with a rifle from the defendant’s pickup truck using a spotlight. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, April 11, 2018

2017 Deer Hunting Estimates Reported

Photo by Art Kirsch, DEC Wildlife BiologistHunters in New York State killed an estimated 203,427 deer during the 2017-18 hunting seasons according to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

According to DEC’s report the 2017 estimated deer take included 95,623 antlerless deer and 107,804 antlered bucks, an estimated five percent fewer deer than the previous year. Statewide, this represents a 10-percent decline in antlerless harvest and a buck harvest nearly identical to 2016. Hunters in the Northern Zone took 25,351 deer, including 18,074 adult bucks. In the Southern Zone, hunters took 178,076 deer, including 89,730 adult bucks. » Continue Reading.



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