Are wolves the biggest threat?
 

Here in Wisconsin, there is a lot of debate on how much wolves impact the deer herd. I would think wolves fall way down on the list as far as impacting fawn mortality, etc. I think I read something where coyotes and bears had a much greater impact on the herd-- any thoughts?

There's not doubt that wolves are very good at what they do, in terms of being predators. I've been fortunate enought o have some lenghty talks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife guys that do the collaring/tagging in the U.P. and it's pretty fascinating to hear their thoughts on the wolves versus other predators. Bears don't get nearly enough credit for their impact on the fawn crop. Fawns are born the same time bears are leaving their dens, and a bears sense of smell is acute enough to be able to find these fawns, even though they are virtually scent-free after being born. ACcording to them, about 60% of the wolves diet is beaver, especially in spring/summer/fall when the beavers are out and about. They are very slow on land, so the wolves have little trouble catching them. Where the wolves do there most damage (according to these guys) is in the harsh winter months when the deer are yarded up and the snow is deep. The wolves are so much better equipped to run through deep snow, and can therefore track down deer that would normally evade them. They also said that an average pack of 3-4 will average 1 deer per week in the winter, less in the warmer months when there is more easy food around.

As for the coyotes, I know in our area of the UP, since the wolves have become more abundant, we've not seen nor heard from any coyotes.

Three recent studies in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama show that approximately 70% of the fawns are killed by coyotes.

Not surprising...but these are also states with no wolves, and the coyote is likely the top predator.

A friend of mine just recently participated in a study they're doing up here. He helped to net a doe and they tagged it and implanted it-- he wrote an article about it, which was pretty cool. I'll see if I can get the link. Anyway, the study is supposed to find out what is killing the fawns and is the biggest study of its kind ever done in wisconsin... it will be interesting to see the results.

Sounds like an interesting study. What will be more interesting to see is if the results show that there needs to be a thinning of predatory animals like wolves/bears. In the northern reaches of WI and U.P. the bear numbers are pretty astounding right now. Over the counter bear tags for a year would likely take care of it, especially if the bear season coincided with archery deer season.

We've got some bears around here in central Wisconsin-- there are also wolves and a lot of coyotes. I think the coyotes do a number on the deer. Here's that link I was talking about. He's going to write more when they find out what happens to the fawns carried by the doe he tackled in this article. There is video too. The guy is pretty dedicated, he does a lot of stuff like this just as a volunteer.

http://bit.ly/fUrunb

I wouldn't say that wolves are having a hige impact on the deer herd as a whole in Wisconsin.

That's because they are mostly in just the northern part of the state. Up there they have had a noticeable impact on the deer herd size. In the good years (mild winters) the deer herd numbers don't jump like they did fifteen years ago. If the wolf population continues to grow unchecked it won't be long before the impact becomes a major problem.

I'm a hunter in Northern Wisconsin, Ashland County. Every year i go out shed hunting in late march/early april and find a dozen carcasses from Wolves, If you ever find wolf crap you will find deer hair in just about every pile, these wolves are taking out the deer herd faster than people think, Just in the past few years i hunt 500 acres by myself and within the 5 years the deer population dropped about 60%. Yes, bears do take care of fawns! But i do think that Wolves ARE the biggest threat, bears are 2nd, then coyotes.

On our land we have wolves and coyotes. The local farmers driving around their properties at night see numerous cases of coyotes with fawns in their mouths in the spring. We kill every one we see during gun season. Wolves haven't seemed to bother the herd.

Last fall one of the bowhunters on our land saw a huge cougar going in it when driving by in their car. THAT could hurt the deer herd.

Sfury, take a look at the DNR wolf location chart below. We hunt by Westfield in Marquette county which is in the MIDDLE of the state. They are NOT just up north anymore.

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/mammal...tm#territories

http://www.uwsp.edu/wildlife/carnivo...0Wisconsin.pdf

There is no doubt the wolves are moving south. We have seen a few around Eau Claire. There has been no established pack sightings here yet.

The DNR link showing a series of large packs in the central part of the state is interesting. I wonder why they jumped to that part of the state instead of spreading out from the north to the south.

I have not heard anything on the cougars. That's intriguing information as well. Best to carry a sidearm out in the woods these days. Especially in the northern part of the state.

Well i live in a state that has wolves, we also have grizzly and black bears, mountain lions, bobcats, canadian lynx, and coyotes. We have always had these animals,with the exception of the wolves in the numbers we have today. Several years ago some genious thought it would be a great idea to increase our wolf numbers, BAD IDEA!!! We have had relatively mild winters for the last decade so our deer, elk and moose numbers should be pretty high, they are not, and the single biggest cause of that is the wolf.

Now heard all the usual bs when they first started talking about bring up the wolf numbers," They have small litters, they kill off the very young or the very old, or the injured or sick,they are good to have for balance in the eco system, etc,etc".... Well guess what, WRONG!!! They are an apex predator, they kill anything they can bring down, they will have a litter of pups at least once a year, if food source is plentifull they will have 2 litters a year. They will have between 6-8 pups per litter per birthing female. We have an aveerage pack size of 8 woves per pack, and they will kill an animal or more every single day especially in the winter.

If they can't find a wild animal to take down, no problem, they will kill cattle, sheep, llama's, your pets if not inside your home, oh they are amazing at what they do, let me tell you. We have deer living in the middle of town now, we have elk living on the outskirts of town, because the wolves so far don't come in close to town yet. There are area's in the state that the elk numbers are on the decline, not because of winter kill, but because the elk cows are spontainiously aborting the calfs before birth because they are so nervous about wolves. The wolves in some parts of the state have just about wiped out local deer populations and have had a heavy toll on moose populations also.

Now keep in mind that we have all those other predators here, but the death rates of our deer, elk, moose, mtn sheep heards have sky rocketed scince the wolf recovery was such a success. You know you have a problem, when the govenor of the state goes on tv and tells you forget the federal laws on woves, just start shooting the darn things. We may not have these problems, if and when we can start hunting them legally. Right now the federal courts have banned the hunting of these animals, so there are no control measures to take care of this problem.

If you want more info, look up wolf problems on the net for Montana and Idaho. You will see that what the "experts" tell you about wolves is a bunch of crap.

As an after thought, if you want hard solid numbers on how wolves could effect you deer herds, look at the elk herd numbers for yellowstone before and after the wolves were reintroduced there. If you have no elk, substitute your deer herd for the elk, good luck.

Wolves are known to take down the sick only if they can't take the healthy down first.

There was a series done on PBS years ago on a wolf pack hunting moose on Isle Royale. They found that the wolves would always ignore the sick and preferred to take the healthier animals. Quickly debunking the myth that wolves take the sick and old first.

It was a pretty interesting study.

Of course, wolves, bears and coyotes are threats
 

The real question is if these predators are too much a threat. Certainly a treat to some deer hunters thinking of wanting an unlimited and unnatural number of deer in the forest.

With more hunters favoring "corn feeders" to hunt over, one wonders where the wolves, bears and coyotes will be hunting at night and in the hours not hunted by hunters. One wonders if the wolves will vote for more corn feeders? And then, who would be the real threat to deer?