Special Report: Where’d the deer go? Hunter frustration grows in Minnesota Northwoods

The lack of success seems to have both hunters and deer agreeing on an ultimate enemy. Wolves.

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[@realmsensor4766]

We have become accustomed to an unnatural amount of deer in our landscapes. Wolves among other predators were always present in these locations. And kept deer heard at a natural level. Hunters or more accurately called harvesters dont like the competition. And yes i am a deer harvester also.

[@KrazyK78]

I agree.... If there is an imbalance in nature it is because we are the ones doing it.

[@bonniepoole1095]

Is it the wolves or is it over-harvesting? People have descimated fish populations by over-harvesting. We nearly caused the extinction of beaver. Why not deer? Removing 660 deer from one location (area 126) seems excessive. If the population collapse of deer coinsided with the introduction of wolves, then it would be hard to establish causality: human induced or wolf?

[@jimbrew4529]

Overharvesting? Good point. 55 years ago when I started deer hunting, we were "stump sitters." Our time spent actually hunting was dictated by the weather. Eventually, we progressed to portable ladder stands. Now the country side is littered with comfy permanent buildings on stilts, where we can sit from sun up to sundown. Listening to podcasts, the football games, etc. I'm guilty too. I feel like more of an "assassin," than a hunter. Another difference - we never had bonus permits or intensive harvest permit areas.

[@derickchristensen3219]

Wolves definitely impact the deer heard but the state proves to be worse for the deer. In our area it has been open season on does for ten years or better and has resulted in so few deer that people are simply giving it up. Thank the MN DNR for creating the perfect storm.

[@clayelliott39]

I couple years ago ,I thought they had a wolf season. quota of 250 wolves and they got them in 2 days and by the time they got the season closed they had another 200 in 1 day,,,,, you have a big time wolf problem,,,,,Democrats and tree huggers lie

[@jimbrew4529]

Yes. I agree that over harvest by hunters and tough winters are the primary problems,

[@derickchristensen3219]

@@clayelliott39 obviously there are too many wolves. Couple that with hunters who shoot does year after year and you have no deer. The state of Minnesota doesn't care about the health of the deer heard. Lots of "Republicans" have taken full advantage of filling intensive harvest tags.

[@meesoedontask5562]

And it doesn't help that Yellowstone and TRUDUE have banned wolf hunting... Buddies in Canada have been complaining about their hunting being thwarted by wolves or them not finding any sign of deer since the Ban was placed on hunting wolves. They've been telling me they will shoot a deer and have to chase it down, only to have to fight off a wolf or two to get to their deer. One friend said he round a bend tracking a deer and had to give up the kill because of a bear. And they tell me of their farming buddies being plagued by bear constantly since the deer have moved away or been devoured by the out of control wolves and their insane populations. ON AVERAGE according to Biologists, Wolf packs do not typically pass 20 wolves, the numbers they have been getting for a pack is in the 40 to 50 range...

[@natetruth6828]

@clayelliott39 same thing to a T in wisconsin! Department of Negative Results 5 states brought woodland Elk in the 90s wisconsin was 1 of them. But wisconsin also brought wolves in to " manege the hurd " at the same time. Wisconsin is the only state that's still in the 100s. Other states have been in the 10s of thousands for many years.

[@stevecolombe4446]

Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan have the same wolf problems. I used to hunt northern Wisconsin until we started seeing more wolves than deer. A friend of mine in Upper Michigan did not even hunt this year for the first time in 40+ years. He said all they have on their trail cameras are wolves. Wisconsin is also losing hunters and the deer harvest is down 17% from last year which was not a very good year either. I gotta love how they also had to throw climate change in there also.😂

[@FreightMasterResources]

All you have to look at is snow fall from the 70's to present to know that the whole weather thing is BS. Winters were harsher decades ago and yet hunters got plenty of deer in the upper peninsula.

[@TNsher776]

The wildlife officials introduced wolves on purpose so they can kill all the deer!

[@storrmo]

💯% AGREED

[@greggkonitski743]

the climate change is democratic b.s. i guess dino farts brought on the ice age as well? Here in the corrupt state of Illinois insurance companies lobbying keeps herds down using the cwd as an excuse even though it has been here forever. The WI dnr blasted their hunters the last wolf hunt so, it is safe to say there more concerned with the wolves not the deer or the revenue hunters generate on year of hunters not purchasing tags would get their attention but should why should someone not hunt to get something done?

[@PavelDatsyuk-ui4qv]

It's supposed to be moose up here. I don't care if hillbillys don't get their buck

[@bobpourri9647]

I gave up deer hunting about 10 years ago, mostly because I was simply not seeing any deer any more. I am now 65 years old. I have always hunted public lands in Vilas county in northern Wisconsin. When I started hunting at 13 or whatever it was, one could expect to see at minimum 30 deer on opening Saturday, and about the same on Sunday. Very often I would see about 60 a day. My max for one opening day was 125 when I quit counting. One could expect to see one buck a year - even if not get a shot - and bag one about every other year. But in recent years? I would go both days and maybe see one doe. Please know that I am a GOOD hunter....I am quiet and patient and stay on my stand all day, from morning to dusk. I usually hunted opening day to Tuesday. I think the problem is a combination of things. Here they are in no particular order, but please note that "hard winters" did not make the list. My father told me of how difficult it was to get in the woods when he was younger....three feet of snow etc.. I believe him because even in MY life, I notice how warm and moderate the weather is becoming up there - at least during the deer hunt. Anyway, the list: Increased bow hunting; Early gun seasons; Doe permits; Bonus deer permits; Native American harvests; Wolves; Bears; Coyotes; ATV and other motorized incursion into wild areas; Deer concentrating on private lands with food sources intended to attract deer. There you go.

[@jeffp.8718]

Sounds like my experience every year in CA as long as I can remember. Last time I saw a buck on public land was 2014 and that was a fork horn. I go just about every year and I'm lucky if I see a couple does. That's after trekking a few miles into the back country. The hunt pressure is insane and you have to enter a drawing to get a tag in a zone higher than 2% success rate. And the season opens in August 😂 with average temperatures pushing 100 degrees daily. The deer here live at the city golf course.

[@csedan510]

I haven't seen 30 deer in the last 4 years in Vermont. We have VERY conservative hunting regs too.

[@jonesy4588]

I thought maybe it was because you came to your senses , setting in a tree freezing waiting to ambush a deer is not hunting anyway .

[@brob-zy8zi]

I think the two worst of what you mentioned was increased doe harvests and leases having enormous food sources. It's ruining hunting in many areas in my opinion. In wilderness areas with the possibility of having killing winters, it isn't smart to harvest a bunch of older does with the body mass and experience to survive. Especially when a bad winter can have a 50% fawn kill rate and kill a lot of yearlings as well. And, when you have a bunch of leases around with manicured food plots and bedding cover it isn't hard to see how deer could be pulled from miles around to stay.

[@hawks2252]

I hear ya. as a MN resident, I have buddy's that hunt together on a 340 acre area in WI that is food plotted, bedded, etc. Basically they spend 5k ++ apiece and a ton of time - tilling, planting, fertilizing, weeding, etc, basically farming only for deer, to shoot a big buck every year. @@brob-zy8zi

[@steveyoung31]

I hunt the UP. I haven’t had a legal deer on camera this season. I’m not an all star, but I can hunt. The worst season ever. I’ve hunted for 41 years

[@stephenWHITMER-ft8kf]

In the U. P. as well. No Buck. Lots of Wolves. D. N. R. Keeps saying since 2011 there are only #s in high 600 of Wolves. I call B. S. our Senator fought for us. To delist but some judge in Cali said NO. for us an 4 other states.

[@dougvuillemot8670]

​@@stephenWHITMER-ft8kf. Shoot shovel and shut up.

[@blobbertmcblob4888]

Poor baby =( whatever will you do without the corpse on your wall? D= If you want a status symbol, try actually achieving something.

[@Quaking_Aspen]

@@stephenWHITMER-ft8kfIf there’s no deer though, then there’d be no wolves. That’s their food source. It wouldn’t be possible for them to survive without them.

[@LiterallyOverTheHillAdventures]

As a life long hunter, trapper and fisherman I got to spend some time in the Minnesota north woods this past fall hunting grouse and fishing for pink salmon. The first thing that stood out to me was "what in the world do the deer eat up here?" As a kid I read all the books about northwoods hunting and even in its "heydays" I was not impressed with the numbers, the size of the deer yeah, but the numbers were not so good. I live in south Georgia and of course we have no wolves, well, not timber wolves but we do have an ample number of coy-wolves (eastern hybrids of wolves and coyotes, similar to our extirpated red wolves). One thing I have learned in my 62 years, most of them spent pursuing game, and fur, is that predator populations are always linked to prey population. Canines will not have large litters, or litters at all that survive, if the prey base is low. When prey is readily available, the predator populations will grow in proportion to its prey population. In Ga. we can harvest our k-9 predators year round with no limit and yet their population is only growing, because our deer population is huge. We can hunt deer almost 1/3 of the year in one form or other and have very liberal limits and it is not hard at all to put 8 deer in the freezer if that is what you want to do, and many do that. And yet our deer population is leaps and bounds above what it was when I started deer hunting in the late 1960s when if you saw a doe you were the talk of the deer camp. For deer populations to thrive in locations with severe winters, deer have to have shelter and a ready food source, I just did not see that when I was in Superior National Forest this past fall. After spending some time wandering around those woods, I was surprised there was even a deer population there, I simply did not see much for them to eat that would provide calories to carry them through a tough winter. As a fur trapper, I have no issue with hunting or trapping wolves, however as someone who has spent their lifetime in the outdoors, I do not now see wolves as the issue, it simply is the northwoods, they ain't the best place for a deer population to thrive. I did notice browse lines in portions of the woods where there was ample browse, but what that tells me is that the carrying capacity of those particular woods has reached its carrying capacity (they were rather high and I think they were from mosse more so than deer). Simply put, northwoods conifer (boreal forest) or mixed forests are simply not good habitat for whitetail deer. There is a reason northern Minnesota was home to woodland caribou and in forest with woodland caribou, whitetails just do not do that good because they have a harder time digesting lichens and mosses. Interestingly enough, I saw a moose and moose sign (tracks and droppings) when I was up there, but never saw a deer and very little deer sign.

[@jimbrew4529]

Good observations. Since you were fishing pink salmon, I suspect you were near the Lake Superior shore. Correct. The boreal forest is not good whitetail habitat. There are sporadic population spikes in the deer herd, but habitat and deep snow are the main limiting factors.

[@SebaTheHut]

Thanks for your observation. I sympathize with hunters and understand their mistrust, but i also understand that some areas are just not the greatest habitats for some species.

[@jimbrew4529]

@@SebaTheHut Right. The boreal forest area of Minnesota is very poor deer habitat and it's really not hunted hard because of that. There are several wolf packs that do a lot of travel to survive. They probably do more damage to the moose calf population, than anything.

[@LiterallyOverTheHillAdventures]

@@jimbrew4529 Correct, though I did head inland a good bit when I was grouse hunting. Interestingly enough, I just watched a news report about wild hogs getting into northern Minnesota from Canada. If that is the case, everyone is going to be loving the wolves, because they will prey on them also and help keep their populations from exploding. However, if they do show up in numbers, you can expect the wolf population not to be influenced enough by the ups and downs of the deer population,

[@LiterallyOverTheHillAdventures]

@@jimbrew4529 I imagine black bears put a hurting on the moose calf population, I know they do on other ungulates, in NC the transplanted elk took years to figure out where to have calves to keep from loosing them to bears.

[@mortsims]

my friend has 82 acres in the u.p. of michigan--alger county. bow hunting starts in october. he has a feeder. he hasn't seen a deer since october. he went out and walked around when it snowed, never saw a track.

[@johnwilkening3785]

Unreal

[@nickcasto8009]

Keep feeding the deer and CWD will make the wolf loss look very small. Also feeders congregate deer where they become easy prey for wolves.

[@dmk1529]

Move the feeder😢

[@johnwilkening3785]

@@nickcasto8009 u are correct

[@KingKongbabe]

@@nickcasto8009thats a joke. Try reality sometime.

[@slmjake]

No doubt, weather is a key driver in animal mortality. However those of us who spend lots of time outdoors observe more wolves and less moose and deer. We love wolves as part of the ecosystem, but we want a reasonable balance managed at the state level, not at the federal level if, in fact, our management plans are in track with federal guidelines. Too many folks are involved, armed with poor data and lots of emotions, and they dont reside in the areas of focus.

[@fjb4932]

I DON'T Love wolves as part of the ecosystem. Period ☆

[@davecamm9794]

Not soI'm in Alberta Canada lots of wolves huge moose population huge deer population you got other problems the snow the deep snow our wolf population in Alberta Canada is high and lots of deer and lots of moose its nature balancing itself out

[@stephenWHITMER-ft8kf]

Check out Alberta an moose pop.

[@davecamm9794]

@stephenWHITMER-ft8kf around 120000 moose 164000 mules I'm guessing whitetail population is double that

[@TravisMaki-o5h]

Wolves are more of a problem guess u live under a rock with this coffee shop bullshit get off ur knees

[@knuckledragger2412]

Yall know what to do. Take it to your grave. Gables voice tells us all we need to know. Bought and paid for...

[@woodman8261]

Same problem up here in northern Wi. A little research, and found the wdnr wants the deer herd to be at the levels of the 1950's.Not to mention that the big money insurance agency's are behind this too,less deer car collisions means less payouts,but our rates never go down.

[@tvviewer4500]

Had to look into this and I can’t believe that 15,000-19,000 deer are killed by cars in WI every year. Wow

[@wisconsinlife3971]

Didn't see one deer opening season west of tomahawk.. opening day heard 10 shots..

[@michaelmeathammer5688]

Land o lakes. Didn’t see a deer until day 4. Heard about 6 shots Terrible waste of my time at this point. I hear all the predators hollering every day around 4pm though. I gave up and went back to work after that disgrace.

[@garywartgow9057]

Last season we had in Wisconsin hound hunters killed 25% of population in 48 hrs sorry but the DNR can't count that's impossible

[@luckytrapper7656]

I heard 9 shots on opening day and seen more evidence of wolves than last year. The researchers and wdnr will always say it's the winter die off/kill instead of admitting that the wolf population is too high. I had heard the wdnr wants the deer population to be 1.5 deer per square mile. As far as the insurance A-holes go, the need to keep their greedy noses out of our tradition and heritage. They need to keep in mind there is tens of thousands more vehicles on the roads traveling much faster than there was in the 70's and probably 80's. And we also drive vehicles made much more cheaply made, thinner sheet metal and/or aluminum. These vehicles now day don't even have a bumper to speak of.

[@patriot1182]

Wolf permits come in boxes of 20!

[@courtneesdad]

😂😂😂 true that

[@ryanehlis426]

Dam right!

[@koolaidman5421]

Slinging darts !

[@jeffotten9319]

No approval needed.😊

[@TravisMaki-o5h]

Facts

[@Sam-lt1ur]

Im in northwest WI. I still see deer around here. Not like the old days though for sure. Bigger issue as many have said is nobody hunts anymore. I rarely see orange in the fields and woods lines during the season when i just go out driving around. But off topic anybody see that mountain lion that guy killed with his bow in Buffalo County WI? Unreal.

[@jdebell7068]

Yeah ,he felt threatened 😢

[@hawks2252]

when did mountain lion happen? I used to hunt around Minong and there was a hunter in every tree. I moved to other areas.

[@DroopyWorm]

Yep. Hardly see orange anymore. Pretty wild. Unfortunately, Gen X & Millennial parents put too many screens in front of their kid's faces and forgot to teach them to hunt.

[@dougvuillemot8670]

Lol. Nobody's going to go out hunting if there not seeing any deer.

[@FirstLast-wv3ds]

The dnr should release the number of depredation claims if they love their charts so much. I’ll bet that line doesn’t go down.

[@roblockhart8410]

So basically what the graph showed was after 3 years of hunting wolves the deer populations started rising. Then a couple years after they stopped killing wolves it went back down again.

[@davemcmullen6682]

When the deer are gone these wolves will gladly eat your livestock..who pays for that?..

[@josephshields2922]

The deer will never be gone. The most over populated species in US other than people. There 1.2 million in NY and we no wolves, just a bunch of folks feeding them all year long in NJ and bait hunting. According to Google there are 900k in Minnesota.

[@harley3037]

Personally, I think wolves can't be the only reason Minnesota deer are disappearing. First reason is that wolves were never fully extirpated from Minnesota, especially in the northern range, though their populations were hit. Wolves depend on deer, but also on several other known food sources, the Voyagers Wolf Project cites beavers as a very common food source for wolves, as well as fish, blueberries, and moose calves (when in season), while opportunistically hunting smaller animals when available like raccoons and possums. It's hard to believe wolves would be decimating deer populations so dramatically, after having been hunting them in the same range for thousands of years, even if their population has increased. Now this isn't to say I think we should never allow wolf hunting either, I have a lot of respect for hunters and the craft, and obviously, a wolf preying on livestock needs to be dealt with, as wolves will teach each other, and if one wolf preys on livestock, more will if its not nipped in the bud. Beyond that, predator hunting is a thing that just can't be dealt away with, even if I'm not particularly fond of it. All that is to say, I do fully believe that deer populations are decreasing in Minnesota, but I can't see wolves being the only reason deer are declining, or the primary reason, and that while not being against the hunting of wolves, it should absolutely be regulated.

[@uprebel5150]

We are asking the same question here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Wolves use the two pipeline cuts that cross the entire UP as super highways. I live only 40 miles from the Mackinac Bridge and I see wolves on every hike I take.

[@PavelDatsyuk-ui4qv]

Deer suck. I don't care if hillbillys don't get their 19 point. I'd rather have moose and wolves than deer

[@FrogDad556]

@@PavelDatsyuk-ui4qv Good thing your in the minority opinion. Balance is key. Not some butthurt opinion cuz you totaled your car hitting a deer.

[@PavelDatsyuk-ui4qv]

@@FrogDad556 the natural balance was , less deer, more moose and wolves .

[@mikeherber8358]

Get rid of this guy asap@@PavelDatsyuk-ui4qv

[@boygirlandadad5814]

....but...but there's only about 600 wolf's in the U.P. I live very north in the U.P. and when we snowmobile, doing a lot of predator hunting btw, the trails we create make highways for the wolf packs. It's sickening how many wolf's there are.

[@got2kittys]

Do you people really think some wolves can wipe out all the deer? In my state, forest fires provide more pasture. Thick pine lowers deer populations, nothing eats pine needles. Do some logging, and controlled burns. If there's no deer the wolves starve too. What did deer do centuries ago? Wolves were everywhere.

[@matthewtrapp7756]

They are replacing hunters with wolves. Why don’t they ask the educated biologist what is better to manage the deer herd. Hunters or wolves? Wolves don’t turn off. When there is a bad winter is it easier to curtail licenses the following year or turn off wolves? One look at the crap show of the Caribou slaughter in Canada and the reintroduction of more wolves on isle royale island unnaturally gives you all you need to know about these anti hunting activists biologists

[@josephshields2922]

According to Aldo Leopold an avid hunter who took part in the Wolf Eradication Program in the early 1900's the Wolf is better manager of the deer population. Hunters simply can't cover the amount of territory a wolf can. THey are not as efficient because they require the building of roads to get to wild places which requires the destruction of wild habitat. Hunters also tend to kill the biggest healthiest deer where as Wolves are opportunists and take some of the weakest and lame.He recognized that too many deer leads to a destruction of the undergrowth which leads to the dissappearence of the very deer that destroyed the small plants. Leopold had an epifhany that the eradication Program was wrong. He developed the idea of "Wilderness areas" on federal land. I recommend his book "Sand county almanac" which is loved by both hunters and conservationists alike.

[@matthewtrapp7756]

@@josephshields2922 they only kill more because of the rules and regulations put in place by so called enforcement. Hunters for the most part follow laws. If you make a law banning certain activities ie baiting, bag limits, season dates, weapon restrictions, land access, license costs, non resident license restrictions. Of course wolves will be better hunters. Tell a wolf that he needs to only kill during a month period and he only gets one tooth and only if he applies for the tag and pays $1000 dollars will he be allowed to kill. He wouldn’t be able to kill either. Hunters hunt large deer because they are allowed to. If you don’t want large deer shot it’s an easy rule change by biologists. If you think hunters need roads to hunt on you obviously have not hung around enough hunters. When I elk hunt I go as far from roads as possible. Needing roads to hunt is false doctrine.

[@bubcat54]

Same goes for the UP. I was surrounded by wolf tracks and a noticeable lack of deer sign.

[@hcn6708]

The wolves have to be eating something, and deer hide when wolves are present

[@natetruth6828]

How adorable he had a chart with lines on it to fit his wolf loving narrative. With out showing data on how he come up with it!

[@bigmule35]

This researcher is full of SH$t , Of course if deer are up wolves numbers will be up , they are there eating them. And yes when snow is deep deer have little to no chance to get away from wolves ... If the wolves were not there , the deer would not have to get away , they could find away to live.

[@jeremybrownfield1025]

Yea that dude who claimed he was impartial was a liar and his little 3yr chart was a bunch of crap. A person who is supposedly educated and asked to provide facts who in reality was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Guy was a weirdo wolf lover who would never say they need controlled just like everything else. Just imagine asking that guy about shooting wolves and you could see he would tie himself to a tree smh how does a legit scientist avoid the fact every animal needs managed period

[@Anonymous-vr9hp]

What his lines show is that the deer population and the wolf population was high and in the following years the deer population dropped. It's a case of willful ignorance. The deer were there then the wolves now no deer🤔

[@swampbucker1]

How To Lie With Statistics is a good book

[@AlanDWitte]

Made up B.S 😂

[@nickcellini5609]

They're saying the Wolf population hasn't grown in the last 5 years. No kidding, its because there are fewer deer for them to eat. What is the wolf population compared to what it was 20 years ago ?

[@2cthetruth]

ya, they never lie to the public....right?

[@Quaking_Aspen]

The wolf population in MN is roughly similar to what it was twenty years ago. In fact, wolf populations in northeastern mn have been stable for hundreds of years, they were never hunted to extinction there.

[@nickcellini5609]

@@Quaking_Aspen Populations of animals are NEVER stable. They fluctuate constantly. Predators eat too many prey, then there isn't enough to eat so the predators die off and have fewer cubs. The prey numbers make a comeback and shortly thereafter the predators numbers make a comeback.

[@Quaking_Aspen]

@@nickcellini5609 You’re right, I should have been a little more nuanced in what I said. Sorry about that. Populations DO go back and forth, as you mentioned, but as you also pointed out, predators react to prey and vice versa. As such, with such a steep decline of deer, wolf populations will no doubt fall, and then deer will rise, and then wolves will, too, and then we’ll get to do it all over again! However, averaged out over years, it’s still a “stable” population. This sharper decrease in deer isn’t one that would have resulted from the usual prey and predator population swing, and probably isn’t caused by wolves. If we look back over the decades, wolf and deer populations have fluctuated, but never this much, and there’s not really a sign that wolves have all of a sudden decided to kill twice as many deer as they usually do. I think it’s something else, like maybe overhunting, or maybe the winters really *have* been too severe, or maybe (and this theory’s a personal favorite) deer populations were artificially increased in northeastern MN from logging creating grasslands that weren’t there before and were just now watching as the grasslands grow back to boreal forest and the habitat become less friendly to deer. If that last theory’s true, we should probably focus on letting moose populations rise, as they’re adapted to live in that sort of habitat. Again, sorry for being inaccurate in saying populations were stable, but this sharp decrease isn’t like what those fluctuations between predator and prey are supposed to be like, and there’s probably some other issue going on.

[@DR-ro7dw]

Here in east central Alberta have noticed a marked decline in deer numbers since the inception of doe supplemental tags and has only been compounded by the advance of CWD.

[@davemcmullen6682]

Once read that every deer was worth 300 dollars to the economy...Hunters buy guns ,gear, clothing. Travel to hunting locations, eat in local restaurants, stay in hotels..In some rural communities hunting seasons are vital to the local economy... That wolf is worth nothing.

[@bobpourri9647]

In a very real way, I believe that this economic fact initiated the decline of the deer population: By me, businesses in northern Wisconsin applied political pressure on the DNR to increase the number of early seasons and doe/bonus permits to get more hunters hunting for a longer period of time, thus more $$$ in their pockets. This happened in the '80s-'90s as I recall. It was then that I began to notice the decline in deer in the woods. I am not sure how this matches the wolf re-introduction timeline, but I believe this decline preceded any real wolf impact on the deer population.

[@greggkonitski743]

correct!

[@davidolson8559]

You never count the thousands of deer that are poached every year by so called hunters. No one talks about that . Your neighbors is doing it too.

[@chaffman6655]

Deer registration number in PA 119 is 231 not the overinflated number you reported! And dropping every year lately. No confidence in the Mn DNR. Let's go Brandon!

[@Paul15.]

The Wolves have taken over. You don't see any animals in the northern woods. Not just deer. You need to have a wolf season for 2 to 3 years no quota. You can't figure this out with a computer. The reason deer went down is wolves. I work in Cook and Lake County as a utility worker. I'm outside working every day. Plus I fish and hunt on weekends. I've talked to many older experienced outdoorsmen. Along with current and retired gamewardens. They are in touch with the animals in their areas. There are so many dogs that get killed by wolves up here. Bears need to be controlled better also.They are big fawn and moose calf killers. The DNR collared 49 moose calfs one spring not to long ago. 43 were dead by the end of June. Almost all of them killed by wolves They kill deer year-round. Between Little Marais and Lutsen deer are down 90 some percent. Inland deer from there to Ely are down closer to 100 percent. People that live up here and work up here are the only ones that should be listened to. Not some guy with a computer in the cities. Some of the years that you pointed out you could shoot 5 deer up here. Of course the numbers were higher. EVERYBODY should check out the 11 minute video the sheriff of Kitson County MN. put out a few years ago on wolves effect on cattle. I'm tired of people protecting top predators. It's insane. What good has it done. Northern MN. has empty motels and cabins. Bars,restaurants, gas stations, food stores and other businesses lost revenue that they need. People that bought land for deer hunting have no deer now. Longtime deer hunting camps have folded. Kids are missing out on a great tradition. Again, for what? This needs to get straightened out. And again, that guy with the computer. Don't bring it up here. Who knows where it might end up. The deer population has gone down every year since 2010.

[@RonFleischhacker-bi7gt]

The wolves are killing the bears ! Black bear hunters Mn seen first hand wolves eating bears. Avg bear 250lbs has no chance vs 3 or 4 wolves that's what's happening, Winter dens too ! Wolf scat had cub claws an pads in it. THERES TO MANY WOLVES Moose calves all gobbled up as well. MN is pathetic how they refuse to listen to FACTS.

[@Paul15.]

Please watch : Wolf law and Kittson County wolf problems 2017 on you tube. This video is just a few of the cattle ranches in that county

[@josephshields2922]

So basically you want all the competition eliminated so its just you and the deer. There is a food chain in nature and just like any other chain when you take a link out or two out it ceases to be a chain.

[@Paul15.]

​@@josephshields2922 it was great when the wolf population was lower. You don't see animals of any kind when you drive around up here. Everything is out of wack. Tom you are a fool

[@Quaking_Aspen]

Bro if the wolves killed all their food source then they’d be dead 💀. Wolves can’t just manifest themselves from nothing, they need a food source. And if they theoretically killed all their food, then there’d be no more wolves. They’re not the problem.

[@RamBo-uu9so]

Poachers take more deer than wolves. Beef prices are to blame.

[@hawks2252]

In my opinion, follow the money. Northern WI, maybe 10 years ago opened trapping for wolves for a year, forget the number of tags available - maybe around 300. . DNR estimated it would take a month season and harvest about 70% of available tags before closing. The trappers tagged out in 2 days. Mn has more wolves. They re not telling the truth about the numbers.

[@lorenzell3104]

We have the same problem in Wis. The DNR here is the deers worst enemy. Imho, the insurance industry wants the deer herd gone to eliminate car/deer collisions. The DNR has also been giving out doe tags like crazy. They are just like many other govt agencies. Lies, lies lies.

[@Quaking_Aspen]

So, you think it’s probably not the wolves, but over hunting? That sounds possible to me.

[@jimwebser2180]

I have been to Northern Minnesota and it,s beautiful there I had an Aunt and Uncle who had acreage outside of Hibbing and another Aunt And Uncle who had a farm near Nashwauk Both Uncles were my Dads Brothers I loved going to visit then in the summer when I was a young boy and my parents would make that drive from our home in S.W.Iowa one Uncle had land on the shore of a lake. And I had cousins in Grand Rapids.who had a very nice home. I once dreamed of trying to buy some land there but now I would not do that because of the wolves for one.because they,re protected more than the farmers cows and other livestock.Minnesota has gone to far left for my liking anymore If people quit voting for Democrats there a lot of their problems would stop.

[@jaceej1]

The wolves eat most of the deer as fawns. They backtrack lactating does. Because deer that die during winter stay frozen, they are considered fresh to the wolves,and good to eat for many months. Wolf kills during winter do not reflect the kill frequency for the rest of the year. Also wolves prefer fresh, fat, and young. They refuse large carcasses during the heat, rot is not perfered. The Doe fawn ratio before January is a good indicator of wolf predation. Hunters take mature deer, so success rates drop when mature deer numbers drop, which is after a few years of fawn kill. Early fawn kill data is the most important.

[@theoriginalDAL357]

Just trust the science, guys, not your real-world experience and lying eyes. Also, don't forget to get your booster. 🙄

[@honeybadgerstudios21]

Somebody doesn’t have a degree in natural or conservation sciences 😂

[@stevespeltz9785]

South Eastern MN has the same problem. I would like to see someone investigate the insurance companies for padding the palms of the DNR agencies to convince the hunters they need to reduce the population for the cwd so called problem. This is serious. While there is absolutely no evidence that cwd can be spread to humans yet here we are making it an issue. I believe that they are reducing the population to aid the insurance companies. This must be investigated.

[@FirstLast-wv3ds]

I suppose harsh winters have driven deer into town also? Not the fact that wolves have pushed them there. They can tell me whatever numbers they want, but I can prove em wrong by watching wolves walk down the road in front of my house that is 2 miles out of town on a weekly basis.

[@dustins3147]

We don't even have wolves down here in Conroe, Tx and deer numbers have been steadily going down the past 15 years. On any given day you could easily count over 30+ deer during daylight on our 60 with many being older bucks, now you're lucky to see 10-15 deer with only a few bucks. The only thing that has changed has been all the people moving here and the growing neighborhoods not to mention all the damn roads with many getting hit by cars. Hunting pressure and predation is only a small factor, if the area can't hold deer whether food or cover then of course the numbers will be going down. You can't keep destroying habitat then wonder where all the game animals are. Smh

[@joshgarner805]

I grew up hunting right next to Voyagers Nat. Park and when I started hunting there in the early to mid 2000's it was not hard to kill a deer. They were everywhere but as time went on the numbers went down and the wolf numbers started to increase. It looked like a direct cause to me. It got to the point where our group of 6 would maybe see one deer in the 3 week gun season. Needless to say I wanted the chance to shoot a deer so I moved else where and haven't been back since. Its sad because growing up I wanted to buy some land in northern MN but that dream is gone. I have started to look for land out of state now that actual has deer on it. Between the MN DNR and Government they have ruined hunting in Minnesota.

[@oderusurungus4438]

What would wolves eat if there were no deer, cattle, elk, bison or coyotes? What is left in nature that wolves would be able to hunt and thrive as a pack? Bears? Cougars? Turkeys? Rabbits? Fish? Fox? Birds of prey? Honestly, someone respond with some answers. I'm pushing for live trapping and relocation to zones 605 & 701 in MN . Perhaps special attention to St. Paul, Minneapolis and the Governor's Mansion. Otherwise there are plenty of wooded areas for packs to live. It's not a problem until it happens to you.

[@davemcnamee2298]

I love the guy with the laptop and charts that pretends to not be an advocate for the wolves. If he lived on the land his eyes and brain could chart the truth. Ask any cattle rancher what they have seen and lived through so far on deer and livestock predation by wolves.

[@JayBee-cr8jm]

The DNR bought 1,200 acres next door to me and turned it into state land. I counted 44 cars there on opening day. It sounded like Baltimore Maryland for about 3 hours. THAT is where the deer went.

[@Quaking_Aspen]

Baltimore Maryland honestly sounds like an accurate comparison. How many gunshots were you hearing?

[@JayBee-cr8jm]

@@Quaking_Aspen I generally hear multiple shots/hour for the duration of the season. It starts just before sunrise and ends just after sunset.

[@Quaking_Aspen]

@@JayBee-cr8jm How many deer have you seen near your house this year?

[@JayBee-cr8jm]

@@Quaking_Aspen That's a hard question to answer. Define near.

[@Quaking_Aspen]

@@JayBee-cr8jm 1 mile radius around your home. Maybe a better metric would be how many times have you almost hit a deer with your car this year?

[@steveniemyer9288]

I think the researcher is spot on because it matches my experience. I see more wolf tracks than deer tracks but it has been that way for the last 15 years. With that being said I still have plenty opportunity to take a deer, but I don’t hunt in the high snowfall regions that were reported in in the video. I agree that to much snow/cold is tough on all the animals and I agree that is the primary cause of the population drop the hunters are experiencing. I lived in Southwest Ohio back in 77 and the blizzard that year killed off an estimated 90% of bobwhite quail population . Here we are 46 years later and the population of quail is still near record lows in Ohio.

[@DaVillbers]

So then wouldn’t it make sense following a bad winter to knock down the wolf herd and let the deer recover? If the bad winter is a culprit, and in turn that enables wolves to be even more effective, then why the heck aren’t we running wolf quotas to keep that massive population impact in check? It seems so strange to me that we only manage one of the variables (deer licenses) instead of all the variables to keep populations in check and keep hunters buying tags. Heck, sell them a deer tag with every wolf tag or vice versa and just focus on getting more people back into the sport before it is lost altogether.

[@dwallich56]

The "biologist" from the Voyageur Project was a bit misleading. Wolf kills of does are a leading indicator, meaning that if a wolf kills a doe this year, it has taken one deer this year. But that lost doe may have had 8 fawns/deer over the next few years (assuming a 1.0 replacement ratio). So, to say that wolves kill few deer in any one year neglects the imact of lost does on the future deer herd size. Where do we go for honest information anymore?

[@soonerman3695]

I hunt but wolves was here and lived along natives. We are just worried about money in our pockets and not thinking that the wolves need to be in our ecosystem to balance it out. We have to keep their numbers in check and those claiming they are seeing more wolves then deer are full of shit

[@Tom-bf6ze]

The wolf population is exploding in northern central wisconsin. An area they have never really populated. They're following hunters out of the woods in the evening. I've seen trail cam pics RECENTLY with up to 7 wolves in frame.

[@1989Falkor]

My first night out in the UP I had a couple wolves super close to me walking out. Howled right behind me it seamed. Walked that half a mile pretty damn fast! We heard them in camp every night. We only saw two while hunting.

[@dgliver26]

3000 wolves x 20 deer = 60,000 deer. How many deer still remain in NE Minnesota? The numbers aren't working out... Look at the declining moose population. The mortality rate for moose calves is now unbelievably high, because deer scarcity is forcing more moose onto the wolf menu

[@jthorpe454]

We all know what we have to do. Just sayin.

[@DroopyWorm]

@@2344lStart supplying meat to your local Asian restaurant

[@charlessmith4242]

* When the snow gets deep, deer yard up. This gives the wolf a huge advantage since deer will plunge deep into the snow as it flees, while the wolf will be able to keep from sinking into the snow as much, due to its larger paws. If given the opportunity, a wolf pack will kill as many deer as they can catch in those kind of situations. Remember too, for every doe that a wolf kills during the winter that wolf is killing an additional fawn or two ( occasionally three ). The more food available for the wolf, the more wolves will be born. There will come a time when the wolf will eat themselves out of food. At that time the wolf population will decline, and the prey species will have a chance to rebound. How quick that rebound will happen depends upon how favorable the habitat and climate conditions will be. Of course, the wolf population will also rebound with the increase of its food sources. This cycle of feast and famine has been going on forever. What proper game management does is to smooth out these wild swings in the population of these animals by using hunters to keep each specie at a certain level of sustainability. It's not hard to understand how a low wolf population can keep the deer population from rebounding during a winter of deep snow. There's a number of people that don't want to believe that a wolf pack, if given the opportunity, will slaughter as many prey animals as they can catch. There's a reason we are told not to run from a predator because it will trigger its attack mode. This is what happens when a wolf pack catches their prey in deep snow. People that live and work in close proximity with wolves know this happens.

[@2cthetruth]

I have a feeling the people are going to start taking this situation into their own hands. The insurance companies/lobbyists are out of control! They also know that as food prices go up, people will be turning to wild game....but not if the wolves eat everything.

[@sbl9467]

If ever there are ZERO insurance claims regarding deer collision your insurance will not go down anyways. They'll find something else to justify the increase. It's the way it works. All lies

[@Notmyhome-y7y]

👍

[@tj8771]

The government is deliberately reducing our food supply. If the deer heard was so out of control. Why not extend the season or allow special rifle season. Let people have that meat. NOT WOLVES!

[@joelerickson4888]

All you have to do is put the DNR in charge of protecting something and they will disappear. They did a bang up job with the Moose. In my area if you see a pickup stuck in the snow and no one is trying to pull it out it’s a DNR pickup.

[@DroopyWorm]

DNR has been destroying the state land by me for the last 7 years. They log it off, tear the ground up (including spots with rare plants) and then buckthorn takes over within 3-4 years, making it an unusable jungle. But God forbid you pick a flower, or shoot a squirrel without paying them their $15 first. Absolute losers.

[@garyschwieters54]

I highly doubt it would ever be accepted, but imagine if the State of MN would simply make the Arrowhead region of MN open to the harvest of wolves for a 10 year period and do yearly calculations on harvests of both deer and wolves, take hunter and rancher surveys on what they see personally and on cameras over that time too. Let the outcome speak for itself and put this whole issue to bed.

[@davemcnamee2298]

Your idea is sound. But your target area is far too small. The entire northern 3rd, at least of Minnesota is in shambles from the mismanagement of wolves and black bears.

[@garyschwieters54]

Oh I agree that it’s “in shambles”, but I figure if the State took a targeted area of focus and ran such a study, the outcome could be very telling when compared to the non targeted area.

[@LyleKjonaas-ve6ib]

Another large factor for low harvest numbers from other areas, is the changes of hunting methods. Rich people buy 640 acres of forest to bag a trophy buck, and don't allow other hunters in. Just another reason vehicle accidents involving deer are on the rise.

[@leecrumble3921]

I don't think you can blame this on snow. We get huge amounts of snow in Alberta Canada and the deer numbers are fine! The difference is were allowed to hunt wolves in Canada.

[@inkedskindeep9941]

I hunt 159 & as far as I know there's not many wolves in the area & haven't heard of any cattle kill due to Wolves but I only saw 1 buck & maybe 20-25 doe the entire season.

[@adamcrabtree6898]

Liberals tend to turn a blind eye to these things

[@RandySavagxe]

Yet Right wingers are the ones killing them

[@shawnmichael6190]

I live in the Northwoods of Wisconsin around mountain deer cleaned out up here too The only way you will have deer is if you have your own property and work at keeping the wolves at bay not to mention the bears kill a lot of fawns as well, last year I watched a very large single wolf attack a deer in my front yard as I took out the garbage, I chased him off but it tore the deer up real bad. I watched it bed down for several days. Not moving than the wolf came back sometime overnight saw him on my trail cam and deer was nothing but bones completely shredded... The early '80s this whole region was just a deer paradise. It was completely loaded. You would be walking over deer not anymore.

[@jeffotten9319]

Agree, I spent time in your area,in the early 70s , Wisconsin had a 35 $ dollar bounty for brush wolves,it was a great aid in helping Deer population

[@garyK.45ACP]

The deer depicted in the reporter's backdrop is a Mule Deer. There are no mule deer in Minnesota. Just sayin.' Seems like some wolves need to be removed. Wolves are a very effective predator and their "season" on deer is 24/7. It takes very few wolves, in an environment with other hazards for deer, such as automobile collisions, to keep the population in check. If hunters are seeing wolves AT ALL, let alone "more wolves than deer" as some hunters report...the population of wolves is far too high. The theory that wolves only take the old and weak is nonsense. In deep snow, ALL deer are "weak". Fawns in the spring are the "weakest" and if the fecundity rate drops (the actual rate of repopulation, not just the fertility or birth rate) the overall population of deer will be decimated. Human hunters could do it much more precisely. Unfortunately, MN, WI and MI have clung to their old, traditional SHORT hunting seasons and limits on doe harvest and overall bag limits.

[@FarmI3oy]

They do this shit all the time. Used the wrong species and put a cross hair on it's head which no hunter would ever do. Unbelievable.

[@garyK.45ACP]

@@FarmI3oy During my life and career (I am now retired) I became _very_ knowledgeable of certain topics. Not so knowledgeable of others. Like all people I suppose. EVERY time I see any sort of news report on ANY topic I am knowledgeable of...they get it wrong. I can only assume they get everything else wrong also.

[@Quaking_Aspen]

Wait, if the wolves are so effective at killing deer that they make the population crash, wouldn’t that make the wolves die? They’d have no food. It doesn’t make sense to blame the wolves.

[@garyK.45ACP]

@@Quaking_Aspen Do you think wolves can calculate how many deer to kill and eat in order to have a sustainable population of deer? And then they'll just skip meals? Or maybe they will know to not kill the female deer, or the young deer? Or maybe the wolves will kill only a percentage of the mature male deer? D'ya think? If the deer are killed by wolves, the wolves will eat other things. Smaller animals, people's pets, cattle, sheep. They won't stop eating. And AFTER they have eaten _everything they can catch,_ THEN their own population will decline. Yes. Unless you think wolves don't eat deer at all and are not the reason for the decline of deer. Is that what you think?

[@Quaking_Aspen]

@@garyK.45ACP No, that’s not what I think. Wolves, of course, don’t plan out their meals or anything like that. Instead, to make sure they don’t run out of food, they make large territories, and if they find another wolf in their territory, then they’ll either chase it off or kill it. This is a fact. THATS what I mean when I say that wolves wouldn’t eat all of their food. Not by policing themselves, but by policing other wolf packs and making sure they don’t invade upon their territory, which they’ve made just large enough to support themselves. In other words, wolves manage themselves. Think about it. When Europeans arrived in North America, they found an abundance of deer and a lot of wolves. Both populations healthy. And yet, there was no one managing the wolves and making sure they didn’t kill all of the deer. Despite the lack of human interference, deer were doing just fine, arguably better than they are now. The thing preventing wolves from killing all the deer were the wolves themselves. And wolves still manage themselves today, just as they’re evolved to. This recent drop of deer is concerning, but it can’t possibly be the wolves. They haven’t killed all the deer for the thousands of years before we got here, why would they now?

[@alan8887]

What I'm hearing is the wolves are thinning the deer population out as nature intended but the hunters want to thin the wolf population out by annihilation. Every person in the world knows that upsets the natural habitat. Limited deer hunting tags. Make the hunters bid for them.

[@jeffmertens9790]

I had to quit bird hunting in Northern Wisconsin this fall because wolves came right into camp and threatening me and my dog. Before that I saw zero deer sign.

[@jimmy2thymes916]

I'm a hunter and was not a fan of the graphic with the crosshairs on the deer's head at the beginning and end of this segment. Poachers don't even shoot deer in the head. It casts a bad light on the sport. Can you imagine how many anti-hunters watched this and now hate us sportsmen even more?

[@jameslinzmeier368]

Some of this is tied to changes in hunting regulations. The elimination of no hunting the week before rifle season is when I, in Wis., started seeing fewer deer. This past year I, being 63 now, I went a day earlier than usual and all the people hunting surprised me. That one week is enough to allow the deer to change back to a more normal movement pattern. IMO I also think the wolves have something to do with it, but wolves were plentiful when we settled the area and deer were plenty then also. I am no expert....

[@TehLexinator]

This is a huge issue for me in Minnesota. My trail cams no longer spot deer. Lol I don't even see raccoons! What I do see, is a lot of wolves. And yet Minnesota makes it illegal to get rid of them. So the time and money I spent maintaining and improving my hunting property property went down the drain. But I still have to pay taxes. Idiots.

[@sweendog24]

Boy they are hitting this narrative real hard. Good job DNR. 🙄🙄🙄

[@DroopyWorm]

The DNR is useless and destructive

[@duanesmith5074]

A great read is the Wolf man of Alaska. A man that spent most of his life trapping wolf's. Remember S S S SHOOT SHOVEL SHUTUP

[@reyesmilton9001]

In maryland the same , deer are not here anymore

[@247tx3]

Less wolf's in winter means more deer will survive the winter

[@catpfp-s5k]

5:34

[@brob-zy8zi]

There are a lot of coyotes in Pennsylvania but it doesn't seem to affect the deer population. What I think is affecting deer sightings here is huge tracts of private land being off limits. I've lost access to thousands upon thousands of acres of timber company and energy company land since I started hunting. When I was a kid we didn't know what a posted sign was. Slowly it's all become posted and/or leased. I have started scouting areas adjacent to large tracts of private land when it snows. The amount of tracks coming off the private reminds you of looking at one of those areas out west after thousands of Elk migrate across a highway. The deer will all hunker down on private and sometimes travel miles at night to food, even in the forest. You'll find plenty of sign around, rubs, scrapes, tracks, etc and put up a camera and not see deer until 1 to 3 am. If you look on a map and follow the general direction they came from back you will eventually see the private land they came from whether it be Timber land, energy company land, a lease, or just a large tract that someone owns.

[@Clamps-nn2pz]

Gotta love dumb Americans. Ontario is very much the same.

[@thomasreece3903]

The coyotes in western N C. Are having a field day with baby deer. They were brought in by the wildlife and car insurance companies to thin / destroy the deer population. Good n c wildlife

[@jackinthewoodsii8653]

The people have cut down all of the trees to build mansions where there used to be forest. I also live in Pennsylvania, in the North East, the wildlife habitat is shrinking quickly :(

[@brob-zy8zi]

@jackinthewoodsii8653 I'm lucky in the area I grew up in Southwestern PA a large chunk of the property in the ridges is Forbes State Forest, Quebec Run Wild Area or state game lands. The large tracts that are timber company land or belongs to energy companies is pretty much off limits now, though. Thankfully many residences leave their woods alone. It sucks that the woods are being cleared in your neck of the woods so much.

[@brob-zy8zi]

@jeffjames9568 Yes they are. Once they realize that they aren't smelling much human scent there and aren't getting shot at they gravitate there.

[@adammucha3917]

I'm in central wi, tigerton area. 45 yrs old, and Wisconsin's longest tradition is shot. The DNR ruined it. Can do several sits without even a sighting of a deer. It's become a rich man's sport. Pay upwards of 10k an acre for good hunting land, just to find there's no deer. I don't understand how season after season we continue to have an a verage of 15-20% lower harvest, archery and firearm. Dnr keeps making up cheap excuses, and won't do anything about it.

[@DroopyWorm]

They need to go

[@OrionsMako]

Interesting, we have so many coyotes and lots of deer.

[@josephshields2922]

Where I live the hunters tell you the coyotes are "All over the place" I see bear every week yet have only seen 3 coyotes in the past ten years.

[@thegreenberetlife0191]

This is nonsense, we have wolves where I am in Northern WI and we have more deer than we ever have… The main food source for wolves are rodents and when pigs get here, you will need the wolves (who generally avoid humans).

[@philipmiles3410]

I an interview with my neighbor who has property in Northern Minnesota he gave me the dirt on the Minnesota north woods , and his report came from local farmers and his family that reside there, and they mentioned that the Timer wolves have taken over and all you see is wolf tracks . My neighbor is disabled and depends on the venison and was pretty disgusted . Over the past years, like many from Northern Minnesota , he saw a drastic decline in the deer herd . In closing, he has not filled a tag either in Minnesota or Wisconsin.

[@philipmiles3410]

I interviewed correction

[@gregblankenship7584]

That's the plan to reduce our natural food sources

[@philipmiles3410]

@John_J_Doe , keep your bullshit bud he only takes what he shoots which is 1, and I know his family and they only get maybe 1 or 2 so get your facts straight. Maybe some are that way, but not all . Sounds like you talking about Wisconsin because people got mad and shot for the moon and over harvested our deer and now between mismanagement and over harvest plus the excessive amount of the top apex predators we have nothing .

[@minnesotaliveoutdoors]

so let me get this straight, researchers are saying its not actually the wolves but the deep snow winters making it harder for deer to evade wolves? so ...... isnt it the damn wolves still? what am i missing? manage the wovles !!!!!!

[@AaronBleess-yz4cw]

Wolves need to be managed like any other other big game animal.

[@jeffogden6240]

It's not just Minnesota, it's all across the Pacific northwest also, and it's not just blue tounge. Idaho agreed to have 500 wolves originally, now there are over 2000. If the states don't find a way to stop it, there will be no deer or elk.

[@jeffotten9319]

A hunter on here says the tags are 20 in a box 😉

[@phillipstephens3079]

Voyagers Wolf Project through the University…means grant $$ and a job for Tom (of course Tom’s holding on tight). Where does the FWS ( federal Fish and Wildlife Service) pencil into this ? Ranchers/hunters in the Blue Mountains of S.E. Washington State and also later in N.E. Washington State tried in vain for years to get an honest answer to the question of how did wolves suddenly appears in their region(s) and FWS and Washington State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife could only say they must have migrated in BUT years later it came out that FWS had been planting them. 🤔🙄

[@josephshields2922]

From the comments here it sounds like Tom would benefit more by siding with you guys and say "We need to allow a little wolf hunting". This would get your support and he would keep his job. Or maybe he actually believes what he is saying?

[@stevenjahnsen4955]

A few people that don’t like hunting are going to try stop hunting by bringing wolfs & bears back another attack on our guns

[@DroopyWorm]

You know what to do

[@brianwideman2342]

Wildlife officials are completely out of touch with the numbers of wolves & deer in MN , WI , & MI. The wolf to deer ratio should be no less than 1 to 100

[@zenn3339]

Says who you The Brainiac yeah okay pal

[@brianwideman2342]

@zenn3339 oh & the guy who's page is Lord Zenn Ministries is educated on this matter. 🙄 I'm sure your real outdoorsy .

[@travissultze934]

Wisconsin is having the same problem but the DNR do not listen to their people unless you’re part of the government

[@joecarroll7087]

Wolves have absolutely ruined hunting in the Idaho back country. The wolves are also responsible for the uptick in cougar human conflict. Cougars are getting bumped off their kills and have to kill much more often. Unfortunately the elk population has decided significantly and has moved out of the remote areas closer to human populations to get refuge from wolves. The reintroduction of wolves in the greater Yellowstone area has been an absolute disaster for wildlife.

[@aaronwilcox6417]

In in Idaho as well and everything you said was 💯 percent correct. Especially elk moving onto private lands Especially ag lands and even suburbs to evade predation and overall numbers are a fraction of thst in the 70's and 80's when I was a kid. When I was a kid game was plentiful but today it's really not worth pursuing because the wildlife has mostly been eradicated in remote backcountry areas.

[@Watchingtheparadegoby]

My question is why don't the states tell the feds to piss off!

[@Quaking_Aspen]

Wolf populations have been steady in Northeastern MN for decades now. This deer decline has been in the past few years. It doesn’t add up.

[@Bearclaw_Jake]

We're having the same type of issues in Oklahoma even. Ours is a booming coyote population that were struggling to manage. Plus the hogs are as thick as flys, i believe they play a large factor, with pushing deer off food sources.

[@jeremiahjohnson6971]

Coyotes are literally everywhere.... under ever rock... you just don't see them

[@Bearclaw_Jake]

@@jeremiahjohnson6971 yes they are. But I was talking specifically about how much their population has grown in recent years. I'm running into them in the woods more than ever.

[@robmeglaughlin325]

We`re having problems with our deer populations here in NC, the coyote population has grown exponentially...there were no coyotes here 25 years ago!

[@vtbrian3252]

Here in Vermont its the same but no wolves and foxes. We have neighbors who have a few chickens and they leave the coop door open all the time. Didn't even see any tracks this year where I got a decent buck last year

[@stevebrown7271]

The heart attack comparison was as far as I could stand to watch! WOLVES ARE A VERY LARGE PROBLEM!!

[@deerslayer9point]

Tom your wrong! It’s always been cold up there. Read Laura Ingalls Wilder books. Over 100 years ago and read the weather and deer. Get rid of the wolves!

[@donwyoming1936]

Anecdotal stories about wolves blown away by facts. No deer. No wolves. A lot of deer. A lot of wolves. The populations are tied at the hip.

[@vernonharris1495]

I live just outside of Atlanta. All of the deer have moved into my front yard

[@dolphincliffs8864]

Georgia has too many deer.

[@notsure8879]

Predator control folks , simple math

[@davidwanner2039]

Just for info sake - "With a statewide population of about 40,000, coyotes can be found in every county, while Minnesota's estimated 3,000 wolves generally are spread across the state's northern tier." Can anyone understand the math? "Those who have long studied wolves say wolves fail to kill a deer in at least five of six attempts. Fortunately for the packs, they only need to feed on one deer per week in winter." You have to use all your fingers for that math.

[@tyrrellroach5872]

Well if there are so many wolves that the deer have disappeared it’s probably time to have seasons for them

[@tyrrellroach5872]

If the population healthy let people hunt them. Alaska actually has a pretty aggressive wolf management program and I don’t they are running low on the predator. But with that said don’t be wiping them out ether

[@rcclassiccrawlers4368]

Man, we’ve been saying there’s a wolf problem for years but, the DNR said there’s no wolf problem. The tree huggers are the biggest problem in the woods.

[@primer3458]

Funny thing about all of this is the Minnesota DNR is still trying to introduce more wolves to the northern region of Minnesota despite the deer herds disappearing. Glad this is finally getting national attention.

[@davidjsouth231]

My dad in northern Michigan hasn’t seen much either. But he also thinks people haven’t stopped baiting despite CWD and it not being legal

[@midwesternoutdoorsandnatur8272]

Delist the wolf and monitor both wolf and deer populations. Sounds like legislation is slow.

[@consanna]

Minnetonka has 500 deer in a 20 square mile area.

[@TheMidwestPatriot]

Wolves are only part of the problem as noted. The north woods have always been a very difficult area to harvest deer, in fact it’s probably the worst deer hunting area in MN. As others have noted deep snow and lack of food make it pretty garbage. Conversely southern (particularly southeast) and northwest MN are generally very good to excellent. Those area are mostly agricultural and food is plentiful. I hunt two different farms in MN one in Fergus Falls and one in Rochester and there are plenty of deer in those areas. Also, those areas are where the majority of big buck are coming from. Let’s be real, there is a reason that one wooded acre in Itasca county cost approximately $1000 but is near $10000 in the Fergus Falls or Rochester areas.

[@oakdalegirl57]

More Wolves won't affect Deer population????? 🤔

[@brushcrawler8612]

Uncle Sam doesn't like inexpensive food options.

[@mattd8411]

Thats exactly what it is. Take hunters out no food or woodman ship skill.

[@rickyflinchum2909]

That is why the government reintroduced wolves to certain areas. Don't be surprised to hear about grizzly bear sightings in Colorado within the next few years. They are supposedly reintroducing those.

[@bobfudge7964]

Don’t be fooled. The DNR does not care

[@davidwanner2039]

I live in northern Minnesota. I agree that there are much less deer to harvest this year especially. I want someone to explain how come the harvest of deer is down in ALL of Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin? Are the wolves so thick in southern MN? By the way while my last dog was alive we would take walks at night through the woods and we would frequently run into wolves that NEVER harassed us. It sure wasn't my dog's ferocity - she was a 35 pound Border Collie. I see many more dog/wolf hybrids (thanks to that lady in South Dakota that breeds and sells them) running in packs. They are the ones you have to watch out for because they don't have the people fear a wolf has but they have the instincts, smarts and the power of a wolf. I would love to have most people show me the difference between a dog track and a wolf track. Coyote are much more of a problem.

[@dougvuillemot8670]

Coyote kill real small fawns and wounded animals. Coyotes are not taking down full grown deer. Wolves are

[@kennedydewitt3219]

@@dougvuillemot8670 you a wrong,coyote"s will hunt in packs run deer down bite at the backs of their legs tire the deer out and relentlessly pursue them until they drag them down .I have never seen a wolf where I hunt but I hear the coyotes all the time, When too many does are taken the population goes down Bucks are harder to hunt and kill except when in rut.

[@johnholmes871]

It’s the same hear in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan