How previous winters impact deer population

Deer harvest numbers were down significantly across the Northland last season. Will this season be any better? Both the Minnesota and the Wisconsin DNR feel hopeful for a more normal season.

According to Wisconsin DNR Wildlife Biologist Gregory Kessler, there was about a 20-30% decline in last year’s harvest success.

“In severe winters like [2022-2023], we saw significant over-winter mortality,” explained Kessler. “Younger deer fawns born in that spring of 2022 had a pretty tough first year of their life. Also, mature bucks that have just come out of the rut. They wear themselves down and they didn’t have a lot of time to put energy back on. Probably didn’t do very well in that hard winter.”