Aroostook deer population endures challenges

Editor’s note: Richard Hoppe, a regional wildlife biologist for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, wrote this report dealing with the opening day of deer hunting season in Aroostook County.

I happen to be listening to an individual from southern Maine, Wildlife Management District 16, this past week that told me about how they hunt deer, in the back 40. They went on to tell me, that in any one-day they might see 5-10 deer. I was listening intently, remembering how I once hunted in areas like this, where I could put my tree stand up the day before the season and see dozens of deer on opening day.

Now that I live in northern Maine, it’s considered a rarity to see deer like this in any one day of hunting.

Northern Maine lies on the northern periphery of whitetailed deer range, and our present deer population is anywhere from 2-5 deer per square mile. Not many deer when you consider that southern Maine has populations anywhere from 20-40 deer per square mile, with some island populations upwards of 100 deer per square mile.

In northern Maine, if you want a deer, you have a tough task in front of you. The three main factors affecting the deer population are:

First, the degradation of deer wintering habitat, defined as softwood stands with 50-70 percent canopy closure. Due to the spruce budworm epidemic in the 1970s, industrial forestlands were harvested at a record pace. This harvesting along with the intensity and types of harvesting fragmented the north woods,, creating a mosaic of zoned island yards. This harvesting along with an inadequate state deeryard zoning process was not enough to maintain a sustained deer wintering program. Today, many industrial landowners are working cooperatively with the department, outside the normal regulatory process, to manage for 8-10 percent of their land base in deer wintering habit by 2030.

Second, northern Maine’s weather regime is not conducive in managing for large number of deer due to the physiological effects winter has on deer. Wintering conditions in Northern Maine comes fast and leaves slow, anywhere from 6-8 weeks longer then southern Maine, with snow depths 3-5 feet. With deer in yards up to four months, energy reserves become low, with malnutrition taking its toll. One way to offset the effect weather has on deer is by improving deer wintering habitat.

Third, a highly efficient carnivore, the coyote, makes up part of its winter diet feeding on deer. There is no getting around the fact that coyotes eat venison and they are part of the ecosystem. Mortality from predation, starvation, and hunting plus other factors are all factors in reducing the number of deer.

As you can see, managing deer in northern Maine is challenging, although this may seem like all doom and gloom, things are looking up for the future. The positive side of coming north is still the hospitality of the people, the openness of the land, and a place where you can hunt days on end without running into another hunter. Trophy bucks are routinely weighed in at the 200-plus pound range, and occasionally at the 240-plus range.