Maine state biologist Doug Kane first noticed a problem with deer yards in the early 1990s when he was traveling through Brownville in the middle of the winter.

“Along Route 11, there were massive trails by the side of the road. It looked like a cow pasture,” Kane said. “The biologist in the area said in a few years, he had noted in the deer yard there appeared to be less and less. The deer were fed in the town rather than moving to the yard. Like any critter, they know when they are fed.”

Kevin Stevens, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife biologist in that region, said the man-made changes that had altered the deer’s environment were evident from the sky – if not to the general public.

“When we did aerial surveys, it was obvious, the deer were out near the main road, in and around town,” Stevens said. “In their traditional wintering area for 25 to 30 years, there were no sign of deer. I think they left because of the feeding. Maybe they didn’t know where they were.”

Kane said when the winter weather is severe, deer yards are critical to the animals’ survival, in part because of the extensive system of trails deer establish. He said deer yards sustain the animal through the coldest periods and protect it from predators.

It is this point the DIFW has tried to impress upon those who feed deer. But while wardens and biologists have traversed the state discouraging people and business owners from feeding deer, they’ve had little success.

Stevens said the universal belief around the state is that supplemental feeding helps deer.

“They mean well. We try to discourage them, but they just want to do it,” Stevens said. “We’ve found places where there were signs of deer feed where a deer was killed by a coyote. We tell people. Still, they don’t want to buy it.”

In the last year, the DIFW outlined the effects of supplemental feeding in a position statement (at http://janus.state.me.us/ifw/hunt/deerfeed.htm).

DIFW biologist Mark Caron said when the position statement was drafted, the DIFW considered whether it should be enforced, but decided it would be too difficult. Now, wardens and biologists can only encourage folks not to feed deer, not stop them from doing so.

The position statement explains the dangers in feeding deer, such as how it shortstops deer on their way to their natural wintering yards; how it keeps deer around towns, which provide inadequate shelter; and how it leaves deer vulnerable to cars and predators.

Early returns from a two-year study in Pennsylvania reported in Field & Stream found that predation of fawns was hurting the state’s whitetail herd, but that in areas with rich whitetail habitat, deer were doing better. Stevens said the study shows that outside their wintering areas, deer are put at a higher risk.

“Personally, I believe it baits in coyotes,” Stevens said. “Socially, deer learn wintering areas from their mother. If she is eating in town, the fawn doesn’t learn it.”

Around the state, there are numerous businesses and groups that feed deer, according to DIFW biologists. Some are widely known, like Wilson Mills near Rangeley where tax dollars are put toward a deer-feeding fund. Raymond’s Store in Northeast Carry on Moosehead Lake also feeds hundreds of deer each winter.

Pittston Farm also has fed deer for years. Although, Nancy Hatch, the bookkeeper there, said what is done at Pittston Farm is not sustaining area deer.

“We just sprinkle some out. We just like to have a few,” Hatch said. “It’s a conversation thing for people who come here. We just put out a little bit. So the deer are not totally dependent on it.”

Wayne Hockmeyer, who runs Northern Outdoors in The Forks and employs up to 45 people during hunting season, said he feeds deer not for patrons’ viewing, but to invest in the product he sells.

“I’m not interested in the deer. I love to hunt them. I have economical interests,” Hockmeyer said. “I want to increase the deer herd. It is necessary to run a successful hunting operation. I have to have a product to sell people. If it was damaging to the herd I’d stop in a heartbeat. It would be pointless. Now, there are a lot more deer here than there used to be.”

If deer are close to wintering areas, some of the dangers to them may not exist. But biologists say others remain.

That’s true at the Gateway Motel in Medway, where Ellen and Jay McLaughlin feed deer outside their motel within a quarter-mile of a deer yard.

While the McLaughlins’ feeding ritual does not draw deer far from their natural wintering area, it has shown how fawns are left to fend for themselves in the midst of easy food, a situation Kane said can allow smaller deer to starve.

“They fight it out to see who gets what,” Ellen McLaughlin said. “They push and kick and knock each other down. It might increase if they came to depend on it too much. If we decrease it, the little ones wouldn’t get any. The late fawns are really small. They have to wait until the big ones get enough and then leave. Then they come and get it. They pick around and find what’s left over.”

Another problem of which the public should be wary is the expense.

Caron said this winter a man called him looking for a cheaper alternative to store-bought feed. Caron said there was none and warned that if a deer’s diet changed, it would take its digestive system weeks to adjust. In the meantime, the deer could starve. Deer can grow weak and can die with a full stomach, Caron said.

Despite providing such advice, Caron said few people listen.

“I talked to him about the position statement. He didn’t want to hear it. He said he knew I was against it,” Caron said. “As with his case, generally people think they are helping the deer.”

Stevens said if people are adamant about feeding deer, they should at least be mindful of these suggestions:

. Feed enough to enable them to survive, don’t simply give a bucket to a half-dozen deer.

. Provide quality deer feed, not corn and certainly not hay.

. Spread the food around. In a natural wintering area, the deer browse over a large area, but when people spill the food in a concentrated area, fawns can die within feet of the food because adult deer crowd them out.

DIFW biologist Gerry Lavigne said deer don’t settle in wintering areas until there is a foot or more of snow on the ground, but if deer have been fed, by then, it’s too late.

Many DIFW biologists said the reasons to feed deer are tempting enough, but none will benefit deer.

“There are a lot more cons than pros,” Kane said. “There is no doubt some of the feed has high energy and in a certain way, we like to see wildlife whether you hunt or don’t hunt. We understand most people who feed deer are well-intentioned. But if those who have been feeding deer for a long time would just stop and think a little of the complexity of the issue [they might understand the problem].”

Deirdre Fleming covers outdoor sports and recreation for the NEWS. She can be reached at 990-8250 or at dfleming@bangordailynews.net.

How to ensure deer have access to quality wintering habitat:

. Take an active role in managing land to improve deer habitat naturally. Practices such as weeding, thinning, crop-tree selection can provide benefits for deer and provide natural browse.

. Work with DIFW to control deer populations in residential areas, specifically by supporting efforts to implement innovative hunting seasons to reduce deer populations safely.

. Allow deer hunters access to land that can be hunted. DIFW says this is the most effective means of ensuring deer populations remain in balance with their habitat and at levels that minimize negative impacts on their habitat.

(Source: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife)