By Nick Simonson

Deer populations across the Peace Garden State have recovered from a brutal winter of 2022-23 which decreased their numbers by more than a third in some firearms hunting units following that cold weather season which brought more than 100 inches of snow and below average temperatures to the state.  Those conditions piggybacked on dry summers in 2021 and 2022 which triggered outbreaks of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) across the western portion of the state resulting in significant mortality in the whitetail herds in the region, but also some mule deer and other big game as well.  However, with the mild conditions of the past winter, and good cover conditions existing during fawning this spring where habitat was available, deer of both varieties are beginning their long climb out of the recent trough, according to Charlie Bahnson, NDG&F Department Wildlife Veterinarian.

“All things considered they are in good shape coming off of a couple tough years and winters. Survival looks like it was really good over the winter and we had really very few winter-related mortalities over the winter and quite a bit of good nutrition and habitat on the landscape usually makes for good production in terms of healthy fawns,” Bahnson explains.

While the amount of ground cover in the state remains limited due to a significant reduction in conservation reserve program (CRP) acres over the past two decades, the grass that is present on the landscape was thick and lush, buoyed by timely spring and early summer rains.  This in turn provided good protection from predators for whitetail fawns this spring, and anecdotal reports of more does with multiple fawns are a bit more common than last year, when some does had no offspring due to the stress from the tough winter.  Conditions now have only started to dry up a bit, an event notable in the west as agents have observed approximately two dozen suspected cases of  EHD, confirming a number of them in dead whitetails.

“Now that we’re three to four years out from that last bad outbreak, this year it has popped up a little bit to where we’ve had at this point a couple dozen reports of dead whitetail deer being found. Stark County would kind of be the epicenter but kind of radiating around there.  A couple dozen reports we’ve tested and confirmed EHD in a portion of those and so far it looks like it’s not severe yet, but we probably have a few weeks to go here,” Bahnson states, adding that the first hard frosts of fall will often kill the midges that transmit the EHD virus to deer.

Vigilance also remains high for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a highly transmissible prion-borne affliction which causes irreparable brain damage in deer and other cervids, akin to mad cow disease in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease in humans.  CWD has been detected in a number of firearms hunting units, most notably in south central and northwestern North Dakota.  Though recent detections in hunting units just across the border in Minnesota and Manitoba have NDG&F agents on heightened watch for the disease, and hunters play a vital role in not only keeping it from spreading, but also detecting its presence in an area.

“Unfortunately there were [CWD] detections adjacent to [North Dakota firearms unit] 3B1 in Minnesota and then last winter Manitoba found it basically straight north of unit 2B, so it’s here and we have to face reality and accept that fact, and the ultimate goal is to just keep it really rare,”  Bahnson details, adding that on top of properly disposing of deer carcasses and not using bait to concentrate animals, hunters can keep an eye out for sick-looking deer and report them, “if you see a sick or dead animal out there that died from an unapparent cause, do reach out and let us know. We investigate those situations for lots of reasons: potential poaching cases, CWD, other disease concerns; that helps us ultimately manage a healthy deer population.”

Mortality reports unusual deer deaths encountered in the field can be entered online at: https://gf.nd.gov/wildlife/diseases/mortality-report.  This year’s North Dakota firearm deer season opens at noon on Fri. Nov. 8 and closes one half hour after sunset on Nov. 24, with 50,100 licenses issued.   The state’s archery deer season has been open since Aug. 30 and closes Jan. 5, 2025.

Simonson is the lead writer and editor of Dakota Edge Outdoors.

Featured Photo: Deer found better grass and forage production on the landscape this spring and summer, and cover was thicker for fawns as well. Simonson Photo.