By MATT LINDSEY

Deer harvest numbers in St. Lawrence County are down 22 percent from last year, but that is somewhat by design due to fewer doe permits and more restrictive hunting opportunities, state conservation officials say.

Although deer harvest numbers are declining, that does not necessarily mean the population is going down. But most hunters are saying they have seen less deer this year. A variety of field experts say weather, predators and illegal hunting have effected local deer populations.

The total buck take in St. Lawrence County for 2015 was 2,657, down 13 percent from 3,033 in 2014, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The buck take is down 19 percent from 2011 when 3,277 bucks were reportedly taken. Overall deer harvest is down 31 percent from five years ago.

“The buck take objective is a pretty good indicator of the direction of the population,” said Region 6 DEC Big Game Biologist Steve Heerkens. He said DEC officials judge the overall population based on a buck take objective, which they have used for over 60 years, and do not look at deer populations as an exact figure.

Alexander Stewart, associate professor of geology at St. Lawrence University, believes bitter winters from 2011-14 caused a decline in deer population, coupled with a warm winter in 2015 possibly leading to fewer hunters in the woods, has contributed to lower deer harvests.

Local game tracker Tom Rausch of Waddington says deer numbers on his farm have stayed fairly consistent over the last five years, but most hunters he has spoken to told him they are seeing fewer and fewer deer in recent years.

Deer Harvest Numbers

Heerkens said a task force committee was created in St. Lawrence County in 2009 to provide a population that was a happy medium for hunters, farmers, motorists and others.

“There will always be differing opinions and how people view deer, so we try to get a diverse group of people when talking about deer populations,” he said.

In WMU 6C, which covers parts of Parishville, Hopkinton, and Pierrepont, the objective of 1.8 buck per square mile has remained steady, Heerkens said.

Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) 6A, which covers portions of land along U.S. Route 11 through Potsdam, Canton, and Gouverneur, to south of Gouverneur, the goal is a 1.7 bucks per square mile. Right now they are at 1.2 bucks per square mile.

“We are not far away from that objective,” Heerkens said. “We are half a buck off.”

Heerkens said he has been pulling back on antlerless deer permits in an effort to grow the population, but says it takes time for the changes to take effect and see what the trend is.

He said that he was not entirely sure why 6A was not rebounding as well but noted the unit has the highest number of antlerless deer take in the northern zone.

“Why it is rebounding so slow … I don't have answer for that other than the muzzle loading take was just heavy enough that its not been able to take off,” he said.

He hopes the second year for no antlerless deer take during muzzle loading would help kick-start that region’s harvest numbers and increase the number of adult females.

Heerkens said because St. Lawrence County environments differ quite a bit from region to region and town to town, forest cover, farms and other dynamics can influence the number of deer being seen.

Weather, Predators, Illegal Hunting

One possible reason hunters have reported seeing fewer deer could be recent cold, harsh winters.

Prof. Stewart, who collected data from 2011 through 2015 from http://climodtest.nrcc.cornell.edu/ and the West Potsdam weather station, says from 2011-2014 the overall weather and climate for the area became colder, on average, drier and windier.

The 2015 winter was much warmer, Stewart says.

“In sum, it appears that 2011-2014 winter seasons impacted and stressed deer populations by increasingly harsh conditions, which led to less available deer for hunters who weren’t that keen on hunting during sub-optimal, Northern New York conditions in 2015,” Stewart said.

Deteriorating winter conditions from the 2011-2014 seasons impacted the ability for deer to survive increasingly poor winters.

“This came to a head with the very cold and dry 2014 season where, I surmise, a lack of snow cover and increased windy conditions made bedding-down conditions for deer more stressful … less wind blockage and insulation from a nice warm snow bed … more need to move, stay warm, burn calories and become depleted health wise,” Stewart said.

This all led, abruptly, to the second warmest winter on record in 2015,

“Deer populations were in a stressed state population wise and then became ‘fat and happy’ with reduced need for travel for food because of increased access and less need to burn calories to stay warm,” Stewart said. “Compounding this lack of deer mobility was the fact that hunters were, likely, less avid during exceptionally warm fall/early winter season for deer taking.”

Heerkens said hard winters in 2013 and 2014 caused a lot of mortality in fawns.

“Almost all of the deaths of deer from the winters were fawns,” Heerkens said,

Game tracker Tom Rausch believes a major contributor to low numbers in parts of the county is the exploding coyote population.

Heerkens wasn't so sure that there was an increase in coyote population in St. Lawrence County based on the predator-prey relationship. “I don't know what would foster that,” he said.

He said that if the coyote population increases, so would the need for them to eat, eventually leaving them without anything to eat if the population was growing quickly. Most deer killed by coyotes are fawns.

Heerkens said illegal hunting and poaching is “definitely a problem in St. Lawrence County and across the state.”

“Every area of the state says theirs is the worst when it comes to poaching … there is no reason for St. Lawrence County to feel its worse off.”

When asked if the DEC is understaffed Heerkens said there have been fewer DEC officers in the field in recent years due to retirements, turnover and other factors.

He did say there was an academy of recent graduates preparing for DEC positions.

What Hunters Are Saying

Rausch says deer numbers “were down a little last year, I am assuming from the two harsh winters in a row, but have definitely bounced back this year.”

He said he usually sees 15 to 20 deer on an afternoon watch, fewer in the morning,

“Of the hunters I've talked to though, almost all say they see less deer now than five years ago,” Rausch said.

Rausch has an 8-point minimum rule on his farm.

“We've been letting the little ones walk for at least 6 or 7 years now and definitely see a difference in the number and quality of bucks in the area,” he said. “We're fortunate that some of our adjoining neighbors practice that philosophy too. I am in contact with a lot of hunters due to our game tracking service, and the ones who pass on the little bucks all report seeing higher quality bucks.”

Rausch said the valley appears to have a higher deer population, but that he believes that has always been the case.

“I've hunted here since 1992 and I remember years back when the numbers seemed lower than now,” Rausch said. “I continually work on improving the deer habitat on my farm by increasing the amount of natural browse, food plots, and good bedding areas. Others I know have seen good deer numbers when they do the same.”

“I encourage hunters I track for to do the recovery that evening, due to the likelihood of coyotes finding them first,” he said.

The DEC sends out hunter surveys and is analyzing what Heerkens described as “hunter effort” which will examine information such as the number of days spent hunting, where people are hunting and the number of deer that are being seen.

“This helps us square up numbers,” he said.

The last time deer were considered to be overpopulated in St. Lawrence County was during the 1990s, Heerkens said.

“About 10 to 15 years ago the situation was just the opposite and we were getting approval for doe permits in St. Lawrence County,” he said.

Heerkens said he does hear dissatisfaction from St. Lawrence County hunters about deer population.

“The deer numbers are never going to be that high again…the expectations are too high and that's not realistic any more,” Heerkens said.