Peggy Flanagan, a Native American, are against wolf hunting.ĭue this spring, the DNR's long-awaited wolf management plan is expected to remain neutral on wolf hunting. The DNR knows this as well but its managers won't say so publicly, in part because Walz and Lt. "If you want to restore moose in the core moose range, some level of wolf management will be necessary,'' Moore said. Wolf predation of moose will require "some difficult decisions,'' he said. There is no possibility with that (mortality rate) the moose population will increase.'' Overall, Moore said, "We're seeing close to 80 percent calf moose mortality. Moose calves are particularly vulnerable to wolves in the calves' first two weeks of life. Some carry brainworm with them on the return trip, which ultimately infects moose.Īmong Moore's study animals in research that began in 2010, brainworm caused 24% of moose deaths.ĭeer also support high wolf populations in moose country, Moore said, which further contribute to moose mortality. Moore said many deer in the northeast migrate to Lake Superior in winter, before moving back inland in spring. Most straightforward among webinar presenters Wednesday was Seth Moore, the longtime Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa director of biology and environment.Ī respected moose researcher, Moore made a convincing case that if northeast moose are to increase (their numbers, though less than half what they were about 15 years ago, have stabilized since about 2013), deer populations will have to be kept low. "We actually don't know'' what level deer populations should be in the moose zone, was the new message. Turns out, the 10-per-square-mile limit was just a guess, the DNR said Wednesday. The moose's wide-ranging popularity also is why the DNR is reluctant to attempt to recover deer populations in the northeast by intensified forest habitat management - admittedly a long shot, anyway, given the northeast's periodic deer-killing winters.ĭeer in parts of the northeast already are at levels well below those called for in the DNR's 2011 moose management plan, which recommended whitetails in the moose zone shouldn't exceed 10 animals per square mile. This support translates into political cache that resonates throughout the DNR, to Gov. Left unsaid during the webinar was that moose enjoy greater favor among the broader public than deer do. "Compared with other areas of the state, we're dealing with a very low harvest,'' Keller said. Statewide, the deer harvest average is 2.5 per square mile. 3 of an animal per square mile, down significantly from a still-meager. In the region's six Deer Permit Areas (DPAs), the DNR proposes a marginal population increase in only one, DPA 133.
did inform these deer population goals.'' "In developing the (proposed deer-population goals for the northeast) we realized deer hunters wanted more deer,'' DNR big game program leader Barb Keller said at the outset of Wednesday evening's 1.5-hour webinar. So, despite the hue and cry of deer hunters who have seen their tradition nose-dive in the northeast in recent years, thanks to perennially low whitetail numbers, the DNR is happy enough with the status quo. But it's deer the DNR has in its moose-benefiting crosshairs, saying - correctly - that while whitetails can carry (and spread) brainworm benignly, the parasite poses a major threat to moose survival in the northeast.