Mortality of White-Tailed Deer in Northeastern Minnesota

Abstract

Abstract: Two hundred nine white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were radiotracked in the central Superior National Forest, Minnesota, from 1973 through winter 1983-84; 85 deaths were recorded. Annual survival was 0.31 for fawns (<1.0 years old), 0.80 for yearling (1.0-2.0 years old) females, 0.41 for yearling males, 0.79 for adult (≥2.0 years old) females, and 0.47 for adult males. Monthly survival rates were high from May through December (0.94-1.00), except for yearling (0.60) and adult (0.69) bucks during the November hunting season. Most mortality occurred from January through April when gray wolf (Canis lupus) predation was an important mortality source for all cohorts. Yearlings males were most vulnerable to hunting and adult males to wolf predation.