ALEXANDRIA, Minn. -- States like Minnesota and others in the far northern regions of the Midwest almost always have bouts of extremely cold temperatures or heavy snow falls that trigger an instinct in people who feel they need to help wildlife make it through the winter with supplemental feeding.
In the case of deer, it鈥檚 almost never necessary and can do more harm than good, said Minnesota DNR big game program leader Barb Keller. In more than half of Minnesota counties, including Douglas and Pope in West Central Minnesota, it is illegal as part of the to trying to control the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease. As of Dec. 30, the state鈥檚 deer-feeding ban had expanded to include 44 of Minnesota鈥檚 87 counties.
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Supplemental feeding through the use of something such as a corn feeder can increase the likelihood of disease spreading by concentrating deer into small, specific areas on the landscape where they would not naturally concentrate. Deer feed includes grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, hay and other food that is capable of attracting or enticing deer.
CWD, an always-fatal neurological disease affecting the cervid family, spreads between deer through body fluids like feces, saliva, blood, or urine, either through direct contact or indirectly through environmental contamination of soil, food or water.
鈥淭his is just one layer of disease risk that we as people have control over,鈥� Keller said of the feeding ban. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 corn that deer are eating, they鈥檙e spreading saliva in that small point source. They are defecating and urinating in that area, and we know those are all ways that CWD can be transmitted. In many cases, it puts their mouths in direct contact with the ground where that saliva and urine and feces are being deposited. It鈥檚 a higher-risk area for that disease to be transmitted from how deer would naturally forage on the landscape.鈥�
Supplemental feeding through the use of a feeder or piles of food also have the potential to draw deer in from outside their typical home range.
鈥淲e know that these regulations alone aren鈥檛 going to solve the issue of CWD,鈥� Keller said. 鈥淲e have many other actions we take such as more liberal bag limits, carcass movement restrictions in some areas, targeted culling in some areas. This is an additional set of tools we use.鈥�
Feeding, attractant ban potential across the state?The feeding ban is in place in counties within close proximity to a confirmed case of CWD found from a deer at a captive facility.
In general, it鈥檚 just not a good idea to feed deer, and you鈥檒l see that messaging coming out from pretty much any state agency, even in areas where they don鈥檛 have CWD.
This is the case in Douglas County, where a deer from a small farm tested positive for the disease in December of 2019. CWD has not been found in the wild deer herd in deer permit areas 213 and 273 near Alexandria after two seasons of testing. A total of 443 samples were collected in these two DPAs in 2021 with no positive cases.
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Counties in close proximity to where CWD has been found in the wild deer herd have a feeding ban and an additional ban where attractants such as salt, minerals and urine are not allowed. Todd County is a part of the counties with both a feeding and attractant ban.
The prevalence of CWD in Minnesota's wild deer herd continues to be low, but the disease is expanding to more regions of the state. Once mostly confined to the southeast, a wild doe tested positive for CWD in 2019 near Brainerd, and a wild deer tested positive near Climax along the Minnesota-North Dakota border this past October.
鈥淚 will say that it鈥檚 really important that we keep hunters with us and supporting our actions,鈥� Keller said when asked about a potential feeding and attractant ban across Minnesota. 鈥淲e can point to when we have identified that, yes, the risk is there and we鈥檙e going to put these management actions into place. I would say hunters generally support that more than if we don鈥檛 know the risk is there and we鈥檙e going to put something in place that affects them as far as not being able to feed deer or put attractants on the landscape. Certainly it鈥檚 a discussion we continue to have of should we have a statewide ban? We haven鈥檛 done that yet, but we continue to have a conversation.鈥�
Ban includes deer around bird feedersAlexandria area conservation officer Mitch Lawler said that he does deal with some complaints of people illegally feeding deer in his work area, but it is not a frequent occurrence. What he does come across is people who are unknowingly breaking the rule through the use of bird feeders.
Deer will often gravitate toward any kinds of grains they can find during the winter if it is easy to get at. That means bird feeders can be a common attractant.
鈥淚f it is drawing in deer, that would be in violation of the ban,鈥� Keller said. 鈥淭hey need to make sure the feeders are far enough off the ground so deer aren鈥檛 able to feed directly from the bird feeders, or have some other way -- a fence around them -- so deer aren鈥檛 able to access that.鈥�
Supplemental feeding of deer 鈥榓lmost never necessary鈥橳he idea that people need to offer supplemental feed for deer to help them through the winter is almost never accurate, and in many cases, it can be detrimental.
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Whitetails are one of the most adaptable wildlife species in the country. They thrive in home ranges from the deep south to the northernmost states and within multiple different habitats.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost never necessary,鈥� Keller said of supplemental feeding. 鈥淒eer have evolved along with Minnesota winters. It鈥檚 natural for them to have a period of nutritional restriction when their metabolism slows down and when they鈥檙e eating very little. They can cope with those sorts of conditions in most cases without being negatively impacted. Certainly, we can have severe winters where we do see an impact on the deer population, but supplementary feeding deer usually doesn鈥檛 help because of the amount of feed you鈥檇 have to put on the landscape. Even in years where we have had emergency deer feeding, we haven鈥檛 seen a difference in impact to the population of it helping.鈥�
Deer survive in many cases by conserving energy and foraging on natural browse. They will feed within larger food plots or crops left over from the fall harvest where available, but supplemental feeding can do more harm than good as deer start to behave unnaturally.
鈥淭hey can lose their fear of people, they can be more aggressive at feed sites and then you might have them crossing roads to get to these areas where they wouldn鈥檛 necessarily be doing that and then you have deer/vehicle collision increases,鈥� Keller said. 鈥淭hen there鈥檚 the health issues of it鈥檚 generally not good for deer. It can cause problems, especially if you go from a situation where they鈥檙e eating very poor types of forage and then they switch to a very high-carb corn diet very quickly. That can sometimes cause death. In general, it鈥檚 just not a good idea to feed deer, and you鈥檒l see that messaging coming out from pretty much any state agency, even in areas where they don鈥檛 have CWD.鈥�
The best way people can help deer this time of year is often to simply leave them alone.
鈥淓specially if you have any area on your property where deer like to bed down, don鈥檛 disturb them,鈥� Keller said. 鈥淭hem having to get up and move around, maybe it鈥檚 people going to fill their feeders, they鈥檙e disturbing deer. Deer also are getting up to go to those feeders when they could be resting and conserving their energy. In most cases, it鈥檚 best to just stay out of the woods and let deer be. In most cases, they鈥檒l be OK.鈥�
MINNESOTA COUNTIES INCLUDED IN DEER FEEDING BAN -- Beltrami, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Roseau, Carlton, Chisago, Douglas, Isanti, Kanabec, Pine, Pope, and Stearns
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MINNESOTA COUNTIES INCLUDED IN DEER FEEDING AND ATTRACTANT BAN -- Clearwater, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, Aitkin, Cass, Crow Wing, Dakota, Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Hennepin, Houston, Hubbard, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Mower, Olmsted, Ramsey, Rice, Scott, Steele, Todd, Wabasha, Wadena, Washington and Winona
