









White-tailed deer
Mule deer
Moose
Elk
Woodland caribou
Bison
Pronghorn antelope
Black bear
Gray wolf
Bobcat


North America
◦ Most important big game animal
◦ 30 subspecies
◦ Exist over entire North American Continent
◦ Expanded northward due to logging and other activities of immigrants
◦ 1900: 500,000
◦ 2000: 30 million


Minnesota
◦ Existed primarily in southern Minnesota where food and cover are available
◦ Deer did not originally live in evergreen forest
◦ Forest lands became attractive after cutover and regrowth from forest fires

◦ Overpopulation occurred early in 1900’s
 Habitat over browsed
 Consumed entire food source
 15-20 deer per square mile
◦ 1850-1900 deer marketed commercially
 Deer meat sold in markets
 St. Paul customers purchased 8-10 cents/pound
 1872: 6 tons shipped to Boston from Litchfield
 Unlimited harvest

◦ Before 1897, no restrictions and no hunting license required
 1900: Harvest limit 5, license cost $.25
 1901: limit 3
 1905: limit 2 and a 21 day season established
 1915: limit 1
 1920s: bucks only law and alternate year
 1933: every year hunting
 Today the population is growing

◦ Deer management units established
◦ Present status
 Deer over entire state
 Hunting season is annual
 Approximately 2 million deer exist in Minnesota





Always present
Live primarily in western United States
Rocky Mountain species most common
No breeding colony currently exist in
Minnesota




Largest most distinctive mammal
Northern wilderness
A boreal (northern) forest mammal





Most common big game mammal before lumberjacks
◦ Food for lumberjacks, early pioneers
◦ Loss of habitat
◦ White tailed deer competition
By 1885 Minnesota moose population scarce
First protection laws 1887
Current Minnesota population <10,000



“White Rump”
◦ Wapiti
 American Sioux Indian Name
Native to Minnesota, very abundant




Elk disappeared by 1900s
◦ Fenced pastures
◦ Market hunters
◦ Food source
◦ Canine teeth valued
1932: small Minnesota herd found
Restocking effort
◦ Enclosure of 54 elk (from Jackson Hole, Wyoming)
◦ Superior National Forest (a few released)
◦ Beltrami County herd of 27 (from Itasca State
Park)





Common in Northern Minnesota
1660-1880 reported as abundant
Require large forested, muskegs (acid soil) and bog areas
Two species
◦ Tundra reindeer
◦ Woodland caribou



By 1880s population diminished
◦ Unrestricted hunting
◦ Logging, mining, forest fires
◦ Settlement of land
Last Minnesota caribou sighted in 1940




Lasting hunting season was in 1904
Reintroduction of caribou to Minnesota in
1938 failed
Last reintroduction attempt: 1970-1980





Occupied North America from Appalachians to the Rocky Mountains
2 species
◦ Plains
◦ Woodland
Fed and provided the Indians well
75 million existed at one time



Decline occurred within 30 years
◦ Due to white settler slaughter
Prairie regions of Minnesota
◦ Supported large herds
 Plains bison




1850s bison disappeared from eastern
Minnesota
◦ Woodland
1880 4 animals were found in Twin Valley
Buffalo skulls were used by surveyors plotting
SW Minnesota
◦ Section corners – 4 skulls
◦ Half sections – 1 skull
◦ Readily available – early 1870s





Original range – western Minnesota
◦ On eastern edge of their range
Never abundant in Minnesota
Last hunting season – 1892
A native of America




Inhabited almost all of Minnesota
Migrated north due to settlers
Black bear most common species





Black bear disappeared from agricultural land areas
White Bear Lake, MN
Were considered a nuisance
First laws to protect bear in 1917 were soon repealed
◦ Bounty killing established in 1945
◦ Bounty killing eliminated in 1965




Tourist attraction
1971: first hunting season established
Separate permit required





1981: 1500 bear harvested
Bear management units established
Most current census has 15,000 Black bear in
Minnesota
Nuisance problems beginning again




Primary predator of deer and moose
Influence on population varies greatly
Consume about 15 adult deer per wolf





Prey on very young, old, weak, sick prey
Continuously hunting
Deer make easy prey in winter
Located primarily in the Superior National
Forest




Numbers declined from 1849-1965 due to bounty payments
In 1967, wolves were listed on Minnesota endangered species list
In 1975, management programs installed by
US Fish and Wildlife Services





Eastern Timber Wolf Recovery Team established
Predator control program
10-30 verified livestock losses
Currently over 3000 wolves in Minnesota




Kill deer, but do not seriously affect population
Prefer smaller game mammals
Primarily live in northern forested areas





Fox
Coyote
Raccoon
Others?