How many deer will a pack of wolves kill annually?

[jimbos43]

In a few posts now i've noticed some of you U.P. guys expressing concern over the wolves killing deer to the point of it hurting the deer population.
Is that really possible?

I was under the impression that they go for the easy pickings, the sick and weak. Can they really put a dent in the deer population in a area?

How many deer would a let's assume a pack of 7-10 wovles kill anyway?

[Big Game]

Jimbos -

I don't have an actual number for you but one thing to remember is that wolves are opportunists. They don't necessarily just single out the old or sick. If they see an opportunity they will take it. They will also keep trying until they succeed, that is how they are fed. I have seen them run down and kill a perfectly healthy cow elk. It took two wolves to do it but they did. It was on relatively bare ground so they didn't have an advantage either. I guess they tend to stay from moose but elk and deer are a good part of their diet. From seeing them take down a perfectly healthy full grown cow elk, I have no doubts that deer are easier.

[Huntnut]

Jimbos,

In AK we did alot of work and research with wolves.

One of the primary prey species of the wolf is caribou.

A pack of wolves will spread out over a few miles and lay in ambush. The first wolf begins the chase and runs the caribou towards the second wolf in waiting, from there the 1st wolf ends the chase, and the second one picks it up and chases the bou towards a third wolf lying in wait....using this strategey a single pack of wolves can use teamwork and run a bou for miles.

After 3 or 4 miles, the caribou falls over from exhauation and the pack feasts.

Wolves will also run herds off bou of cliffs.

I have seen wolves take down a full size bull caribou....and I know that thousands upon thousands of caribou are preyed upon by wolves.

Caribou are much much larger than a whitetail, so I imagine wolves have no problem with little ol deer....sick or not.

Hunt

[kingfisher 11]

I would think you could put a big dominate buck in the catagory of easy prey after the rut. They are pure exhausted after weeks of running non stop. They have a tough time with a bad winter as it is, now ad a wolf in the picture. TB, CWD and wolfs ask yourself where our deer herd might be in ten years. Although the wolfs may be reduced if they start eating infected deer.

[Antler Eater]

I wouldn't even venture to put a number to your question. We know that wolves are certainly capable of taking down a deer. I see in a recent survey in Pennsylvania in remote wildlife areas statistics show Coyotes were responsible for fawn mortality anywhere from 23-30% of the time. If coyotes can do that what can a wolf do?

As an interesting side bar I see where a wolf tagged in the U.P. in 1999 was killed in Grundy County Missouri last October. Crossed the Mississippi river and taveled 600 miles. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

[kingfisher 11]

I was on a guided hunt in Saskatchewan a few years back. The guide had baits spread out over a 40 sq. mile area. I was so surprised to see so many birds, small game and deer duirng the day in the bush. Miles from any main road and town.

He had other areas that packs of wolves moved in. I went for a walk through the areas to check the baits. The woods were silent, no tracks of any animal in the snow, except wolves. They had removed all the small game. I am not sure if the deer totally moved out on there own or if the wolves preyed on them. It was just dead woods compared to the other areas we hunted.

The guide told us, shoot any wolve you see. Do not field dress any deer near a bait pile. They were very concerned about wolves.

I think they are wanderers and they will go where the foods at.

[Belbriette]

In the prestigious "NATURE" journal a publication named
"The rule of the game" (25 March 2002) :

I quote :
" Every kilogram of meat eating mammal needs 111 kilograms of prey to sustain it, say two ecologists. The rule holds true from weasels to bears.
....
Chris Carbone, of the Institute of Zoology, London, and John Gittleman, of the University of Virginia, found the rule when they compared the population densities of 25 species of carnivore with the population densities of their prey.
...."

I thought this could be of interest in this thread.

Jack.

[stevebrandle]

We have a retired DNR biologist helping us with our deer herd in the UP. The pack that is making it's rounds near there numbers between 8 or 10 wolves. He estimates they are taking about 200 deer per year.

[jimbos43]

So approx. 20 deer per wolf, per year. With many of those deer never going to see spring anyway. So how many wolves are estimated to be in the U.P?

My point being is it really possible a wolf pack can decimate a deer herd in am area. If the deer weren't there, the wolves sure wouldn't be.But, what do I know, i'm just a city boy. :) :)

[stevebrandle]

The wolf population in the UP, from what I've heard, is about 200 animals. The black bear population in the UP is estimated to be around 12,000. How many fawns are killed by black bears? I don't know. But, they do take their share every year.

Like everything else in nature, it isn't always one big easy reason something is happening. The culmination of hundreds of little details equal the end result.

The wolf population isn't so big that it will wipe out the UP deer herd anytime soon. The wolf population is big enough to contribute a significant impact on deer numbers in the future.

In an "unmanaged" environment the numbers of carnivores and prey animals would ebb and tide as disease and weather dictated. A good example of this is Isle Royal. The moose and wolf populations rise and fall in direct relation to each other. This is how God intended nature to work.

It's only when we decide we're smarter than God that things go sour. Less deer in the UP some years disheartens some hunters and they'll point to the wolf etc. I see less deer and also wonder why, but I don't feel the need to change wolf or bear populations. I accept what I see in the woods as natural as long as man hasn't had a hand in the end result.

Bottom line is, do we want artificially high deer numbers in the state because of what we do? Or do we want "natural" whitetail numbers for what we don't do. I vote we let the man upstairs determine nature's course. Preserve the resources, but stop micro-managing the desirable ones just because we can.