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Deer density question answered

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hoosierhunter

Active Member
This has been a big debate on here recently. Bill Winke had a biologist come out and survey his ground. The biologist said winkes farm is considered some of the best possible deer habitat based upon 75%cover to 25%ag and the improvements he has made. The biologist found that Winkes deer density was around 90 per sq mile in January.(Winke estimates 75 during the season) He also said that this would be an extreme number for most any other area in Iowa to hold on a regular basis. He never actually said what one should expect but he made it clear that others should not expect a number close to this. Interesting that the biologist says those numbers are too high to support yet admittedly Winke had said previously he had nearly double that number 5 years ago.
 
I don't think he said that it was more deer than that land could support, but more like what the neighbors/farmers would tolerate. And that most farms in Iowa do not have that perfect combination, to support that many deer.

No doubt a farm like Bill's can easily support that many deer, with good timber management, food plots and no livestock.
 
Iowa

I would guess 60-80 per square mile (in my section)

Probably not as many mature bucks though.
 
I was surprised to hear his goal; 25% of bucks over 4.5 years old!

I also can't believe he's got that many deer and under a 2/1 doe to buck ratio!
 
hoosierhunter said:
I was surprised to hear his goal; 25% of bucks over 4.5 years old!

I also can't believe he's got that many deer and under a 2/1 doe to buck ratio!
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If you can control one section or two in his case (in Iowa) and it's the right habitat....it's all good
 
holy moly..90 DPSM ??? I would like half of that. I have 70% cover and no cows.
 
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if you have big blocks you are managing for deer, create premium cover and have tons of food - that stuff does still exist. That's such a rare example though when you go across the whole state. You of course will find pockets of that in good areas but vast vast majority is on the other extreme.
 
Sligh1 said:
if you have big blocks you are managing for deer, create premium cover and have tons of food - that stuff does still exist. That's such a rare example though when you go across the whole state. You of course will find pockets of that in good areas but vast vast majority is on the other extreme.
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I agree, with the right combination of habitat and management, I would have no trouble believing 90+ DPSM. Although I think these days are now behind us, I can think of a couple of areas that would have been at least double that yet about 5-8 years ago.

Meanwhile, after several years of super high harvest, habitat destruction and EHD loss, etc, I can think of several areas that are probably less than 5 DPSM. I doubt we have ever had a time, whether deer numbers were high, low or in between, though where there was such a huge disparity across the state in terms of DPSM in various areas.
 
My main farm is 2/3 cover to 1/3 ag and has plenty of food. I would estimate my DPSM in the summer/fall is about 75 and winter levels at 125 DPSM...with the right habitat/area/food its very possible.
 
Daver said:
I agree, with the right combination of habitat and management, I would have no trouble believing 90+ DPSM. Although I think these days are now behind us, I can think of a couple of areas that would have been at least double that yet about 5-8 years ago.

Meanwhile, after several years of super high harvest, habitat destruction and EHD loss, etc, I can think of several areas that are probably less than 5 DPSM. I doubt we have ever had a time, whether deer numbers were high, low or in between, though where there was such a huge disparity across the state in terms of DPSM in various areas.
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My family farms in NW part of state.... If I go to the thickest areas trying to find some pheasants, I can go across a whole block and maybe push out 2-3 deer. Often times I'll walk across a whole section and see no sign of deer period. If I had to guess the average around this widespread area up there, I'd guess 3-5 deer per square mile would be around my guess. I would very much consider these blocks "average" farmer's land, very consistent with the neighbor's type land for at least 5-10 miles in any which direction. yes, NW Iowa is the worst but even driving an hour or 2 from there, you see almost 90% of the same thing. Nothing I can do about it & they would look at my farm and wonder what the world I am thinking as well on the flip side. I guess, in short summary, I hope millions of acres of CRP do come to fruition and we get some more balanced regs & management in those areas.
 
Each state has this issue. Some areas have good deer numbers and other areas are devoid of deer.

In MN, major complaints on deer numbers and lack of bucks in most of the state, but SE MN hunters see plenty of deer and the number of mature bucks is way up due to APR.

Makes for difficult regulations and harvest restrictions when it can vary by region or county (it can vary by one mile in my area of MN).
 
I would estimate my DPSM in the summer/fall is about 75 and winter levels at 125 DPSM
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Geez, that's a lot...I've found it hard to grow anything with much more than 30-40 deer per square mile- the browse is just too extreme.
We got our population in-line a few years back, but the extra tags and seasons didn't go away (for the neighbors)...bring on EHD for two years....I'd say 10 dpsm is about accurate now....if you don't have food, you have zero right now with the brutal weather in my area.
 
Ya, I'd say I do have a few places that are 50-100 deer per square mile. The high end of that is 1 or 2 places could shoot some more for sure. It's because the whole place is maxed for cover, timber is TSI'd to the max & more food than they can finish year round. I'm going to guess that way less than 1% of Iowa has stuff going on like that though. considering 5% of Iowa is timbered, I'd guess it's going to be a tiny fraction of 1%. Even my places that are maxed to the T have seen a hit though BUT at least I can decide what gets the trigger pulled on. unfortunately, not many scenarios like that. Personally, I'd like to have about 50 deer per square mile on my farms. I have no issues with that sort of population and honestly, it's way below carrying capacity for what i do for them. maybe 75
 
It's hard because the deer concentrate on the best food, simple as that. The cover is so plentiful that it plays much less a role. I have sits in early season where I may see 50 deer, but they are coming from big blocks of timber, many square miles so it would not be accurate to say the density is 50 per square mile.
Skip, Our season ends in early Dec. so there is not a late season hunt to base estimates on and by then seeing deer is relatively rare as we are getting about 16 hrs of darkness then and they shift into winter patterns. It's been a long time since I saw a deer or a deer track on my 7 mile drive to work, right through prime ground. Some winters I will find a food source with a couple hundred deer using it, but the surrounding many miles become void of any at such times.
Daver, I'd say at best, on avg, in the say 30 sq. mile chunk I hunt mostly, that 10 DPSM would be a safe bet.
 
Sligh1 said:
My family farms in NW part of state.... If I go to the thickest areas trying to find some pheasants, I can go across a whole block and maybe push out 2-3 deer. Often times I'll walk across a whole section and see no sign of deer period. If I had to guess the average around this widespread area up there, I'd guess 3-5 deer per square mile would be around my guess. I would very much consider these blocks "average" farmer's land, very consistent with the neighbor's type land for at least 5-10 miles in any which direction. yes, NW Iowa is the worst but even driving an hour or 2 from there, you see almost 90% of the same thing. Nothing I can do about it & they would look at my farm and wonder what the world I am thinking as well on the flip side. I guess, in short summary, I hope millions of acres of CRP do come to fruition and we get some more balanced regs & management in those areas.
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Not exactly sure what part of NW Iowa you're talking about, but there are also blocks up here where there can be at least 75...more during the winter months. Those places with blocks of timber, limited access and year round food plots hold a bunch of deer. Just not as many of these type of blocks as there are in other parts of the state.
 
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