Effects of supplemental feeding on White-tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus, migration and survival in Northern Wisconsin

Abstract

From 1986-1989, we increased food available to free-ranging deer on either summer range (n = 53 deer) or winter range (n = 66) and compared these to deer that received no supplemental feeding (control, n = 48) in the Chequamegon National Forest in northwestern Wisconsin. Winter feeding had no effect on the timing of spring migration, although fewer supplementally fed deer migrated. Summer feeding delayed migration to wintering areas (x̄ = 5 days). Home range was not affected by feeding regime. Winter-fed deer had higher average annual survival rates than unfed or summer fed deer (x̄ = 0.78 vs. 0.64 and 0.53, respectively). Supplementally-fed deer had higher average winter survival than unfed deer only during the severe winter of 1988-89 (x̄ = 1.00 and 0.96 for winter and summer-fed deer vs. 0.79 for unfed deer). Summer-fed does had lower summer survival (x̄ = 0.58) than winter-fed does (x̄ = 0.84) or control does (x̄ = 0.92) because of increased vulnerability to hunting. Supplemental feeding had a slightly positive impact on survival and a marginal effect on migration. As recreational or supplemental feeding increases, there may be long-term impacts on migratory behavior.