"LI E) R.AFLY OF THE UNIVERSITY or ILLINOIS cop .2 i.A I UKAL HISTORY SURVEY STATE OF ILLINOIS William G. Stratton, Governor DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION Vera M. Binks, Director WHITE -TAILED DEER POPULATIONS IN ILLINOIS Lysle R. Pietsch June, 1954 Biological Notes No. 34 Printed by Authority of the Slate of Illinois NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY DIVISION Harlow B. Mills, Chief Urbana, Illinois NATURAL 4 ■ s! \ t Fig. 1. -- White-tailed deei on the Rock Rivet range southwest of Rockford. This picture was taken on an aerial census of deer in February, 1947. WHITE-TAILED DEER POPULATIONS IN ILLINOIS* Lysle R. Pletschf In recent years, the public has become more and mote aware of increasing numbers of white- tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus (Boddaert), in Illinois, figs. 1, 2, and 3. The appearance of this deer in areas previously unoccupied within the memory of persons now living has been attended with keen interest and usually with enthusiasm. Once a herd of deer has become established, how- ever, and it has been found responsible for losses to crops and browse plants, the landowners con- cerned have often expressed disapproval and have requested assistance with its management. In response to complaints of landowners in critical areas, the Illinois Department of Conser- vation in 1942 initiated a program of trapping and redistributing nuisance deer. The action precip- itated questions as to (1) the effectiveness of the program in reducing destruction of field crops and woody plants, (2) the suitability of habitat in which releases of deer might be made, and (3) the sub- sequent success of releases. The Department was concerned with the problem of determining whether this increasing game species should be hunted. Some sportsmen, the bow-and-arrow enthusiasts in particular, expressed the belief that deer numbers had reached sudi proportions in some areas of Illinois that a limited amount of deer hunting could and should be permitted. The need for answers to the above questions resulted in the creation of a research project for deer. This project, undertaken by the Illinois Natural History Survey in the fall of 1946, was continued until April 1, 1947, when the Illinois Natural History Survey and the Illinois Department of Conservation entered into a co-operative agree- ment concerning deer research and set up Illinois Federal Aid Project No. 33-R under terms of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act. The second project was terminated on June 30, 1951. The data presented in this paper were, with a few minor exceptions, collected during the life of the two projects. Acknowledgments The research involved in the deer projects and reported upon here was done under the direction of Dr. Harlow B. Mills, Mr. Willet N. Wandell, and Dr. Thomas G. Scott, all of the Illinois Natural History Survey. Dr. Scott and Mr. James S. Ayars, Illinois Natural History Survey, contributed impor- tantly to the preparation of this manuscript for publication. Director Glen D. Palmer, Mr. Louis Martin, and Mr. Joe B. Davidson of the Illinois Department of Conservation gave encouraging interest that was highly valued. Mr. Clayton C. Swears, Mr. Edward A. Fitzgerald, Mr. William Cloe, and Mr. William D. Carter, as employees of the Illinois Department of Conservation, contributed much useful data. The photographs were made by several staff members of the Department of Conservation and the Natural History Survey: Mr. Wandell and Mr. William E. Qark of the Survey, the author, and others. Thanks are due for helpful assistance by conservation officers in all parts of the state, especially for that of Mr. Paul Beebe of Ogle County; also for the friendly co-operation of farmers in the Rock River range, particularly that of Mr. Thomas E. Colloton and Mr. William I. Boetcher. Early Status When white settlers arrived in Illinois early in the eighteenth century, deer were common here, but probably not numerous. At that time the native vegetation consisted largely of extensive areas of two basic types of plant communities, the prairie and the hardwood forest. These, within them- selves, probably did not support an abundance of deer. It was where the prairies and forests merged, comprising the "edge," and in the forest openings that deer were found in large numbers. A statement on the habits of Illinois deer by i/ This paper is based upon findings of Illinois Federal Aid Project No. 33-R, the Illinois Depart- ment of Conservation, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Illinois Natural History Survey, co-operating. Z' Employed by the Illinois Department of Conservation under terms of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act and assigned to the Illinois Natural History Survey for administrative and technical supervision. A. H. Bogaidus, a hunter and tiavelei who lived in Menard County, Illinois, in 1857, and who, recorded his impressions in the book, Field, Cover and Trap Shooting, published in 1874, is quoted by Leopold (1931:194): "It is often supposed that it (the deer) likes best to range in the vast forests, but I believe that to be a mistake. Deer are most fond of country in which there are belts of timber- land and brush interspersed with prairies and savannahs." r^^dk^lf Fig. 2. — Fawn, about 1 week old, on the Rock River range. Faunistic records of early Illinois were often colorful but frequently they lacked preciseness. Nevertheless, they reflected something of the general trend of deer populations. Apparently deer numbers in Illinois did not change materially until after the settlement of the state had pro- gressed somewhat. In 1821, John Woods (1822: 193), who had bought land in Edwards County 2 years before, observed that "Deer are not very numerous. I suppose, I have seen about 100, but never more than five or six together." Some increase in the deer population seemed to be evident in the late 1830's. Jones (1838: 212) wrote, "Deer are more abundant than at the first settlement of the country. They increase, to a certain extent, with the population. The reason for this appears to be, that they find protection in the neighborhood of man from the beasts of prey that assail them in the wilderness." Wood (1910:516) evidently believed that the peak of Illinois deer abundance was reached in the middle, of the nineteenth century. He stated. in reference to the "part of the country" of which he wrote (east-central Illinois), "As the wolves were killed or driven off, the deer became nore plentiful, reaching their greatest abundance be- tween 1845 and 1855." The importance of pre- dation as a limiting factor appears to have been overestimated by Wood, while the favorable effect of an increase in suitable habitat was overlooked. Present-day research on deer requirements has revealed that deer populations may be expected to increase whenever additional browse becomes available, as was the case in connection with many of the early lumbering and clearing oper- ations. It may be well to compare the time and cause of the population build-up among Illinois deer with the time and cause of build-ups of deer in Iov\a, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Madson (1953:101) pointed to an increase of deer in many areas of lov^a in the early 1850's. At that time "heavily timbered tracts were being cleared, and deer habitat was improving." Sv^^ift (1946:8) cited "a Wisconsin newspaper item of 1853" which "stated that farmers along the Wisconsin-Illinois border, during a winter of deep snow, killed many deer with clubs to save their hay from being eaten by these starving animals." He noted that southern Wisconsin at the time of its settlement had a tre- mendous amount of forest "edge" and that there- fore "conditions were highly ideal for deer." From Donald McLeod's History of Wiskonsan, written in 1846, Swift (1946:12) quoted this sentence: "But what seems very remarkable is that ever since the departure of the red man to the west of the Missis- sippi, the deer seem to have increased threefold." Barnes (1945:5) presented figures and dates that indicated Indiana saw its greatest deer population before* 1878, probably about the middle of the nineteenth century. Like Swift (1946:17) and Madson (1953:101), he associated an increase in deer numbers with clearing or pioneer farming operations. "The small pioneer farm created more 'edge,' which temporarily increased the number of deer," Barnes wrote. Available information, then, seems to indicate that deer populations of Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, and southern Wisconsin reached their peaks at about the same time, approximately the middle of the nineteenth century, and for the same reason, increases in habitat favorable to deer. Initially the settlers and resident Indians killed deer for their own use. Subsequently, kill- ing and selling of deer became a common practice. Woods (1822:194), who arrived in Edwards County, Illinois, late in 1819, wrote, "I bought several [deer] in the winter, the greater part without their skins, at one dollar each, but one or two higher; one weighed more than 100 lb. weight. They generally weigh from 60 lb. to 100 lb. A good skin is worth fifty cents: their horns, though large, are of no value here." Of life in Pike County, Illinois, in 1831, Rebecca Burlend (1848:22) reported,, "Mr. Oakes .... came to invite my husband to buy some venison, which he had killed with his rifle just before." Mrs, Burlend's husband bought "a quantity of nice venison at a halfpenny per pound." Jones (1838:213) described what appeared to be a sopiewhat wasteful exploitation: "Immense numbers of deer are killed every year by the hunters, who take them for the hams and skins alone, throwing away the rest of the carcase. Venison hams and hides are important articles of export. Fresh hams usually sell at from seventy- five cents to one dollar and fifty cents a pair, and when properly cured, are a delicious article of food." In the early part of the nineteenth century, use of the deer resource had not progressed to the point where many herds were being greatly de- pleted; in fact, many herds were showing popu- lation increases. Some time prior to 1853, a tapering off of peak numbers must have been evident in the northern and northeastern parts of the state. In that year, the state legislature passed a law which prohibited the killing of deer between January 1 and July 20 in the following counties: Lake, McHenry, Boone, Winpebago, Ogle, De Kalb, Kane, Du Page, Cook, Will, Ken- dall, La Salle, Grundy, Stephenson, and Sangamon (Purple 1856:391). It seems reasonable to believe that increas- ingly restrictive laws governing the hunting of deer reflected continued reduction in their numbers. In 1855 a closed season between January 15 and August 1 became effective throughout the state, except for designated counties, most of them in the lower parts of the Illinois and Embarrass river valleys and the southern one-fourth of the state (Purple 1856:391-2). This trend in law making suggests a noticeable falling off of the northern and central Illinois herds. Yet Bogardus was quoted by Leopold (1931:194) as stating that deer were "exceedingly plentiful" when, in 1857, he first arrived in Illinois (Menard County, one of the counties not included in the 1855 legislation). The major reduction of the deer population which had been built up during the early days of settlement took place probably between 1850 and 1870. The human population in Illinois increased from 55,211 in 1820 to 1,300,251 in 1855 (Gerhard 1857:218). During the next 15 years, the popu- lation increased to 2,539,891. The tremendous increases in human population greatly accelerated the clearing of the wilderness that remained (Cole 1919:1). While openings created in the forests by the early pioneers provided the means for deer population growth, the industriousness of settlers and farmers of a later period increased the tempo of the clearing process to the point where suitable deer food and shelter were greatly curtailed. The destruction of deer habitat, together with the killing of deer for food and sport, and possibly for protection of crops, resulted eventually in a great- ly reduced deer population. During the middle of the nineteenth century, the deer herds in Iowa, southern Wisconsin, and Indiana were also undergoing reductions in num- bers. In Iowa, deer were taken in large numbers by the settlers, and many were slaughtered shortly after the severe blizzard of 1856; with more in- tensive land use they were greatly reduced in numbers (Scott 1937:83). In southern Wisconsin, heavy hunting and "the tremendous human impact on the land" were thought by Swift (1946:16) to have been primary reasons for the decline in deer numbers there. In Indiana, the decrease in deer numbers was found by Barnes (1945: 5) to have been the result of clearing the land for a predominantly agricultural state. In 1873, the Illinois legislature by statute prohibited the killing of deer anywhere in the state between January 1 and August 15 (Hurd 1874:547). This statute seems to indicate that the southern as well as the northern herds had been greatly reduced in numbers by about 1870. By 1901, the deer population must have reached a very low level, for the legislature provided com- plete protection throughout the state for 5 years (Hurd 1901:963) and it has continued to give complete protection since that time. Although it has not been established that deer were entirely extirpated from all sections of Illinois, it seems probable that "the last deer seen" progressed, by counties, from north to south. Leopold (1931:191, map) recorded no wild deer for the northern half of Illinois after 1874. His survey indicated that the last northern Illinois deer seen was in Ford County. It is possible, however, that deer existed in Illinois in the vi- cinity of the Kankakee River at a still later date. Barnes (1945:5) wrote, "Even as late as 1878, sixty- five of these animals [deer] were bagged in a single day in the Kankakee region," in Indiana, and added that "Deei made their last stand [in Indiana] in the marshy expanse of the Kankakee and in the cypress swamps of Knox county. The last wild deer was seen near Red Cloud in Knox county in 1893." Because the deer that lived in Knox County and along the Kankakee River in Indiana did not disappear until some time between 1878 and 1893, it is conceivable that, during that period, some of these animals wandered into Illinois and lived here for short periods of time. For Champaign County, in east-central Illi- nois, Wood (1910:516) reported that a deer "was seen near Homer as late as 1880." In southern Illinois, remnants of the original herds held on much longer. Cory (1912:62) told of a letter dated April 7, 1910, in which C. J. Boyd of Anna had written, "There are a few Deer in the hills in this county [Union] and in Alexander County." Supporting this information is a state- ment by Aldo Leopold, in an unpublished report of May 1, 1929, to the Game Restoration Committee, Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute, that Ed. C. Karraker of Jonesboro said "that wild deer of native stock did not disappear from Union County until about 1910." No data postdating these records of wild deer of native stock in southern Illinois have been uncovered; therefore, it is believed that the original Illinois white- tailed deer herds probably were exterminated shortly thereafter. Repopulation of Deer The white-tailed deer may have returned to the wild in northern Illinois through occasional escapes from a herd maintained near Polo by the late Judge John D. Campbell. It is not known when or where Judge Campbell obtained these deer. It seems reasonable to conclude that the Judge was maintaining a herd as early as the 1860's. Miss Anna Parmalee, a resident of Polo, who was 96 when interviewed on March 21, 1952, recalled "seeing Judge Campbell's deer when I was a little girl." Attorney Harry Typer of Polo revealed, in an interview on the same day, that he, as a boy of 14, took care of Judge Campbell's herd of deer in 1882. Miss Parmalee and another elderly Polo resident, E. M. Clinton, claimed that deer occasionally escaped from the Judge's pen. Typer, however, did not believe that escapes occurred, and observed that "The deer were kept by the old Judge until his death in 1910, at which time the herd, then numbering 20 to 25 animals. was turned loose on the Scott McMillan farm," located about 5 miles northeast of Polo in Ogle County. These deer were thought to have sur- vived and increased their numbers in the wild. Another herd, fig. 3, which may have con- tributed to the repopulation of parts of northern Illinois with deer was kept by the late George J Stevens of Kishwaukee, Illinois. Harry Stevens, " a son, interviewed on March 18, 1952, reported that "In the summer of 1896 or 1897, Mr. W. A. Rothwell bought a doe fawn from a hotel keeper in Eland, Wisconsin. Mr. Rothwell gave this animal to my father and he kept it in a pen on his farm 1 mile west of Kishwaukee. It was given the name Fanny. In the fall of 1898, my father secured a buck from Judge Campbell of Polo. This buck, Sam, and Fanny were successful in raising a number of fawns in the ensuing years. Occasion- ally one of the penned animals escaped; the entire herd, 10 or 12 at the time, was lost in the spring of about 1903, when a tornado felled trees on the pen, letting the deer out." These observations were substantiated by Lester R. Rothwell, a brother-in-law of the late George Stevens in a letter dated March 28, 1952. In referring to the herd following its escape from the Stevens pen, he stated, "The first year they stayed in F. C. Johnson's orchard; then went to the woods along Rock River; later along the Kishwaukee." j From all accounts it seems apparent that these two released herds contributed to the re- population of parts of northern Illinois with wild deer early in the twentieth century. Also, it is conceivable that an occasional deer may have wandered into Illinois from Wisconsin at that time. A release worthy of record, because of its location, was made at the Savanna Ordinance Depot in Carroll County, northern Illinois, at some time in the middle 1930's. Sergeant Albert Bingham (retired) stated, in an interview on May 22, 1952, that in about 1936 he had released there a buck and a doe obtained from the Mount Vernon Game Farm. Later he released a doe obtained from the Springfield Game Farm in 1937 and a buck obtained from the same place in 1938. Ser- geant Bingham indicated that fawns were pro- duced by these deer. His releases are thought to have been successful, as, during the census of 1950-51, a population of about 100 deer was estimated for Carroll County. The circumstances and dates of the return of wild deer to southern Illinois are not clear. Ben- nitt & Nagel (1937:80) reported an estimated ^ Fig. 3. — Reproduction of photograph, now faded, taken of doe, Fanny, and buck, Sam, probably in the late 1890's. These deer and their offspring, two of which are shown here, were owned by the late George Stevens of Kishwaukee. They are believed to have provided the nucleus for a herd that contrib- uted to the repopulation of the Rock River deer range in northern Illinois. population of 15 and 17 wild deer, respectively, in 1925 and 1926 in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, across the Mississippi River from Randolph County, Illinois. A legal kill of 18 deer was reported for Ste. Genevieve County by hunters during four open seasons, 1933-1936, There was no open season in the period 1925-1930 (Bennitt & Nagel 1937:79). Some of these Missouri deer, possibly stimulated by hunting pressure, may have made their way across the river into such Illinois counties as Union, Jackson, and Randolph. The late Ernest L. Mills, in an unpublished report written in 1935 while he was with the Civilian Conservation Corps in southern Illinois, recorded that a friend of one of the men he interviewed had seen a deer in Union County about 1932; in the opinion of the observer, the deer had come in from Missouri. The deliberate release of deer in southern Illinois was begun by the Illinois Department of Conservation in the 1930's. So far as is known, the first release in southern Illinois was that made on the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge in 1933 and reported by Leopold, Sowls, & Spencer (1947:166). One buck and three does were re- leased on this occasion. The next recorded southern Illinois release was made by the United States Forest Service in the Shawnee National Forest. In this instance, five deer, two bucks and three does, were turned out near Belle Smith Springs in Pope County in December, 1935. These animals were sent from Augusta, Michigan, by H. D. Ruhl of the Michigan Department of Conservation. In addition, records reveal, four deer, sex unknown, were obtained in March, 1936, from the Mount Vernon Game Farm „L ... ■ ... I"' f Fig. 4. — Setting box-type tiap used to catch deei on the Rock River range in northern Illinois. Fig. 5. — Transfer box into which captured deer is driven from trap. Fig. 6. — Weighing deer in transfer box. Fig. 7. -- Tagging deer in transfer box. Fig. 8. — Doe breaking for freedom after having been trucked in transfer case from Rock River range and released in new environment. 8 and released in the Union County State Forest near Jonesboro. In a letter dated April 21, 1953, Conrad W. Carlson, then acting supervisor of the Shawnee National Forest, wrote, "As to the success of the early plantings, it appears that deer were observed on rare occasions beginning in 1936. The animals were listed as rare in our annual reports from 1936-41." No other releases are known to have been made until the winter of 1942-43, when the re- moval, by live trapping, of deer from the island of the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge to various southern and central Illinois counties was initi- ated. Therefore, it appears that the early develop- ment of the present southern Illinois herds came about principally from the three releases described above, and possibly in addition from an ingress of wild deer from Missouri. The program of live trapping and redis- tributing deer, undertaken by the Department of Conservation during the winter of 1942-43, has contributed greatly to the present wide distribu- Table 1. - Summary of deer trapping on the is- land of the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge, Alexander County, Illinois, 1942-1953. (Weight in pounds.) Total Average Trapping Year Catch Weight Losses 1942-43 50* — — 1943-44 75* — — 1944-45 62 — — 1945-46 24 ~ 1946-47 25 — 1947-48 59 96.2 1 1948-49 9 — 1949-50 — 1950-51 72 103.8 4 1951-52 46 107.6 1 1952-53 17 113.9 Total 439 6 * Estimated number. tion of deer in Illinois, figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. From the fall of 1942 to the spring of 1953, approx- imately 439 deer were trapped on the island of the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge and about 433 were redistributed to various Illinois counties, table 1. From the fall of 1946 to the spring of 1953, 158 deer were trapped on the Rock River range and 153 were relocated, principally in southern Illinois, table 2. In addition, in the winter of 1952, 11 deer were removed from the Springfield Game Farm and released in three cen- tral Illinois counties. Thus, about 600 Illinois deer have been introduced into new surroundings through redistribution. Records of the Illinois Department of Conser- vation on the redistribution of deer prior to 1947 have been lost. C. E. Laughery,who was in charge of deer trapping at the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge from the fall of 1942 to the spring of 1944, reported that releases were made in many counties of the state in that period. Complete records, most of them summarized in tables 3 and 4, were main- tained from the fall of 1947 to the spring of 1953. During that time, 347 deer from all sources were released in 18 counties, fig. 9. In addition to animals represented by the redistribution records listed in tables 3 and 4, two deer that were obtained along the Rock River near Byron were released in Cook County in the spring of 1950. As fawns, these animals had been injured by farming operations, nursed to health by farmers, and subsequently turned over to the Department of Conservation for disposition. Also, 11 deer, trapped on the Springfield Game Farm in February and March of 1952, were released in four counties as follows: 2 in Cook, 3 in Clark, 3 in Piatt, and 3 in Sangamon. There probably has been some recent migra - tion into Illinois from adjacent states. Although verified observations are lacking, this influx may have taken place from Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, and Indiana. Table 2 . - Summary of deer trapping on the Rock River range in Ogle and Winnebago counties, Illinois, 1946-1953. (Weight in pounds.) Year Bucks Does Sex Ratio Total Catch Average Weight Trapping Losses 1946-47 8 7 0.88 15 -. 1947-48 19 23 1.21 42 96.0 1948-49 26 21 1 0.81 47 84.3 4 1949-50 5 8 1.60 13 72.7 1950-51 20 21 1.05 41 84.9 1 1951-52 — — ~ — 1952-53 - - - — Total 78 80 1:1.03 158 - 5 Table 3. - Number of deer trapped on the Rock River range in Ogle and Winnebago counties, Illinois, and relocated by counties, 1947-1951. County 1947-48 1948-49 1949-50 1950-51 Total Carroll -- 2 — .. 2 Gallatin — 12 7 -- 19 Hardin 5 ~ ~ 6 11 Jo Daviess 2 — — — 2 Lee 4 3 — -- 7 Perry ~ « 6 — 6 Pope 31 26 " 34 91 Total 42 43 13 40 138 Table 4. - Number of deer trapped on the island of the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge, Alexander County, Illinois, and relocated by counties, 1947-1953. County 1947-48 1948-49 1949-50 1950-51 1951-52 1952-53 Total Alexander — — 13 .- 7 20 Fayette — — — -. 5 .. 5 Gallatin 7 — — 28 9 4 48 Hamilton — ~ — 5 14 — 19 Hardin 14 ~ — -- — — 14 Jackson — 9 — .- — — 9 Massac — — — 20 4 6 30 Perry — — — — 5 — 5 Pope 33 - — — — 33 Saline — — — — 8 — 8 Union 4 — ~ 1 — — 5 Total 58 9 67 45 17 196 Geographic Distribution That the Illinois area occupied by deer has been greatly expanded in recent years is denoted by the increasing numbers of counties in which the animals have been found. Reports of conservation officers for 1947 indicate that in that year deer were to be found in 45 of the 102 counties of the state. Reports from the same source show that by 1949 deer were present in 62 counties, by 1950, in 68 counties. Data obtained following the last conservation officer report, that of 1950, indicate that deer were present in at least 74 counties early in 1953, fig. 10. To a large group of counties in east-central Illinois, deer have not returned. This group is in the intensively farmed black prairie region, and very little habitat which might be considered suitable for deer exists in this area. Although deer are widely distributed in Illinois, the reader should not assume that all the acceptable deer ranges in the state are fully occupied, fig. 11. In northern Illinois, only some portions of the Rock River range, fig. 12, which is located along the Rock and Kishwaukee rivers and their tributaries in De Kalb, Lee, Ogle, and Winnebago counties, are Carrying a capacity pop- ulation of deer. While most suitable ranges in the state contain some deer, the populations of many of these ranges can increase severalfold before carrying capacities are reached. For example, much of the land not suitable for cultivation along some of the larger rivers in Illinois appears capable of supporting much larger deer herds than are now present there. Of major importance are such areas as the Mississippi River bluffs in Joe Daviess, Carroll, and Whiteside counties, the riverbreak country along the Illinois River in Bureau, Putnam, and Marshall counties, and the Kaskaskia River bottoms in Fayette, Clinton, and Washington counties. By far the most promising deer range in Illinois is to be found in and adjacent to the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois, fig. 12. Nine counties are represented in the Shawnee's 1,500,000 acres of forest and potential forest land. Much of this land is primarily suitable only for growing trees, because the fertility of the soil is low and the slopes are steep. The deer herds 10 Fig. 9. — Number of deer (represented by Fig. 10. — Illinois counties in which one or numerals) released in counties of Illinois by the more deer were reported to be present in early Department of Conservation, 1947-1953. 1953 (represented by hatching). SEVERSON AND FUNDERBURG o ROCK RIVER RANGE COUNTIES IN PRINCIPAL l--» SOUTHERN ILLINOIS RANGE HORSESHOE LAKE GAME REFUGE Fig. 11. — Number of deer (represented by numerals) in Illinois counties, winter of 1950-51. (Most of data from conservation officers.) Fig. 12. — Principal Illinois deer ranges and areas of concentration (Severson and Funderburg estates and Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge). 11 should be favored by the sustained yield policies of forest management in effect there. Studies made in 1949 and 1950 in eight counties in the Shawnee National Forest and one adjacent county show that deer were present on only about 203,000 of the 439,087-acre area exam- ined, table 5. Resident landowners provided con- siderable information in drawing the line between occupied and unoccupied ranges. In addition, foresters, conservation officers, and interested sportsmen contributed helpful sight records. From data given in table 5 can be calculated the proportion of each of several cover types occupied by deer: 43.5 per cent of the upland hard- woods, 49.8 per cent of the bottomland mixed hard- woods, and 87.8 per cent of the pin oak flats. As the early deer releases were made indiscriminately in these three cover types, it is thought that the greater use of the pin oak flats showed that deer preferred this type. The upland hardwoods, which comprised the largest land area by far, appeared to be least desirable. It is believed that most of the unoccupied area is capable of supporting deer herds. Some of the deer removed from areas in which the animals were too numerous or destructive were released in parts of this unoccupied area during the winters of 1951-52 and 1952-53. Populations An effort to assemble population data on the various deer herds of Illinois was begun in the spring of 1947. Reports received from conser- vation officers at that time indicated that deer were showing a general increase and appearing in counties not occupied by them in the recent past. Deer population estimates were made for the winters of 1949-50 and 1950-51. These were based on data obtained from three sources: (1) conservation officers, (2) aerial censuses of the Rock River range, and (3) deer drives on the island of the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge. The data indicated state-wide populations of about 2,550 in 1949-50 and more than 3,075 in 1950-51. The distribution of the 1950-51 deer populations by counties is shown in fig. 11. Location of the principal deer ranges is shown in fig. 12. Reports from conservation officers indicate the nature of the population trend during the 1949- 1951 period, table 6. The number of counties for which increased deer populations were reported in both 1949-50 and 1950-51 was far greater than the number for which reduced populations were reported. In addition, deer were reported present in six more counties in the winter of 1950-51 than in the previous winter. Population on the Rock River Range. —The earliest information on the deer population that occupied the Rock River range, fig. 12, following the escapes and releases mentioned previously, was obtained from Dr. David H. Thompson of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County on August 20, 1953. Dr. Thompson reported that, while he was conducting a full-time study of the Rock River from Sterling to the mouth of the Kishwaukee River in 1925 and 1926 for the Illinois Natural History Survey, he learned from the local people much about the number of deer in the area. After noting this type of information for 2 years, he estimated a population of about 200 deer for Ogle and Winnebago counties between Dixon and Rockford. Deer on the Rock River range were censused from the air in February of 1947, 1949, and 1950, and in December of 1950. Swears (1948:12) de- scribed the initial survey, which was conducted in Ogle and Winnebago counties by Willet N. Wandell of the Illinois Natural History Survey and William L. Preno of the Illinois Department of Conserva- tion. Aerial photographs were taken by Wandell on this survey, fig. 1 and back cover. Estimates based on a complete aerial survey of brushy and wooded areas in which deer normally ranged proved to be of greater accuracy than estimates obtained by sampling the area along predetermined flight strips. Figures derived from the strip census were found unreliable because this type of census did not eliminate the bias introduced by the extremely uneven distribution of deer on the Rock River range in winter. In an unpublished report, Wandell stated that the area censused during the first survey, in February, 1947, comprised 8,110 acres of wood- land in close proximity to the Rock River in Ogle and Winnebago counties. Observations revealed a total of 655 deer in the censused area. Wandell estimated that three of every four deer in the censused area were seen and recorded and cal- culated the population for the censused area as 872. He estimated that 67 per cent of the deer range in these two counties had been surveyed, and he apparently assumed that the deer density in the uncensused area was equal to that in the censused area. Using the data then available, he calculated that the deer population of Ogle and Winnebago counties was 1,295. The writer believes that this initial estimate of the popu- lation was too high, for subsequent surveys 12 Table 5. - Estimated acreages of woodland occupied and unoccupied by deer in nine southern Illinois counties, 1949-50.* County Bottomland Mixed Hardwoods Pin Oak Flats Upland Hardwoods Occupied Unoccupied Occupied Unoccupied Occupied Unoccupied Alexander Gallatin Hardin Jackson Johnson Massac Pope Pulaski Union Total 18,208 1,553 3,296 6,286 9,124 3,283 5,959 11,733 59,442 21,305 14,668 8,293 15,738 60,004 3,813 40 1,806 847 1,310 1,460 9,276 327 963 1,290 4,813 26,382 10,571 27,549 779 62,637 1,609 134,340 37,373 9,709 51,227 11,180 4,603 60,643 174,735 *The cover type classifications used in this table are modifications of classifications used in a forestry publication (Anonymous 1950). The new classifications were adopted after consultation with personnel of the University of Illinois Department of Forestry. Bottomland mixed hardwoods. — Chief species: cottonwood, sycamore, ash, sweetgum, soft maple, elm, willow, hackberry, box elder, honey locust, water locust, pecan; white, cherry bark, and water oaks. Sites: varies from well-drained alluvial lands to well-drained primary and secondary bottomland. Pin oak flats. -- Chief species: pin oak, soft maple, elm, hickories, and sweetgum. Frequently stands are nearly pure pin oak. Sites: poorly drained level lands. Upland hardwoods. — Chief species: red, white, and black oaks, hickories, maples, yellow poplar, beech, ash, blackgum, and sweetgum. Sites: hilly regions, coves, upland claypan areas, and stream margins. Table 6. - Deer population and distribution trends in Illinois, as reported by conservation officers in counties of the state, 1949-1951. Year Counties Reporting Counties Reporting Deer Counties Reporting Deer Increases Counties Reporting Deer Decreases 1949-50 1950-51 102 102 62 68 35 32 3 2 showed that the deer density in the outlying areas was much lower than that found in the vicinity of the Rock River. The pattern of subsequent censuses was es- sentially the same as that of the first, but, as the area covered was much more extensive, the results are not thought suitable for comparison. The subsequent surveys included range in De Kalb and Lee counties as well as in Ogle and Winne- bago counties. In each of the censuses made in February, 1949 and 1950, and December, 1950, the airplane was flown in overlapping circles, 200 to 350 feet above individual woodlots, until it was felt that all the deer below had been seen and recorded, table 7. These surveys were not undertaken until t''- snow depth exceeded 3 inches, because old deer beds in snow of less depth could not be read- ily distinguished from deer actually bedded down. Both two-place and four-place Piper Cub air- planes were used in these surveys. The slower- flying two-place plane permitted more intensive scanning of the ground; thus, this type of plane was thought more suitable than the faster four- place model. An observer performed the censusing duties; the pilot aided in locating deer, as opportunities permitted. The flying time required to complete each of these surveys varied between 12 and 18 hours, depending on the amount of range flown. As may be seen in table 7, the range surveyed varied between 63 and 83 square miles, but virtually all the deer counted in the three surveys were seen in the 63 square miles flown in February, 1949, and December, 1950. Figures in the last column in table 7 were arrived at by assuming that only 66 per cent of the deer in the region were seen from the air. This correction factor was derived, during the February, 1950, census, by comparing counts made from the air with counts made from manpower drives in four widely scattered woodlots. Sixty deer were tallied from the air, whereas 91 were counted in the drives. The accuracy of the figures obtained from these small samples was questioned; however, since no other data were available from which to derive a 13 Table 7. - Data from aerial surveys of deer on the Rock River range, principally in Ogle and Winnebago counties, Illinois, 1949 and 1950. Date Range Flown, Square Miles Visibility Deer Seen Estimated Population February, 1949 February, 1950 December, 1950 63 83 63 Good Fair Good 661 559 656 1,002 847 994 correction factor for the Rock River range, the calculated correction factor, 66 per cent, was used. It is interesting to note that the estimated numbers in the herds varied by only eight in the 2 years when visibility was rated "good." In February of 1950, when the visibility was consid- ered only "fair," the estimated number was about 150 short of the estimated number in the other years. The low count was thought to have reflect- ed a shortcoming of the aerial census, rather than an actual reduction in population, for the writer, while conducting field studies, did not observe a population decline between the fall of 1948 and the spring of 1951. Nor did landowners and con- servation officers in this area who were inter- viewed believe that the deer population had changed materially during this period. Population on the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge The earliest information available concerning the deer population on the island of the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge, fig. 12, is that supplied by Leopold, Sowls, & Spencer (1947: 166), who stated that the population had in- creased frcfm an original planting of 1 buck and 3 does in 1933 to a total of 250 deer by 1944. The herd was reported to have been reduced by trap- ping until about 150 were present at the outset of the winter of 1947-48 (Swears 1948:15). More information on the status of the herd on the island of the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge was brought to light in 1950. A drive on April 22 of that year revealed 168 deer. The next census, December 9, 1950, produced a count of 195 deer. Nineteen animals had been removed during the fall of 1950 by live trapping; thus, the total popu- lation in early fall, 1950, is estimated to have been 214. This represented a 27.4 per cent in- crease over the spring population. The area per deer on the island in the spring of 1950 was approximately 7.1 acres; by early fall the area per deer had been reduced to approx- imately 5.6 acres. These figures represent popu- lation densities considered high for deer range of average quality. The gravity of the population problem on the island became especially apparent when it was realized that about 750 of the ap- proximately 1,200 acres there were being used to grow field crops, which in themselves were not desirable deer foods. The effects of a deer population on its range were discussed by O'Roke & Hamerstrom (1948) in their paper on the George Reserve deer herd. This southern Michigan herd had its beginning in March, 1928, when four does and two bucks were released in the enclosure on the reserve. Ap- proximately 1,200 acres in size, the reserve con- sisted of about 46 per cent grassland, 43 per cent woody vegetation, and 11 per cent marsh and bog. "In the fall of 1933 it became apparent that the deer had increased phenomenally and that vegetation was being drastically overused," wrote O'Roke & Hamerstrom (1948:79). The first deer drive and count on the area indicated that a deer population of about 160 inhabited the area in the early part of the winter of 1933-34. The area per deer for this population was approximately 7.5 acres. In the winters beginning with 1933-34 and ending with 1940-41, the early winter herds fluc- tuated between 112 and 210 d^ter. O'Roke & Hamerstrom (1948:85) related that "There has been a noticeable improvement in the under-story since the herd was cut back to an average of about 55 [per section] in the winter of 1941-42." The area per deer for this population was about 11.6 acres. Writing in 1947, O'Roke & Hamerstrom (1948: 86) stated that "there has been some recovery during the last four or five years, .... but the invasion of brush and trees into the old fields is still almost at a standstill." The deer density had declined until, early in the winter of 1946-47, the area per deer was about 16.2 acres. Sex and Age Ratios Data on the sex ratios of deer on the Rock River range were obtained from three sources: (1) live trapping, (2) fatality counts, and (3) field observations, table 8. In 4 years of trapping, 78 14 Table 8. - Sex ratios of deer trapped, found dead, or observed in the field on the Rock River range, principally in Ogle and Viinnebago counties, Illinois, 1947-1951. Period Bucks Does Buck: Doe Ratio Source of Data 1947-1951 1948-1951 1948-1951 Total 78 98 152 328 80 99 146 325 1:1.03 1:1.01 1:0.96 1:0.99 Live trapping Fatality counts Field observations Table 9. - Sex ratios of deer trapped on the is- land of the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge, Alexander Countv, Illinois, 1946 through spring of 1953. Buck: Year Bucks Does Doe Ratio 1946-47 I 1^ 9 1:0.56 1947-48 ' 32 26 1:0.81 1948-49 4 5 1:1.25 1950-51 15 57 1:3.80 1951-52 19 27 1:1.42 1952-53 4 13 1:3.25 Total i 90 137 1:1.52 Table 10. - Data on sex and age classifications of 244 deer seen on the Rock Rivet range, princi- pally in Ogle and Winnebago counties, Illinois, 1950. The doe to fawn ratio was 1:0.916. Classification Number Seen Per Cent of Total Seen Adult or yearling bucks Adult or yearling does Fawns Total 85 83 76 244 34.8 34.0 31.2 100.0 bucks and 80 does were caught; of the fatalities of all kinds recorded in this area, 98 were among bucks and 99 were among does; and, of deer observed in the field, 152 were bucks and 146 were does. The computed sex ratio for the 328 bucks and 325 does listed above is 1 buck to 0.991 doe. C. \V. Severinghaus of the New York State Conser- vation Department, in a letter dated September 21, 1951, indicated that the buck-to-doe ratio of 11,065 fawns, less than 9 months of age, killed by non-selective agents in New York was 1:0.960. Sex ratio data for the deer trapped on the island of the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge were meager and they were inconsistent from year to year; nevertheless, it is thought that they are worthy of record, table 9. In the fitst 2 yeais for which lecords are available, bucks outnumbered does, but in the last three winters the number of does caught was considerably greater than the number of bucks taken. Perhaps the excessively high deer populations in the more recent years resulted in pressures which caused more bucks than does to leave the island. Observations on the Rock River range, table 8, do not indicate that the trapping technique, as used there, was selective for does. Deer fatalities, from the fall of 1948 to the spring of 1951, provided some data on the sex ratios of deer in widely scattered sections of southern Illinois. Of 35 deer that died from a variety of causes, but most of them as a result of highway accidents, 20 were bucks and 15 were does, a 1:0.75 ratio. The losses occurred in 10 southern Illinois counties, chiefly in and near the Shawnee National Forest. It is realized this is a small sample for so large an area, and record is made of it here largely for addition to such future data as may be collected. Data on the age ratios of deer were obtained in the Rock Rivet tange ftom field obsetvations in the summer and fall of 1950; 244 deer were seen clearly enough to be classified as to sex and age, table 10. The relative length of muzzle was used to distinguish fawns from older deer. Of the adult and yearling deer, 85 were bucks and 83 were does; the buck-to-doe ratio was 1:0.976. The doe-to-fawn ratio was 1:0.916. The aerial census in Decembet, 1950, indi- cated a deet population on the Rock Rivet tange of 994; thus, the 244 identified deet made up a sample of 24.5 pet cent of the estimated total population. It was felt that this sample gave an accutate index of the doe-to-fawn tatio and sug- gested good productivity in this area for 1950. Movements Seasonal movements of the deer on the Rock River range were evident in spring and fall of 15 Table 11. - Recovery data, 1948-1951, from 335 tagged deer released in Illinois since about 1947. All recoveries were from releases made in southern Illinois. Miles From Tag No. Sex Release Date Recovery Date Recovery to Release Site Cause of Death 28 ■? Unknown 1-15-48 ? ■> 75 M 2-19-48 2- 2-49 98 Shot 633,634 M 2-19-49 4-10-49 6 Fence 577,578 F 2- 4-49 4-18-49 8 Shot 510 F 2-15-48 5-15-49 28 Car 599,600 M 2- 7-49 9-29-49 6 7 502 F 1-31-48 11-19-49 \Vi Shot 303 IVI 2-14-49 5-18-50 8 Motorcycle 625,626 M 2-15-49 11-11-50 4 ? 731,732 IVI 2-14-51 2-18-51 25 Hurt in transit the years of this study. During April, in 1950 and 1951, a moderate shifting outward was noted in those herds that wintered in close proximity to the Rock River. Small groups or single deer appeared in wooded creek bottoms and in large upland woodlots as much as 6 or 7 miles from the river, in places where none had been present in winter. The animals remained in these outlying habitats throughout the remainder of the spring and summer. In late fall, the spring movement was reversed when the adult deer and their off- spring moved back to winter ranges along the river. This population build-up along the river in fall resulted in herds ranging in size up to more than 100 individuals. Herds of 15 to 35 were common. Some information on the movements of deer following their release on unfamiliar range was obtained. Of 335 tagged deer which have been released over the state since about 1947, recovery data have been obtained on only 10, table 11. All of these recoveries were from releases made in southern Illinois counties. Three of these 10 deer had been shot. It will be noted that the straight line distance from the release site to the point where the tag was recovered varied from 1.5 to 98 miles; the average was 20.5 miles. The buck that migrated 98 miles had been released almost a year before the date of tag recovery. Length of time from release of deer to recovery of tag seemed to have little bearing on the distance traveled by the deer. Four tagged deer recovered more than a year after their releases averaged only 10.5 miles; the max- imum for these deer was 28 miles and the minimum 1.5 miles. Table 12. - Fatality records for deer in Illinois, 1948-1951. Cause of Fatality Fatalities in Rock River Range, January, 1948-May, 1951 Fatalities in Illinois, Exclusive of Rock River Range, September, 1948-March, 1951 Number Per Cent Number Per Cent Highway accidents Poaching Dogs Fence entanglements Farming operations Drowning Live trapping Trains Buck fights Malnutrition Unknown Total 135 45 19 13 12 7 5 2 2 2 27 269 50.2 16.7 7.1 4.8 4.5 2.6 1.9 0.7 0.7 0.7 10.1 100.0 43 3 4 3 2 5 8 1 7 76 56.6 3.95 5.3 3.95 0.0 2.6 6.6 10.5 0.0 1.3 9.2 100.0 16 Fig. 13. — Remains of a deer that showed Fig. 14. — Two bucks on the Rock River range signs of having succumbed to a pack of domestic that died after having locked horns in a fight that dogs on the Rock River range. took place during the breeding season. Mortality Recent censuses on the Rock River range have pointed to a stable resident deer population there. Productivity has been shown to be good; no confirmed report of emigration beyond the limits of the range has been brought to light. The rel- atively stable population on this range has largely been a consequence of a mortality that balanced the productivity. Many data on deer mortality were furnished by conservation officers, in particular, Officer Paul Beebe of Forreston, who provided most of the records for the Rock River range. Other in- formation was obtained through direct observation in the field and from resident farmers. Of the known causes of mortality among deer in Illinois, highway accidents were the ones that most frequently came to attention, table 12. Ap- proximately half of the fatalities recorded were attributed to motor vehicles. Deaths recorded as resulting from poaching were 15 tim.es as many on the Rock River range as elsewhere in the state. On this range, high population densities were present over a larger area than elsewhere, and the deer were more readily accessible to poachers. Poaching was undoubtedly a much more frequent mortality cause than was indicated by the records. Poachers usually took precautions to conceal evidence of their activities; therefore, such losses frequently went unnoticed. Losses resulting from attacks by dogs, fig. 13, were also thought to have been higher than indicated by the figures, because old evidence of dog kills was not readily identified, and cause of death was listed as un- known, when any doubt existed. A very small loss occurred from antler locking when bucks fought during the breeding season, fig. 14. Condition of Herds During the period of this investigation, the condition of the deer throughout Illinois appeared excellent, except for those animals inhabiting the most heavily populated area on the Rock River range and the island of the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge. The degree to which food plants have been browsed may be used as an indicator of the state of balance existing between deer and their food supply. If the deei population does not exceed its food supply, such marked evidence of close feeding as a browse line, at the greatest height to which the deer reach when standing on all fours, will not be easily discerned on the more desirable food plants. On the Rock Rivet range, only one small area, consisting of the Harry Severson and the Hugh Funderburg estates, fig. 12, exhibited from the beginning of this study a marked browse line, fig. 15, indicative of restricted food resources. These adjoining estates, encompassing about 4 square miles of forest and agricultural range, are located about 7 miles southwest of Rockford. 17 Although domestic livestock has not been pas- tured in the woods or brushland on the area since about 1941, palatable trees and shrubs within reach of deer have suffered severely from over- browsing, figs. 16 and 17. This area has, for many years, supported the highest deer concentra- tion in northern Illinois. Nearly 18 years ago, the late Aide Leopold noted the high level of the deer population in the Rockford area. In an unpublished report dated October 15, 1936, he wrote as follows to Harry D. Colman, then owner of the land now known as the Funderburg estate: "There are already plenty of deer for pleasure purposes: 1 saw 15 and 25 per ymx* ^!^- ^*'*j| i:^ ..,.Mn«««ili «i fcf It ^^in ■m^m:^ .<^''.*