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Sportsmen Looking Over Clover for Deer Herd

February 02, 2010 - NEW SWEDEN -- A group of sportsmen 200 members strong in northern Maine is hoping clover will bring luck.

While state biologists ponder what can be done to help increase the dwindling deer herd in northern Maine after the past two severe winters, the members of the Aroostook County Conservation Association have taken matters into their own hands by planting crops of clover and planning their second annual coyote hunting contest.

"We had concerns two years ago when we lost 80 deer in one yard. They starved to death," said association president Jerry McLaughlin of New Sweden. "That's why we got the association together. We're losing too many deer to starvation and predation."

Coyotes, on the other hand ...

"Coyotes have been multiplying and multiplying. They are thinning the deer herd out way too much," McLaughlin said.

So the sportsmen are hosting their second coyote hunt competition. There is no bag limit on coyotes in Maine, and no closed season.

The association's members believe the coyotes are the chief reason the deer herd has suffered since the state ended the snaring program seven years ago.

"We've got people trying to shoot coyotes in deer yards. It's all we have," McLaughlin said.

The contest costs $20 to enter, with half going into a fund for new food plots for deer and half going into a pool.

The sportsmen also planted acres of clover from St. Francis to Masardis, a distance of 75 miles. The crop, high in protein and planted on logging company land, is a mixture of different types of rye and clover. It helps fatten the deer before winter.

State biologists oppose feeding deer – although it is not illegal – but this style of feeding is less of a problem, said northern Maine biologist Rich Hoppe.

"We're not really keen on feeding, because lots of people don't know what they are doing and they cause a lot of problems with deer coming across the road," Hoppe said.

Deer yards are where deer go in winter for protection. Whitetails yard-up in large numbers where there is good cover, and return to these areas year after year.

Feeding deer draws them out of the protective yards, Hoppe said.

"Those deer have learned, 'This is where we go.' As deer numbers increase, it could jeopardize the number of deer, and rightly so," Hoppe said.

He said another problem is that people throw out food that is full of starch – corn, bread, oats or straw. This kind of diet can cause deer to starve, because it provides no nutrition.

"I saw one person who threw out potatoes," Hoppe said. "The stomachs (of deer) are not able to break that down."

Left to forage, deer will seek hemlock and cedar, which are high in protein, Hoppe said.

Hoppe has been talking publicly about the dangers of feeding deer for a decade, but he said it hasn't dissuaded anyone.

At least those with the new association are following the best feeding practices, he said.

McLaughlin said the association is monitoring the first winter of its clover crop experiment, and if needed, it will step up its feeding efforts and go into deer yards with food next year.

"We're trying this first," McLaughlin said. "But it's a mild winter so far. We're researching how to feed. We know close to a road is not a good idea. It's suicide for the deer."

DEIRDRE FLEMING, Portland Press Herald, January 31, 2010


Lakes:
Regions: Presque Isle


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