This is the area manager response.
XXXXXXXXXX,
Thank you for your interest in deer and deer hunting. You are correct, the refuge has been hunted for many years. The Carleton State Game Refuge was opened for hunting management in response to deer grazing pressure and browsing on existing and restored natural communities within the refuge. Deer grazing pressure was having a significant impact on certain species Carleton ecologists were hoping to restore to the area. In addition, deer numbers were also high enough they were threatening the long term viability of the refuge to provide good winter deer habitat and habitat for other species dependent on these natural communities.
Extra permits have been allocated in past hunts. In each hunt from 1998 through 2013 bonus permits were available. Anyone having written permission and hunting in the 837-acre Carleton Game Refuge could purchase and use bonus permits to take up to 2 deer.
In 2014 deer hunters were limited to 1 deer per hunter and no bonus permits were issued for the refuge. Following the 2014 season, the Arboretum Director requested returning to the extra flexibility of bonus permits to help manage deer numbers in portions of the Arboretum where deer damage to vegetation was of most concern. I concurred this would be appropriate. The Arboretum continues to experience high deer grazing pressure on certain desirable plants and natural habitats. The winter had been mild and we anticipated good survival and reproduction from the resident deer.
Recognizing that bonus permits would not be available in permit area 339, we decided to establish a special hunt zone for the Carleton Game Refuge that would be administered by Carleton College Arboretum staff. The decision to allow hunters to take up to 5 deer was to give some additional flexibility. Given the established history of this hunt we can anticipate that most hunters will take no deer from the Arboretum hunt and the majority of successful hunters will take only 1 or 2 deer. Our experience with other special hunts where hunters can purchase the 3 extra tags is that only a fraction of permittees will be willing and able to take more than 2 deer. The extra permits will allow a few hunters a chance for to take additional deer to further management purposes. Having the tags available for hunters with permissions is much different than having the permits used to tag additional deer.
The number of deer taken from the refuge since 1998 has averaged about 9.5 deer/hunt. The average is basically unchanged in the years you cited, despite variations in the numbers of hunters and bonus permits being available in all but 2014. We anticipate the number of deer taken from the Arboretum hunt will be similar to past hunts.
The Department’s website does not contain additional analysis of deer densities and habitats beyond the permit area level. However, the Carleton Game Refuge does support a higher deer density than on average for Permit Area 339. The refuge contains a much higher percentage of managed deer habitat than average. It is closed to most deer hunting and adjacent to other habitats that are also closed to deer hunting or only lightly hunted. It serves as a traditional deer wintering area. At the time the managed hunts were initiated we were regularly counting deer in the refuge in the winter. Deer numbers in the refuge can vary a great deal from year to year depending on weather and other conditions. From 1998 through 2002 the counts averaged 27 deer/square mile. By 2005 the average number of deer seen in these counts increased to more than 30 deer per square mile even though Arboretum hunts were taking place nearly every year. Unfortunately, we have been unable to continue our aerial counts since 2005. In the last decade we have relied on observations made by Arboretum and Department staff of deer and, importantly, deer impacts to natural plant communities. These observations suggest that deer numbers are robust and grazing and browsing pressure on preferred foods remains a concern.
The Arboretum staff, myself and other wildlife managers recognize the importance of the lands in the Carleton Game Refuge and the Arboretum as a whole to the overall health and well-being of the deer population near Northfield. The area can and does support higher deer numbers than other lands. However, it is also important to recognize that deer densities that remain too high for too long will result in degraded natural habitats for deer and other wildlife. Hunting provides the tool to manage deer numbers in balance with these natural habitats long term. Although we have increased the number of tags available to individual hunters, in other ways the hunt remains limited. The refuge is open for only a fraction of the regular deer season, only for archery, and at a time of the deer season when hunting pressure outside the refuge is declining and the daylight hours available for deer hunting are at a minimum. Carleton is giving permission to hunt only parts of the Carleton Game Refuge and Arboretum that are most vulnerable to deer and feasible to hunt. There are substantial escape habitats available to deer in the vicinity of the hunt area. Few areas are managed and studied as intensively for the benefit of wildlife and natural plant communities as the Carleton Arboretum.
Please feel free to contact me if you have additional questions, comments or concerns. I am sorry you had difficulty reaching me last week. I was out of the office quite a bit. I have included my contact information below if you wish to give me a call. I have also copied Nancy Braker with the Arboretum with this reply. I am sure she would be happy to discuss their observations and management strategies and challenges too.
Sincerely,
Jeanine Vorland
Area Wildlife Manager
19499 780th Avenue
Albert Lea, Minnesota 56007
Telephone:
(507) 379-3401
Mobile:
(507) 475-2900