Got Nature? Blog

White-tailed deer are an important part of our Hoosier natural areas and a true conservation success story. Once extirpated from Indiana, deer now thrive in all 92 counties.

Deer can significantly impact the make-up of plants in our natural areas through the plants they eat (referred to as browsing). When the number of deer on the landscape is in balance with the available habitat and deer browsing is at a low intensity, deer can positively impact our forests’ plant diversity. When deer are overabundant, their browsing can impact forests in a variety of negative ways.

5 Steps to address deer impacts to Indiana Woodlands:
Understanding
Understand how deer impact Indiana’s forest ecosystems.

Identify
Identify signs and symptoms of deer impact in your woodland.

Monitor
Monitor how deer are impacting your woodland over time.

Manage
Decide how to manage deer and their impact on your woodland.

Evaluate
Evaluate if the management actions you took reduced deer impact on your woodland.

Check out the new Deer Impact Toolbox website for publications and more details to discover the steps landowners and land managers can take to understand, monitoring, and manage deer impacts to Indiana’s forests.

Don’t miss the videos: Monitoring Deer Impacts on Indiana Forests: Ten-Tallest Method and Monitoring Deer Impacts on Indiana Forests: Accessing Vegetation Impacts for Deer (AVID) Plots.

Check out the College of Agriculture news article to learn more: Deer Impact Toolbox provides guidance for Indiana forest landowners and managers.

Resources:
Purdue Extension Pond and Wildlife Management
Understanding White-tailed Deer and Their Impact on Indiana Woodlands, The Education Store
Monitoring White-tailed Deer and Their Impact on Indiana Woodlands, The Education Store
Managing White-tailed Deer Impacts on Indiana Woodlands, The Education Store
Ask an Expert: Wildlife Food Plots, video, Purdue Extension – FNR YouTube Channel
How to Build a Plastic Mesh Deer Exclusion Fence, The Education Store
Managing Your Woods for White-Tailed Deer, The Education Store
Bovine Tuberculosis in Wild White-tailed Deer, The Education Store
Handling Harvested Game: Episode 1, Field Dressing, video, Purdue Extension – FNR YouTube Channel
Deer Harvest Data Collection, Got Nature? Blog, Purdue Extension – FNR
How to Score Your White-tailed Deer, video, The Education Store, Purdue Extension Resource Center
White-Tailed Deer Post Harvest Collection, video, The Education Store
Age Determination in White-tailed Deer, video, The Education Store
Handling Harvested Deer Ask an Expert? video, Purdue Extension – FNR YouTube Channel
Subscribe to Purdue Extension-Forestry & Natural Resources YouTube Channel, Wildlife Playlist

Jarred Brooke, Wildlife Extension Specialist
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources