How many deer does one wolf eat

[Uncle Lou]

I am not putting this up to bash wolves, I am just curious what numbers you have seen. I remember about 10-15 years ago reading deer mortality per wolf rates around 50 per year. This was written in the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's Bugle. It was a hot topic back then and lots of published info.

Lately, the numbers seem to be going down. What I mean is on MI DNR website in the not so distant past, said winter kill was often more than wolf kills, they also compared road kill and hunter kill. It showed (going from memory) around 35 deer kills by each wolf. I just searched MI DNR website and that study is gone.

Now the new American Hunter has a piece that cites MN dnr deer kill numbers. This states around 15-19 deer kills per year per wolf in Northern MN. Then the same piece uses that number and multiplies by Michigans estimated wolf population of 687 adult wolves (I wonder if non-adult wolves kill any deer).

I find it interesting the number of deer killed by a wolf has been in steady decline. Do the studies warrant this decline or is it being politicized?

Curious if anyone can remember any studies or could cite them.

[bigwoodsmn]

15-19 is so far from 30-35 it makes you wonder if it's just politics...

[ Post made via Android ]

[Dewey]

I recently read somewhere that an adult wolf kills a deer ever 7 days on average which is over 50 deer/ year.

Found this article interesting but their estimate is much lower.
http://www.wolf.org/wolves/learn/basic/ ... te_dep.asp

[Uncle Lou]

Again from memory, some of the early reports were a wolf would kill a deer every 3-5 days. So just using one deer kill per wolf once a week is roughly 50 deer kills a year for one wolf. Meaning 1,000 wolves could kill 50,000 deer annually.

I still read a lot of wolf related stories, but dont pay as much attention to it as I once did. But this declining trend of deer kills has really stood out to me.

[G3s]

The only knowledge I have on this subject is from seeing what the wolves do in some of the yarding areas by our camp. A few years ago the wolves killed every deer in that particular yard. The snow was blood red as far as you could see. They killed over 100 deer in that yard in about 1 month.

[Edcyclopedia]

A bit off subject but just read an article about Bear eating their fare share of newborn fawns too.
I wonder how acurate / method they are using to consider it a wolf, coyote and/or bear...

[lungbuster]

I remember reading a F&S study a few years ago that stated one adult wolf killed 26 deer/year, but in that same article it went on to say that the wolf is the only predator that will kill for sport, so I wonder if that 26/year per adult was just for sustenance and more were killed just for young training and for the sure sport of killing????? I do know that the wolves in Yellowstone have all but decimated the Elk herds in that region...............

[JJWI]

A common practice with Wolves is when they "thrill kill". The are numerous accounts of were a pack will take down an animal, eat a hind quarter or another portion, and go a little ways away and kill another one and do the same. Seen that a couple of years ago in Central Wisconsin. They killed 2 does and a nice buck one night in a 80 acre section, only eating parts of the deer and leaving the rest.

[Dewey]

A common practice with Wolves is when they "thrill kill". The are numerous accounts of were a pack will take down an animal, eat a hind quarter or another portion, and go a little ways away and kill another one and do the same. Seen that a couple of years ago in Central Wisconsin. They killed 2 does and a nice buck one night in a 80 acre section, only eating parts of the deer and leaving the rest.

Not surprising in areas where the deer population is pretty high. Probably choose the best quality meat and don't have to waste time on cleaning the carcass before killing again.

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[Uncle Lou]

Dewey, that link you put up is a pretty left wing slant, few key phrases and a peek at the sources tell me that. So the low estimate doesnt surprise me. Anytime they start putting comparisons that attempt to demonstrate that wolves dont do much harm I can tell they are wolf lovers.

I don't necessarily hate the wolves, just hate what they do when a bunch of do gooders overprotect them. They need to be properly managed and us hunters falling for a wolf only eats 15-20 or 17-19 doesnt do any good if it isn't accurate.

Also, Ed brings up a good point about other predators. I have seen a lot of studies that show bear, coyote, bobcat and even mtn lion eat a good portion of deer as well. Because of the introduction of another apex predator, something has to give. Seems the wolf lovers/anti-hunters (they seem to be the same people) always point out how little damage the wolves do in comparison to other predators, or winter kill, or vehicle collision, then they always try to point out how many us hunters take.

I believe that the unchecked proliferation of wolves went too long and they are the straw that broke the camels back in many areas. Hunters through lic fees and Pittman Roberston fund exise taxes on weapons and ammo provide the funds to manage wildlife. And This system of wildlife management has either been the model or the envy of the world. Therefore, less game animals means less money to fix the issue of too many wolves.

And that is why it is so important to be told the real numbers on wolf predation of deer and other big game. I am going to touch base with the author of that article and the MI DNR and asked what happened to the old numbers, or where did they get these numbers.

Again if anyone has any information on the constant decline in the reported wolf/deer kills I think that information would benefit the topic, and feel free to join me in challenging these new reports when you see them.

[kenn1320]

Lou my guess is its a long bumpy road your attempting to drive. Remember 10yrs ago the DNR claimed yotes couldnt take down a deer, then we get trail cam evidence that says otherwise and their story changes. I think if you contacted any sort of zoo that has wolves, their food needs would probably be in line with the info you guys have already provided. Its when they are in the wild and killing for sport that is a hard number to define and Im sure it varys so its hard to have a good number to show the anti's. I recall a study done in Alaska or somewhere "way out there" about wolves and their impact on the caribou. The study showed footage that the wolves left the caribou alone and ate mice. Im not sure I believe it 100%, but it was interesting.
So when are they going to help the cougar population stabilize so we can run them with hounds? j/k

[Arrowbender]

Not a wolf lover here either; but I think it stands to reason that as the wolf population was growing and the deer population was a lot larger; there was more than likely more opportunity for wolf kills. Now as both populations are leveling off; in spite of the other; there is likely to be a more accurate number. Or maybe I should say the average becomes more accurate over a period of less highs and lows.
Also remember that the deer herd is evolving and a lot of the traits, diseases etc that allowed for easy wolf kills have been removed from the herd.
My guess would be that the numbers are some where in between those given, and that they could certainly vary by location and deer herd health.

[JJWI]

This will give you some food for thought. I have 2 coon hounds that average in weight of 65 pounds, and 5 beagles that average 25 pounds each. The beagles combined weight is 125 lbs, kind of the average weight of one adult wolf. The 2 coonhounds at a combined weight is 130 lbs. So in comparison, I am feeding the equivalent of 2 adult wolves weight every year. The total amount of dog food weight that I feed is 1,200 lbs every year. And my dogs have down times of the year that I vary the feed amount because of the inactive times, unlike a wolf that is always on the move. All animals have to take in a minimal amount of protein and fat every day to survive, and that min amount goes up with any amount of activity.

[blackwolf]

My guess is 25-30 deer per year per wolf is conservative.

[Uncle Lou]

Good info

Not a wolf lover here either; but I think it stands to reason that as the wolf population was growing and the deer population was a lot larger; there was more than likely more opportunity for wolf kills. Now as both populations are leveling off; in spite of the other; there is likely to be a more accurate number. Or maybe I should say the average becomes more accurate over a period of less highs and lows.
Also remember that the deer herd is evolving and a lot of the traits, diseases etc that allowed for easy wolf kills have been removed from the herd.
My guess would be that the numbers are some where in between those given, and that they could certainly vary by location and deer herd health.

That makes some sense.

And JJWI that is good info. I have had between 3-5 dogs for the last 14 years and never paid attention to how many pounds they eat on an annual basis