Officials ask--"Don’t Feed the Deer"

Photo by Ron Stewart, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

Utah’s mule deer herds seem to be doing well as winter winds down.

As they do every winter, biologists with the Division of Wildlife Resources have been monitoring the deer closely. In addition to determining the condition of the deer as they entered the winter, the biologists have been watching for four additional things:

-The amount of food available to the deer
-How deep the snow is
-How cold the temperature is
-The amount of body fat they find on deer that have been killed along roads

If three or more of the five factors reach a critical point, biologists will consider feeding deer specially designed pellets. The pellets are formulated to fit the complex digestive system mule deer have.

Anis Aoude, big game coordinator for the DWR, says biologists came close to feeding deer in Rich County this winter.

“In December,” he says, “the snow was piling up. Then the cold temperatures froze the top of the snow. That made it difficult for the deer to paw through the snow to find their food.”

Then, in January, the conditions improved. “It didn’t snow as much,” Aoude says, “and the temperatures warmed up and started to melt the snow. We didn’t need to feed the deer after all.”

Aoude and other biologists were relieved that the deer didn’t need to be fed. While feeding deer can help the animals when winter conditions are severe, feeding can also put deer in circumstances that aren’t good for the deer or the plants the deer rely on.

Aoude says biologists will continue to monitor the winter conditions and the deer herds. If the deer need to be fed, the biologists will make sure the feeding is done in the right way, at the right time and with food that is best for the deer.


Don’t feed the deer
Aoude strongly advises you not to feed deer on your own. “You may not realize it,” he says, “but feeding deer actually harms the deer a lot more than it helps them.”

Aoude gives several reasons why feeding deer is a bad idea:
Deer have complex and delicate digestive systems. If you feed the wrong foods to them, the deer can actually die with stomachs that are full of food.

Feeding deer congregates them in a smaller area. And that can lead to all kinds of problems for the deer:

Congregating deer in a small area increases the chance that the deer will pass diseases to each other.

When deer congregate to feed, it’s “every deer for itself.” The larger deer push the smaller deer—the fawns—aside. Fawns often end up receiving less food than they would have received if you had left the deer alone and not fed them.

Feeding deer near a road increases the chance that deer will be killed by cars.

In addition to eating what you’re feeding them—which may or may not be good for them to eat—deer will also eat other vegetation in and near the feeding area. This can lead to deer over-browsing the area. That over-browsing can damage the plants in the area for years to come.

Even after winter is over, deer will often stay close to the area where you fed them.


Learn more
More information about why deer shouldn’t be fed is available at www.wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/deer-winter-feeding.html .

View Elk This Saturday In Springville

Photo Courtesy Scott Root, DWR

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is holding an elk viewing event this Saturday, February 5th at the DWR central region office located at 1115 North Main Street in Springville. The DWR will have spotting scopes and binoculars on hand to allow the public to view elk that are wintering above the valley floor on the mountains above Provo and Springville. The event will run from 9:00 a.m. until Noon.

DWR Conservation Outreach Manager Scott Root states “I have been watching over 100 elk and many deer east of Springville and Provo for the past month. Elk and deer utilize these critical winter range areas above the valley floor because the sun burns off the snow and exposes much needed vegetation. Many people have no idea that herds of these magnificent big game animals can often be viewed right from their homes. Within a month or so as the temperatures rise and the snow melts, the elk will climb up and over the mountain and be out of view again.”

Elk are the second largest member of the deer family and are easy to identify in the field. Mature males, called bulls, may weigh up to 700 pounds, stand five feet at the shoulder and measure eight feet from nose to rump. Their antlers can weigh approximately 50 pounds. Mature females, called cows, may weigh up to 500 pounds, stand four and a half feet at the shoulder and measure six and a half feet from nose to rump. For questions about the event, contact Root at (801) 491-5656.

The DWR also offers a closer view of elk at Hardware Ranch near the town of Hyrum in northern Utah. For more information on seeing elk at Hardware Ranch visit the DWR’s website at: http://wildlife.utah.gov/hardwareranch/  or call (435) 753-6206.

Hardware Ranch Elk Festival scheduled Oct. 9

Hyrum -- You and your family can participate in several outdoor activities at the Elk Festival at the Hardware Ranch Wildlife Management Area. And if the weather gets colder, you might even see some wild elk!

The festival is free of charge. It will be held Saturday, Oct. 9. Activities run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can reach the ranch by traveling 18 miles east of Hyrum on state Route 101.

Activities
Taking a free wagon ride, painting pumpkins, turning balloons into antlers, and shooting pellets guns at targets are among the nature-related activities you can participate in.

Whether you’ll see some elk is still in question. “We have not seen any elk in the meadow yet,” Marni Lee, assistant manager of the Hardware Ranch WMA, said on Sept 22. “Right now, the elk are at higher elevations. But we’re hoping some of them will come into the meadow before the festival starts.”

Lee encourages you to bring some binoculars and to dress for all types of weather. “We will host the event, rain or shine!” she says.

On your way to the ranch, you can enjoy the fantastic fall colors in Blacksmith Fork Canyon. Food is not available at the ranch, but you’re welcome to bring a picnic lunch and eat it in the dining room at the ranch.


Hours of operation
Another chance to take a horse-drawn sleigh or wagon ride through the middle of hundreds of wild elk starts at the ranch on Dec. 17.

Starting Dec. 17, the ranch’s visitor center will be open and sleigh rides will be offered during the following days and times:

Day            Time
Friday noon to 5 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday noon to 5 p.m.

If you want to go on a sleigh ride, you must buy your ticket at the visitor center before 4:30 p.m.

On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, the sleigh rides will not be running and the visitor center will not be open. You can still bring your binoculars and view the elk from a distance, though.

For more information, call the Hardware Ranch WMA at (435) 753-6206.

Elk viewing season ending early this year--Sleigh Rides End March 1

Hyrum -- If you’ve been thinking about taking a sleigh ride to see elk at Hardware Ranch, it’s now or never.

Dwindling snow has forced the Division of Wildlife Resources to close the sleigh rides at the popular wildlife management area early this year.

The sleigh rides will close at 5 p.m. on March 1. That’s about two weeks sooner than normal.

The Hardware Ranch WMA is at mile marker 22 on state Route 101 in Blacksmith Fork Canyon, about 17 miles east of Hyrum.

More than 300 elk are still on the meadow at the WMA. But Dan Christensen, the WMA’s superintendent, says south-facing slopes in the canyons that surround the WMA are quickly losing snow.

As the snow melts, more browse becomes available to the elk. And that means plenty of food will be available outside of the WMA soon.

“On warmer days, the elk leave the meadow or they drift to the far edge of the meadow,” Christensen says. “That makes it hard for us to get people as close to the elk as we usually can. We don’t want people to be disappointed when they come here.”

Christensen says the horse-drawn sleigh rides started in 1946, and they’ve been a favorite attraction at the WMA ever since. More than 30,000 visitors typically come to the WMA each winter. They’re treated to sleigh rides that take them through the middle of as many as 600 wild elk.

The elk are drawn to the WMA by a winter-feeding program. The program was started to prevent elk from raiding haystacks in Cache Valley by holding some of the elk at the top of Blacksmith Fork Canyon.

See Hundreds of Wild Elk

Hyrum -- You can take a sleigh ride that gets you close to as many as 600 wild elk.
The rides are available four days a week at the Hardware Ranch Wildlife Management Area.

On Dec. 9, more than 100 elk were at the WMA. Now that winter weather has arrived, more elk should be visiting the ranch soon.

Hardware Ranch is 17 miles east of Hyrum. Its winter elk viewing season begins Dec. 18. The WMA offers the following during its winter season:

Sleigh rides

Enjoy the sights and sounds of Utah’s state mammal by taking a sleigh ride through a herd of up to 600 Rocky Mountain elk.

The sleigh rides last 20 to 30 minutes. They wind through the center of the elk herd and make occasional stops so you can get a perfect photograph.

During the rides, the sleigh drivers share the history of the ranch and explain why the elk behave like they do. They’re also happy to answer questions you might have.

The sleighs are pulled by a team of large breed draft horses. If snow conditions get poor, the sleighs can be converted into wagons.

Visitor center

In addition to the sleigh rides, the Hardware Ranch WMA also operates a visitor center. The center has interactive wildlife displays and staff who can answer your questions.

When it’s open

The WMA’s winter season should run until March 15. The sleighs are running and the visitor center is open during the following days and times:

Friday – noon to 5 p.m.
Saturday – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday – noon to 5 p.m.

The WMA will be closed on Dec. 25.

If you want to take a ride through the elk herd, you must buy a ticket at the visitor center before 4:30 p.m. The last sleigh ride leaves at 4:30 p.m.

The sleigh rides cost $5 for those nine years of age and older, and $3 for those four to eight years old. Children three years of age and younger can ride for free.

How to get there

The Hardware Ranch WMA is located at mile marker 22 on SR-101 in Blacksmith Fork Canyon. The ranch is about 115 miles north of Salt Lake City (about a two-hour drive). It’s about 17 miles east of Hyrum and 22 miles southeast of Logan.

Good lodging, food and entertainment are readily available in Cache Valley, within 45 minutes of the ranch. The roads up Blacksmith Fork Canyon are usually plowed and sanded by noon each day.

For more information about the Hardware Ranch WMA, call (435) 753-6206 or visit http://www.hardwareranch.com/  on the Web.

Hardware Ranch is a wildlife management area owned and operated by the Division of Wildlife Resources. It provides important big game winter range for elk, deer and moose.