Hundreds of volunteers picked up about 50 tons of deer feed at six northern Minnesota sites last week, then hauled it into the woods, launching the state's first emergency deer feeding program in 17 years.
"It went really well,'' said Mark Johnson, executive director of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association (MDHA), which is leading the effort.
About 45 people showed up at Widdes Feed and Farm Supply in Esko, south of Duluth, on Thursday and another 40 showed up that day at the Moose Lake Co-Op in Moose Lake to pick up feed. Tons of the pelletized feed, packaged in 50-pound bags, also were distributed Friday and Saturday at Hibbing, Grand Rapids, International Falls and Cook. Distributions will occur Monday at Wright, near McGregor, and Virginia.
Concerned over one of the nastiest winters in years, the MDHA pushed for the program in hopes of helping some whitetails survive. But it is being limited to 13 deer permit areas in the north where deer populations are down and weather was severe.
The Department of Natural Resources has allocated $170,000 from its deer feeding-disease account — funded by 50 cents from each deer hunting license — to pay for about 1 million pounds of feed. The deer hunters association is charged with distributing it.
The DNR doesn't support deer feeding because it says science shows it doesn't have "a significant positive effect" on the overall deer population, and increases the risk of disease.
But many deer hunters are unswayed.
"It definitely will have a local effect,'' said Johnson. He's hoping the food reaches at least 20,000 deer. Meanwhile, scores of individuals also are feeding deer on their own, he said.
