Watch your gardens: Low deer harvest means more animals

ASHEVILLE – Gardeners in Western North Carolina should keep a closer eye on their flower and vegetable gardens this spring and summer.

According to a deer harvest report just released by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, white-tailed deer were more elusive to hunters during the last hunting season in North Carolina than they have been in the past decade, meaning there will be more deer roaming the roads and woods — and backyards — this year.

North Carolina hunters reported harvesting 153,629 deer during the 2014–15 hunting season, which was down 18.3 percent from the 2013–14 season record harvest of 188,130.

The 2014–15 season harvest was the lowest reported deer harvest since 144,315 deer were reported harvested during the 2005–06 season. Deer season in WNC for archery ran Sept. 13-28, and Oct. 12-Nov.23; black powder season ran Sept. 29-Oct. 11; and gun season ran Nov. 24-Dec. 13.

Harvest numbers were down in all nine districts, including District 9, which includes most of Western North Carolina, where the deer harvest increased 6.8 percent from the 2012-13 season to the 2014-15, said Evin Stanford, the wildlife commission's surveys and research biologist.

The decrease in harvest is generally believed to be driven by three factors, Stanford said.

"There was a tremendous acorn crop in the fall 2014, the likes of which hasn't been observed in some areas in decades," he said.

Two other factors include high levels of hemorrhagic disease activity in some areas, particularly in Districts 3 and 5 (in the North Carolina Piedmont region), and several years of strong harvest.

"Last year's record harvest, and long-term increasing doe harvest trends have potentially also contributed to population decreases in some areas," although effects from these factors would typically occur over time and not abruptly in a one-year time period, he said.

This past season Districts 3 and 5 saw the biggest decrease in harvest when compared to the previous 2013–14 season (down 35.4 percent and 24.5 percent, respectively). High levels of hemorrhagic disease and associated mortality contributed to the harvest decrease within these districts.

Hemorraghic disease, which is spread among deer by a biting midge and can be fatal, occurs cyclically every few years, said Justin McVey, mountain region biologist, based in Asheville. In WNC in the 2012 deer hunting season, there were 53 deaths presumed to be caused by hemorraghic disease.

Numbers of hemorraghic disease in the mountains this past season were negligible, he said.

Bumper crop of acorns — one of the major food sources for deer — was the biggest reason for the low number of deer killed by hunters this past season, McVey said.

"Whenever there are a lot of acorns on ground, in general, we don't have as big of a harvest," McVey said. "The deer don't move around as much in search of food, so they are harder to hunt."

The commission does a mast crop study each year, based on an index of 0-8, he said. While the WNC index is usually down in the 2s, this past year the region had a 7, a record breaking year, he said.

District 9, which includes Buncombe, Madison, Henderson and Polk counties and all counties west of those, had a total deer harvest of 4,227. In the 2013-14 there were 4,638 deer harvested, and 8.9 percent decrease.

"That's not a drastic drop," McVey said. "The decrease in our area is due to two main factors — good acorn crop, and several years of really strong harvest."

A high harvest contributes to population decreases in some areas, McVey said, which is usually just a short-term population decrease.

"Generally what you see in animal populations, when you have a fall with an abundance of food, you see an abundance of births," McVey said.

"We've seen that with bears, squirrels, anything that rebounds, adjusts its breeding. I suspect we well have a healthy population. I do imagine we'll see a slight increase in the deer population this year."

The deer harvest in Buncombe dropped to 474 last year from the 2013-14 season of 508 (6.7 percent decrease); the Henderson County harvest actually increased from 271 in 2013-14 to 288 in 2014-15 (6.2 percent increase); Haywood County was also up slightly to 168 in 2014-15 from 161 in 2014-14 (4.3 percent increase); and Madison County had a decrease in harvest, from 740 in 2013-14 to 715 this past season (3.3 percent decrease).

Reported 2014-15 white-tailed deer harvest in Western North Carolina:

County/2014-15 harvest numbers/2013-14 harvest numbers

Avery: 638/716

Buncombe: 474/508

Burke: 1,175/1,418

Cherokee: 321/365

Clay: 200/224

Graham: 68/63

Haywood: 168/161

Henderson: 288/271

Jackson: 141/131

Macon: 604/625

Madison: 715/740

McDowell: 520/651

Mitchell: 759/877

Polk: 945/1,223

Rutherford:1,670/2,114

Swain: 112/140

Transylvania: 191/187

Watauga: 1,328/1,513

Yancey: 926/1,129