A Historical View of the Ranges of the White-Tailed Deer in Northern Wisconsin Forests

Abstract

The original forests of northern Wisconsin were largely mixed conifer-hardwoods. The vegetational maps of Chamberlin (1882) and Curtis (1950) indicate the horizontal distribution of the mixed conifer-hardwoods. The swamp distribution maps of Huels (1915) and Fuller (1933) show the extent of swamps. The history of the ranges of the white-tailed deer in northern Wisconsin may be reviewed in the light of the distribution of native vegetation, subsequent vegetational changes, and the trends in the deer population. Several papers have dealt with the history of Wisconsin deer populations (Swift, 1946; Schorger, 1953; Guettinger and Dahlberg, in prep.). These studies indicate that deer populations in northern Wisconsin were relatively low prior to 1850, that the deer population increased until the late part of the 19th century, that the herd then underwent a decline to the 1920's, and that the highest population levels were reached in the late 1940's. These deer population trends, and the accompanying changes in forest vegetation, have not been specifically studied with regard to winter and summer habitat requirements of the white-tailed deer. The lowland forests (exclusive of the tamarack-black spruce bogs) are generally the most productive winter deer ranges and they are more generally used as winter habitats by white-tailed deer than are the upland forests. In evaluating historical accounts of the vegetation it is assumed that the swamp forests (especially white cedar swamps) represent the winter range lands that best meet the requirements of the deer in the past. The upland forests were summer range generally. Upland young white pine and hemlock forests presumably meet the winter cover requirements of deer, and might be considered as winter range, but it is doubtful if the mature forests of the original upland vegetation could have supported a very sizable deer population in either summer or winter. Especially is this true of the mature white pine forests.