Characteristics of Winter Habitats Used by Deer in Illinois

Abstract

We examined characteristics of winter habitat used by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on intensively farmed land in central and northern Illinois. Forty-three variables were measured to describe land use and human presence within 10.36-km2 blocks centered within 32 wintering sites of deer and 31 sites avoided by deer in winter. The percent of forest in refuge, total forest available, unpastured upland forest >50 years old, shrub-old field, and total upland forest available were significantly correlated (P < 0.05) with deer presence in winter; only percent of forest in refuge and total forest available had a significant influence on deer presence in winter when all 5 variables were used together in discriminant analysis. Use of the 2-variable model to classify sites where deer were located or where they were absent in winter averaged 83% correct for the 63 sites examined. Refugia and/or large blocks of forest are necessary for successive generations of deer to live long enough to develop traditions of use for specific sites in the intensively farmed, dispersed woodland ranges in the midwestern United States. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 52(3):552-555 The retreat of white-tailed deer into localized habitats in winter appears to be a stereotyped and evolutionary adaptive behavioral response to harsh weather and predation in northern latitudes (Mattfeld 1974, Mech 1984). South of the deep snow belt in the midwestern United States where land use has reduced forest cover to scattered wood lots or to linear strands of forest along waterways, deer congregate in winter to reduce the effects of harsh weather and to escape harassment and predation by humans. Deer come together on winter sites in late fall and remain until spring when many disperse or migrate to widely scattered summer ranges (Zwank 1974, Gladfelter 1978, Masek 1979). In northern Illinois, deer movements between widely separated summer and winter ranges have been recognized since the 1940's, prior to the beginning of modern-day deer hunting with shotguns (Pietsch 1954); however, the extent of this dispersal and migratory behavior in Illinois has only recently been documented (Nixon and Hansen 1986) and appears confined to the central and northern counties (Fig. 1). Our objectives were to determine landscape characteristics where deer are found in winter and to determine if these characteristics differ in eastcentral, westcentral, and northern Illinois. We thank D. L. Swofford, Illinois Natural History Survey, for statistical assistance and F. D. Loomis, Illinois Department of Conservation, for financial support. J. E. Chelsvig helped conduct aerial surveys. R. J. Stoll, Jr., Ohio Division of Wildlife; H. L. Gladfelter, Iowa Department of Natural Resources; and W. R. Edwards, G. C. Sanderson, and the editorial staff of the Illinois Natural History Survey reviewed the manuscript. This report is a contribution (in part) of Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Project W-87-R, the Illinois Department of Conservation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Illinois Natural History Survey cooperating.