The History of the White-Tailed Deer in Ohio by David Heithaus was originally published in the BFEC Newsletter, Vol. 18/No. 4, Fall 2014.
... or, "How Bambi wound up through my windshield with a belly full of mom’s hostas."
Of all the creatures whose large four-chambered hearts pump warm blood in the Buckeye State, perhaps none is so often seen, consumed, reviled or fawned upon as the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).
It is the state’s official mammal (as a point of interest, tomato juice is our official state beverage) and has been featured in ceremony, stew pot and window decal since humankind first arrived here.
With the exception of a brief hiatus due to extirpation in the very early 1900s (Europeans just missed their 100 years to kill everything in the state), white-tailed deer have existed in Ohio since the end of the last ice age. As the final glaciers receded, deer spread across the state and provided an invaluable resource for Native American groups establishing themselves in the region.
Perhaps no other animal featured so prominently in the lives of Ohio’s earliest residents. An essential food source, deer also provided hides and sinew for clothing and shelter. Antler and bone were commonly used in tools. People lived with deer in their bellies and deer on their backs. Beyond that odd statement, deer featured prominently in cultural expression. A number of artifacts incorporate bone or antler and carvings of shaman characters often feature antler headpieces.
Four thousands of years, white-tailed deer thrived in Ohio-feasting on the state’s woodland bounty. They were (mostly) kept in balanced natural harmony by early hunters, wolves and cougars. It was a time of awesome unknown since the really, really big animals stomped North American plains and mega-forests. Awesome can’t exist without awful though and as “progress” arrived from the west, concepts like sustainable harvest and land/wildlife management lagged a bit behind.
As trappers and adventurers gave way to broader European expansion, dark clouds began to form over the golden age of the whitetail. Eventually, giddy excitement for all of the free land and meat led to an orgy of forest clearing and critter skinning that finally ended with a limp whimper just past the dawn of the 20th century. The party goers looked around at a state bereft of wolves, cougars, people who weren’t white, trees, the Lorax and, believe it or not, deer. In Ohio. You could see a good long way to the horizon at least.
After a couple of decades of kicking small stones and grumbling about missing all that free meat (no one really missed the other stuff), Ohioans decided that it was time something was done to bring back the good old days. In true Rooseveltian fashion, Ohio conservationists tightened their belts and said, “By golly, we can’t shoot and skin a thing that ain’t here.” And right they were.
Deer were reintroduced from neighboring states beginning in the 1920s. These efforts, together with natural migration, saw herds in 28 counties by 1937 and in all 88 counties by 1956. The first modern regulated hunting season took place in 1943. 164 bucks were killed. Regulated hunting seasons have continued to this day with a marked and steady increase in the size of the state’s herd. Thanks to the efforts of hunters and wildlife managers, Ohio is again considered one of the best of the fifty states for sportsmen and wildlife watchers alike; a statistic proportional to the number of mangled landscape plantings state-wide.
White tailed deer are active in Ohio year round. Traditionally they are crepuscular (word of the day #1), meaning they focus activity around dawn and dusk. Anyone who has spent 24 hours in Knox County will tell you this is a guideline rather than a rule. It is not unlikely to spot a deer at any time of day or night.
October marks the beginning of annual courtship or “rutting” behavior. White tailed deer are ruminants (word of the day #2): their stomachs feature four specialized chambers capable of digesting different types of food or storing food for later digestion. Diets are diverse and change throughout the year. A dynamic set of bacteria shift with the seasons and allow deer to digest different food items as they are available. Plants, shoots, grasses, clover, fruits, nuts, mushrooms and even poison ivy are on the menu. Oh — so is most of your garden and landscaping.
Deer dress for the season too! During spring and summer, deer carry a lighter coat that ranges from tan to almost red. During winter months, they switch gears to something more practical: A coat of heavy blue-to-greyish tan guard hairs with a thick undercoat. If you see a deer with snow on its back you can tell how well the insulation is working!
Deer and your car: Thanks to the good people at State Farm, you can sleep better knowing that your chance of hitting a dear with your car is better this year than last! That’s right: Ohio drivers now feature a 1 in 127 shot at striking their state animal between now and next August. That’s Up 6 percent from 2013 and breaks a steady downward trend! The herd may be shrinking but our aim is improving...
Ohio’s deer herd: Estimated at between 700,000 and 750,000. Down from 2013 with a harsh winter most often cited as the cause. The population has been slowly declining since 2008 but is still considered healthy. It peaked in 2006 around 800,000. Q: Now wait a minute... how do they know that? A: The Ohio Department of Natural Resources counts every single deer in the state. Not really. A combination of deer-vehicle accident statistics, hunting data and aerial forward-looking infrared surveys allows experts to create a “snapshot” of the herd.