GRAND RAPIDS — The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wants a better handle on the deer population in northeastern and north-central areas of the state and is starting a three-year research project to get the answers.

DNR wildlife researchers will be placing trail cameras across a broad swath of St. Louis, Itasca and Cass counties, with a bit of Beltrami and Aitkin counties included in the study area as well — deer management units 169, 176, 177, 178, 197 and 679.

In the coming weeks, some private landowners will receive letters from the DNR requesting permission to put a camera on their property so the DNR can get results from a mix of public and private land across the region.

Landowners who receive the letter are asked to respond as soon as possible.

“One of the things we want to know is if there’s a different distribution of deer on private land compared to public land,” said Eric Michel, DNR wildlife biologist leading the project. “Across this study area, it’s almost 50/50 public to private land ownership.”

There will be 40 cameras placed at random locations across the entire study area, each taking photos every five minutes from July through August. The DNR will then pick up the cameras before hunting seasons begin. The cameras will be moved to different locations in 2025 and 2026.

Computer programs using artificial intelligence will be used to sift through the tens of thousands of time-lapse images and come up with estimates on not only the overall population of those areas but also the ratio of bucks to does and does to fawns.

“By July, the bucks are starting to grow antlers, the fawns are moving around more, but they still have spots, so we can differentiate between adult does, bucks and fawns pretty easily,” Michel said.

The time-lapse camera research technology and methodology were successfully used in earlier test studies conducted in 2021 and 2023, but this is the first time Minnesota DNR researchers have used it on a broad scale, Michel said.

Traditional deer population modeling relies heavily on hunter-harvest data and computer modeling. The camera project will provide additional data to increase confidence in making management decisions in the study area.

Some DNR wildlife managers have noted that deer in forested parts of the state seem to congregate near areas with at least some agricultural fields, if available, which may bring more deer onto private land.

The camera study, with results expected by 2027, could also help determine if the DNR should issue antlerless permits based on land ownership, potentially with more permits offered on private land if more deer are located there. Wisconsin already issues doe tags separately for public and private land.

“That’s one theory. But we really don’t know yet whether more deer are on private land in this area,” Michel said.

Deer across much of Northeastern Minnesota have been hit hard over the past decade, with seven of the past 10 winters being extremely harsh, with deep snow likely causing higher than normal deer mortality. That’s caused a big drop in the deer population, reduced antlerless permits available to hunters, and cut hunter success by half or more in some areas, especially north of Duluth, where the state’s heaviest snowfall occurs.

The record warm and snowless winter of 2023-24 should help the region’s deer to recover some, although several mild winters will be needed for deer populations to fully rebound to the all-time record levels of the early 2000s.

Meanwhile, deer in the Northland face ongoing issues of reduced habitat quality and predation by wolves year-round. In June, newborn fawns are also eaten by black bear and bobcat.

“One of the reasons we want to get three years of data is to compare the impact of winter on (deer) abundance,” Michel said. “We’re probably going to see at least one of the three study seasons come after a winter that’s higher on the winter severity index.”

Michel said that deer management unit 678 around Grand Rapids has seen the region’s only deer that tested positive for chronic wasting disease. Increased data on deer numbers in that area should help the DNR monitor any spread of the always fatal disease.

Meanwhile, DNR officials in Minnesota and Wisconsin remind people to leave any newborn fawns they find alone. It’s common for does to leave their fans alone for long periods each day, but they almost always return, and there’s usually no need for any human intervention.

John Myers reports on the outdoors, natural resources and the environment for the Duluth News Tribune. You can reach him at jmyers@duluthnews.com.