DUNDURN, Sask. — Grain grower Ross Vollmer remembers when it was unusual to see a white-tailed deer near his family’s farmyard in central Saskatchewan.
Those days are long gone.
“When I was a kid, if we’d seen one deer all summer we were pretty happy,” said Vollmer.
“Back then, it was a real novelty. Now, there’s 20 or more in our yard every day. There’s just way too many deer in the area. It’s overpopulated.”
Vollmer has lived in the same farmyard near Loreburn, Sask., for about 60 years.
He and his wife, Gerri, say they have never seen deer populations so high.
Every day, at dawn and dusk, dozens of deer congregate in their yard, grazing on planted trees, damaging fences and bin yards, and polluting the yard with urine and excrement.
Last winter, hungry deer stripped the tops off a row of young poplar trees that the Vollmers had planted.
Ross and Gerri, who don’t have a dog, replanted the damaged trees last summer and fenced them off, hoping the deer would find something else to chew on.
But the feeding frenzy continued. The deer pushed through the fencing and destroyed the replacements.
Even the older spruce in the Vollmers’ yard are being damaged from the bottom up.
As high as they can reach, the deer have eaten the needles and branches off spruce trees, leaving an ugly reminder of how bad the problem has become.
“It’s a mess,” says Gerri.
“They’re damaging our trees, they’re leaving their droppings and urinating everywhere. It’s starting to become a little bit stressful.”
The couple is also beginning to worry about the spread of chronic wasting disease.
“Last year, there was a sick one in our yard and we found it dead behind our garage,” Gerri said.
“I think they’re starving. There’s just too many of them and there’s not enough for them to eat.”
Ross, who’s not a hunter, says he’s tried different ways to scare the deer off, but they always come back. Some have become so comfortable that they’re now bedding down in the yard in the middle of the day.
“We’ve got a little over 20 but some poor guys have got more than 100 and they’re getting into feed supplies,” says Ross.
“There’s not enough hunters anymore and lots of people are afraid to eat them on account of this wasting disease. And if a person happens to do something and hurt a deer, then (the authorities) try to catch him and make him the bad guy for protecting his property.”
Iver Johnson, a farmer from Dundurn, Sask., tells a similar story.
According to Johnson, there are as many as 500 deer within 1.5 kilometres of his farmyard.
“It’s an overpopulation of deer and nobody wants to seem to do anything about it,” Johnson said in a recent interview with Global News.
“They are just making a terrible mess of my yard with the excrement and urine.”
Johnson’s frustration with the ongoing deer problem has reached the boiling point.
“There’s deer everywhere,” he told The Western Producer last week.
“And now I’ve got a coyote problem as well. I’ve been fairly busy dragging dead deer out of my yard all winter.”
So far this winter, Johnson has shot five coyotes off his deck and one more in the field across the road.
Coyotes are so plentiful in the area that Johnson won’t let his dogs out in the yard any more, fearing that coyotes will lure them away and kill them too.
“My neighbour has been shooting them left, right and centre as well because he’s calving… and this is all because of an overpopulation of deer.”
When contacted last week, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment declined to be interviewed about provincial deer populations.
But in a written statement, the ministry said it manages wildlife populations using regulated hunting seasons. The ministry tries to balance competing interests while ensuring the long-term sustainability of each wildlife species, the statement said.
Meanwhile, data collected by the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation showed the number of tags issued in the province was down by at least 15 percent last year, compared to 2021.
Jonson says concerns over CWD and the cost of hunting has deterred many hunters. Between the rising cost of fuel and ammunition and the effort involved with dressing and wrapping, lots of people couldn’t be bothered.
And if the deer tests positive for CWD, who’s going to eat it?
“If you sit down and figure it out, you’re probably going to get 75 or 80 pounds of usable meat, and that’s off a big deer,” said Johnson.
“It’s just not worth it.”
The provincial environment ministry said it is aware of concerns with elk and deer feeding this time of year, and is dealing with the issue according to standing policies.
“When we receive complaints, we ensure they are shared with wildlife biologists to be considered during the hunting season setting process,” the ministry statement said.
“If population and field report data suggest deer or elk populations are increasing beyond normal levels, the ministry… will issue additional hunting licences or implement additional antlerless seasons to help reduce populations,” it added.
Preventive measures are still the best way to address “problem wildlife” issues, it added.
“Fencing, hay stacking, storage, scare cannons and chemical wildlife deterrents (or) repellents are all effective ways to reduce wildlife damage,” the province said.
Johnson said the environment ministry has dropped the ball.
“The people in Regina who are making the rules don’t have a clue what’s going on out here,” he said.
About 20 years ago, when Johnson had a similar deer problem, the province issued depredation tags. He and three buddies got together and quickly took care of the problem.
The venison was donated to a local food bank.
But this year, Johnson’s requests for depredation tags have been denied.
In a March 22 email, the province said environment ministry officials will be “engaging” with the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities and other stakeholders to discuss how depredation licences “may complement” prevention efforts that are already being used by farmers and landowners.
“It is important to note that the ministry of environment considers the use of depredation tags as a last resort,” the ministry said.
“This is after preventative measures are in place, as killing one or several deer, moose or elk does not always deter groups of wildlife.”
Johnson says preventive measures recommended by the province are ineffective.
For example, stacking his hay bales or lining them up in his farmyard would only augment the problem.
To minimize hay losses this winter, Johnson left his hay bales in the field as singles. He collects them one or two at a time rather than stacking them in a central location where they can be trampled and eaten by deer.
“If the bales are lined up or stacked, the deer are going to urinate and defecate all over them and no animal will ever eat them,” Johnson said.
“Now Saskatchewan crop insurance tells me if they’re not lined up or stacked, they won’t pay for losses. That’s their policy.
“This entire situation is completely out of control. It’s overwhelming.”
Farmers who are eligible to make a claim for wildlife damage can contact the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp., which administers the provincial Wildlife Damage Compensation and Prevention Program.
For more information, visit scic.ca/wildlife-damage, call 888-935-0000 or email customer.service@scic.ca.
