Species Management
In the tradition that Wallace Grange started, Sandhill is still encircled by an enormous amount of fencing: 17 miles long and now 9-feet tall. It is considered a deer-proof fence. The fence makes it easier to tally the number of deer living on Sandhill because it eliminates movements onto or off of the property. Ninety percent of the deer born on Sandhill are eventually accounted for by hunters. Ten percent fall prey to predators or die from mishaps. Researchers "reconstruct" the herd by analyzing the sex and age of deer that have died. It generally takes 8 to 10 years to account for all the deer born in any one year. However, the oldest deer recovered in Sandhill lived to be 15 years.
Twenty years ago, the remains of roughly one hundred deer traps, designed by Wallace Grange, lay scattered across the forested Sandhill landscape. These were the vestiges of Hazel and Wallace Grange’s Sandhill Game Farm operation. Beginning in 1947, the Grange’s set out these traps each winter--baited with hay, cranberries and corn—to lure and capture deer. They sold and shipped the deer collected in these traps to southeastern states to help bolster those states’ declining deer populations. After the DNR acquired the Sandhill property in 1962, the deer traps were used to capture and ear-tag deer to study their movements and to determine sex and age ratios and harvest trends of deer on Sandhill.
One deer trap has been re-constructed as part of a High School Independent Study Program conducted at the Sandhill Outdoor Skills Center. Area high school students, selected to study the movements of radio-collared deer, constructed the trap based on designs gleaned from memories of long-time employees and from salvaged rotting remains of an old trap found in the woods. Though the students expressed some doubt that it would work, work it did! Plans are to continue this study and continue using this trap for several years to come.
To remain healthy, white-tailed deer must eat 5 to 6 pounds of browse each day, or 600 pounds of buds, twigs, and bark each winter. They are fond of white pine seedlings and evergreen branches. As you travel throughout Sandhill, take note of the pines in the area. Look for what we call the "browse line." This is a uniform line that separates the dead branches from the green limbs of the pines and is caused by hungry white-tailed deer in winter. The green line is the point above which they cannot reach. Deer so thoroughly browse the green needles and tender twigs when stressed for food in winter, that they have completely stripped away the "life" in these trees below the line. Notice the odd, green branches close to the ground? Winter snows concealed these branches from the hungry mouths of deer!
In one area of Sandhill you will find what is known as a "Deer Exclosure." This is a small area enclosed by a deer-proof fence. Compare the difference in the height of the white pines inside and outside the deer exclosure - all planted in 1962. The fenced-in area prevents deer access to the white pines. Notice the difference between the two! Researchers also conduct work on improving deer census techniques. High school students recently began a team investigation on the movements and spacial arrangement of deer by radio collaring deer.
Learn more about Sandhill Wildlife Management Programs:
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