{"id":28533,"date":"2024-04-28T15:01:50","date_gmt":"2024-04-28T19:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=28533"},"modified":"2025-08-05T08:37:37","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T12:37:37","slug":"publication-introduction-to-white-tailed-deer-impacts-on-indiana-woodlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/publication-introduction-to-white-tailed-deer-impacts-on-indiana-woodlands\/","title":{"rendered":"Publication – Introduction to White-tailed Deer Impacts on Indiana Woodlands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deer are an important part of Indiana woodlands and represent a true conservation success story. Many Hoosiers spent time in the woods pursuing deer during hunting season or marveling at them during walks in their woodlands. But as recently as the 1930s deer were absent from\"introduction<\/a> Indiana woodlands. Restocking efforts led by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources helped reestablish deer populations across the state. However, deer populations have rebounded beyond what the land can support in many areas, leading to issues like crop damage, deer-vehicle collisions, and damage to woodlands.<\/p>\n

Deer overabundance can pose a threat to the future health of many Indiana woodlands. Deer are considered a \u201ckeystone\u201d species, which means their feeding habits (browsing) can shape our woodlands\u2019 look and their plant and wildlife communities. This publication will outline some of the impacts deer can have on Indiana woodlands and what signs and symptoms to look for in your woods.<\/p>\n

Learn more about the amount of impact in this new publication:
\nLow Impact:<\/strong><\/em> When deer have little impact on your woodlands, you often see a high diversity of plants. An abundance of preferred species like trillium (picture) can also be a sign of low deer impact.\"deer<\/a><\/p>\n

Moderate Impact:<\/strong> <\/em>When sprouts of preferred species are \u201chedged\u201d or kept short by deer browse and browse on less preferred species is noticeable, then deer impact may be moderate.<\/p>\n

High Impact:<\/strong> <\/em>If invasive species like Japanese stiltgrass and garlic mustard are common in your woodland, it may be a sign that deer are overbrowsing native plants.<\/p>\n

High Impact:<\/strong><\/em> If invasive species like Japanese stiltgrass and garlic mustard are common in your woodland, it may be a sign that deer are overbrowsing native plants.<\/p>\n

Very High Impact:<\/strong><\/em> Browse lines indicate a severe deer problem and appear when deer browse all plants within their reach (<6 feet).<\/p>\n

You can read this full publication for free at Introduction to White-tailed Deer Impacts on Indiana Woodlands<\/a>.<\/p>\n

View the Deer Impact Toolbox<\/a> for more resources and videos.<\/p>\n

Resources:
\n<\/strong>Purdue Extension Pond and Wildlife Management<\/a>
\nIntroduction to White-tailed Deer Impacts on Indiana Woodlands<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Understanding White-tailed Deer and Their Impact on Indiana Woodlands<\/a>, The Education Store
\nMonitoring White-tailed Deer and Their Impact on Indiana Woodlands<\/a>, The Education Store
\nManaging White-tailed Deer Impacts on Indiana Woodlands<\/a>, The Education Store
\n<\/strong>Ask an Expert: Wildlife Food Plots<\/a>, video, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube Channel
\nHow to Build a Plastic Mesh Deer Exclusion Fence<\/a>, The Education Store
\nManaging Your Woods for White-Tailed Deer<\/a>, The Education Store
\nBovine Tuberculosis in Wild White-tailed Deer<\/a>, The Education Store
\nHandling Harvested Game: Episode 1, Field Dressing<\/a>, video, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube Channel
\nDeer Harvest Data Collection<\/a>, Got Nature? Blog, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR
\nHow to Score Your White-tailed Deer<\/a>, video, The Education Store, Purdue Extension Resource Center
\nWhite-Tailed Deer Post Harvest Collection<\/a>, video, The Education Store
\nAge Determination in White-tailed Deer<\/a>, video, The Education Store
\nHandling Harvested Deer Ask an Expert?<\/a> video, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube Channel
\nSubscribe to Purdue Extension-Forestry & Natural Resources YouTube Channel<\/a>, Wildlife Playlist<\/p>\n

Jarred Brooke<\/a>, Wildlife Extension Specialist
\nPurdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deer are an important part of Indiana woodlands and represent a true conservation success story. Many Hoosiers spent time in the woods pursuing deer during hunting season or marveling at them during walks in their woodlands. But as recently as the 1930s deer were absent from Indiana woodlands. Restocking efforts led by the Indiana Department […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,971,49,860,54,622],"tags":[176,1947,60,413,257,1560,72],"class_list":["post-28533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forestry","category-land-use","category-plants","category-publication","category-wildlife","category-woodlands","tag-deer","tag-deer-impact","tag-forestry","tag-publication","tag-purdue-extension","tag-purdue-forestry-and-natural-resources","tag-wildlife","audience-for-enthusiasts","audience-for-homeowners","audience-for-landowners","audience-for-professionals"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 01:06:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28533"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34314,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28533\/revisions\/34314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}