Visit a Winter Deeryard with Outdoor Radio

White-tailed Deer wading through deep snow. / © Putneypics

This month on Outdoor Radio we visit a winter deeryard. White-tailed Deer use these special woodlands to help them survive Vermont winters. Covering only a few to perhaps as large as 100 acres of forest, they can be used by generations of deer. Hike with us to a small deeryard and learn what makes deeryards and deer winter adaptations special.

Listen to the show

Report Your Sightings

• Add your deer observations to iNaturalist Vermont, a project of the Vermont Atlas of Life, and view a map of all the observations.

Learn More

• Learn more about White-tailed Deer from the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.
• Download a Management Guide for Deer Wintering Areas in Vermont.

Images from the Show

White-tailed Deer standing alert just outside a winter deeryard. /© K.P. McFarland

Looking out from a shaded deeryard. /© K.P. McFarland

Deer scat during the winter is a bit like sawdust because they are feeding mostly on twigs. /© K.P. McFarland

Just outside of the deeryard most of the saplings are nipped by deer to what normally would be the top of the snowpack. /© K.P. McFarland

Guard hairs litter a deer bed from the previous night. These are filled with air to help buffer the deer from cold. / © K.P. McFarland

Kent McFarland

A co-founder of VCE, Kent is a conservation biologist, photographer, writer and naturalist with decades of experience across the Americas.