Contributed article by U of M Extension

The upcoming deer season offers hunters across Minnesota the chance to help University of Minnesota Extension researchers better understand the role of deer guts in the ecosystem. 

This is the first year of the Offal Wildlife Watching Project, through which hunters can help by setting up cameras on the gut piles (also called offal) left after they field-dressed their deer. 

“This is a great opportunity for deer hunters to contribute to wildlife science and management. Many hunters are already curious as to which animals eat their deer guts and they set up their own cameras,” said Joseph Bump, professor of forest wildlife research and education at the University of Minnesota. 

In Minnesota, researchers need hunters’ help across the state’s four different biomes, as well as the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Different hunting methods of archery, rifle and shotgun may also influence where a gut pile is located and which species visit it. 

“Minnesota has such a wide variety of habitats and scavengers. What and when certain species visit gut piles near Marshall may be very different from those that visit gut piles outside of Ely. Without the help of hunters, we would not be able to see this difference and better understand the scavenger communities across the state,” said Ellen Candler, a postdoctoral associate at the University of Minnesota. 

Participating hunters commit to setting up a camera on their offal immediately after field-dressing the deer, retrieving it after a month and sending the researchers the images.  Participants can use their own remote cameras or camera equipment is available for loan, which can be mailed to participants. 

Learn more about the effort, and register, at offal.umn.edu, or contact offal@umn.edu.

Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).