University of Minnesota Extension researchers are looking for hunters this fall willing to set up cameras on the gut piles left behind in the woods after they field-dress their deer — part of a broader effort to better understand the role those millions of pounds of deer guts play in the ecosystem.

“This is a great opportunity for deer hunters to contribute to wildlife science and management,” said Joseph Bump, professor of forest wildlife research and education at the University of Minnesota. 

“Many hunters are already curious as to which animals eat their deer guts and they set up their own cameras.”

The researchers are with the Offal Wildlife Watching Project. (“Offal” refers to the entrails and other internal organs.)

For the past five years, members have teamed up with more than 90 hunters, who together have filmed more than 170 gut piles around the state, capturing 230,000 images.

This year, equipped for the first time with state funding through the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, researchers have purchased cameras and are lending them to hunters interested in participating.

“We’re interested in what scavengers are eating hunter-provided gut piles across Minnesota, the whole state, and how that varies across different biomes,” said Ellen Candler, a postdoctoral associate at the University of Minnesota. 

Every year hunters kill nearly 200,000 deer across the state. Most remove the offal immediately. That allows the carcass to cool down quickly to avoid spoiling. Virtually all leftover deer guts are left in the field.

That means more than 4 million pounds of nutritious resources are available: an easy-to-secure feast for dozens of wildlife species. Yet there isn’t any data showing what species rely on deer guts, how long they last on the landscape and whether they pose any risks to scavengers through disease transmission or contaminants.

“Without hunter participation, we really couldn’t get at the questions that we’re interested in,” said Candler.

Unexpected scavengers

So far, Candler said they have collected video of at least 50 different species scavenging the gut piles.

“From things you would expect like bald eagles and crows and ravens, to fishers and martens to flying squirrels,” Candler said.

They’ve also observed species not typically thought of as scavengers: rabbits, cardinals and five different species of woodpeckers.

Researchers have also documented barred owls and bobcats at gut piles. But they didn’t eat the offal. Instead, they preyed on mice that had come to scavenge on the gut piles.

Cameras have also captured deer at gut piles. They often just pass through, but sometimes they eat the remains.

Candler said they’re working with researchers at the Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach to determine whether scavengers could be playing a role in spreading chronic wasting disease.

Hunters interested in participating can sign up at the Offal Wildlife Watching Project’s website. Researchers are particularly interested in placing more cameras in southwestern Minnesota, as well as in far-northern sections of the state.

Participants commit to leaving cameras out for one month after they field-dress their deer. Candler said many hunters participate out of curiosity. She says they’re intrigued by what may be visiting their piles.

“And then when they come back and get the pictures, they’re so excited,” Candler said.

“I’ve had people say, ‘Oh, this is a wonderful opportunity to get out with my grandson or granddaughter.’ They’re happy that science is interested in something they’re interested in.”