KITTSON COUNTY, Minn. — There are reports of a higher-than-usual number of dead deer along a set of railroad tracks in Kittson County.
It’s a series of videos that have been viewed nearly 240,000 times.
Former Kittson County Sheriff Steve Porter posted the videos on his Facebook page, Steve Porter’s Trophy Whitetail. He has nearly 100,000 followers.
Porter showed corn littered along the railroad track that goes through the region and wanted to bring attention to the deadly situation.
Hundreds have commented, saying they agree the situation seems to be worse this year. Porter said he’s received dozens of similar calls.
“One guy called me and said there are three dead deer along the tracks,” Porter said.
“And then I started hearing more and more reports of more deer getting hit by the train, more than usual,” he added.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources confirmed to WDAY News that there was an accidental spillage of corn along the railway. The spill stretches roughly 80 miles from Thief River Falls to the Canadian border. DNR officials said accidents like this happen frequently. Rather than jump into the deep snow along the tracks, the deer try to “outrun” the train down the tracks.
“Yeah, we see deer get hit by trains, but the deer aren’t typically fed on the railroad tracks at the hardest time of year when they are starving,” Porter said.
In his videos, Porter claims the number of dead deer is in the dozens, if not more than a hundred. When asked if they had an estimate, the DNR said they have not seen more dead deer this year compared to the past several winters.
Porter admits there’s nothing that can really be done about it, but he thought it was something people in the region would want to know.
“People are interested in white-tail deer, they love them, right, they love their white-tail deer, they like feeding them, they enjoy it, they plant food plots, they’re watching deer. It’s kind of a shame,” he said.
DNR officials estimated the number of injured deer they put down along the tracks in the area is in the teens, again stressing this is not a unique situation.
Matt Henson is an Emmy award-winning reporter/photographer/editor for WDAY. Prior to joining WDAY in 2019, Matt was the main anchor at WDAZ in Grand Forks for four years.
