This has been one tough winter, and not just for people.

It's on track to be one of the most severe winters for deer in the past 57 years, said state biologist Lee Kantar. Kantar is a state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife deer biologist based in Bangor.

That could be bad news for hunters.

"If winter conditions persist we will need to brace ourselves for a large decrease in any deer permits as well as a reduced harvest in 2008 in order to compensate for an expected increase in winter mortality," Kantar said in a statement issued by the department Monday evening.

"I've never seen anything like it," said George Smith. He's the executive director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, the state's largest group of outdoors enthusiasts.

Just last week Smith said he saw a deer near his Mount Vernon home. "It was having a very hard time of it," he said.

Smith said he fully expects IF&W will have to reduce the number of any deer permits in much of northern Maine. However, he pointed out that some areas of southern and coastal Maine had little snow going into late winter. In those areas, deer delayed yarding up and could remain strong.

IF&W has been monitoring the effects of the winter on the deer population through weekly checks at weather collecting stations at 28 locations throughout the state, the department said. The data are compiled and compared to past years to determine the severity of the winter and its impacts on deer herds in different parts of the state.

Its winter severity index is based on a calculation of snow depth, deer sinking depth and temperatures, according to Kantar.

"The biggest driving factor is snow depth," Kantar said. "The deeper the snow the more it restricts mobility and taxes a deer's energy budget."

Deer in winter yards mostly rely on fat reserves from the previous fall to survive a winter. Good deer yards help slow the downhill slide of fat reserve use by providing thermal protection and some limited food sources.

"The longer that winter stays, and the later it takes for spring to arrive and green up, the harder it will be for deer to hang on," Kantar said.

Smith also said he and SAM members have concerns over deer remaining in yards for overly long periods. Concentrated deer tend to attract packs of coyotes, he said. Coyotes can wipe out a yard of deer if given enough time to continue an attack.

SAM has been urging its members to hunt coyote, and Smith noted that several Franklin County guides have found a successful niche guiding winter coyote hunters.

April into May are when Maine's whitetails drop their lambs. Smith said pregnant does need ample food to remain strong as their birthing time nears.

A quick thaw and early spring could see natural food stocks improve for the deer herd, particularly does, said Smith. And there's still time for that to happen, he added.

Kantar worries that last year's fawns might not have a high winter survival rate.

"Fawns are very susceptible this time of year because they have not had time in their young lives to maximize body condition and size. They are still growing so they do not have the benefit of putting on much fat for the winter. It will be a brutal year for them."

IFW wildlife biologists will be meeting in the next few weeks to determine the preliminary number of any deer permits that will be available for next year.

"We have confidence in the biologists," Smith said.

Overall, Maine's deer herd has been estimated in the 200,000 animal range. In past 10 years, hunting pressure has consistently been falling, based on license sales and anecdotal evidence seen in the field.

Last season's harvest came to 28,884 deer. That's down from 38,153 animals taken in 2002.