That was in 93.Today under those circumstances you might see two deer.


There's one in every crowd

Might've been '93, forget now, but it was one of those winters when rumors were flying about turkeys frozen to tree limbs and hollows "full" of dead deer. Called my cousin that lives across the valley from my camp and in the course of the conversation, I asked if he'd heard any ofthat stuff. Said there was local talk, since temps had been low for some time and there was alsoa heavy snow cover. He said he hadn't seen a deer or turkey in weeks and was beginning to believe the stories.

Couple weeks later he called me about something and I eventually remembered to ask if he'd found any dead turkeys or deer yet. He laughed, said no, but he'd found lots of live ones. Not long after we'd talked, he stopped to visit another farmer up the valley and mentioned the cold weather and wildlife. That farmer told him to come back in early morning or at dusk and he could see critters on the NW side of the valley, coming out of the dense pines to the spring seep.

Couldn't see them from the road, so people driving about hadn't seen deer and turkeys. But that farmer's house was high enough up the hillso's he could see them almost every day. Another mystery solved.

I've been in part of that thick pine"plantation" (about 80 acres in three pieces) and it's thick enough that I doubt snow depths inside of it ever got close to what was out in the fields. There are also many smallopen areas in there where pines died and green briers, apple trees and other bits of vegetation may have provided some seeds and browse for both species to get some food? Then there was also some greenery along the springs too.

According to what I've read,healthy deer can abide cold temps almost indefinitely, with a bit of water, cover and chow to see them through.