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02-11-2007 | 09:36 PM

#54

R.S.B.

Typical Buck

Joined: Jul 2006

Posts: 584

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RE: PGC SAYS DEER ARE STARVING

Quote:

ORIGINAL: Buckshot

Quote:

These numbers seem to be reversed from what you think they would be

I agree George, the one that has me stumped is the 2002-2003, as I recall that was one of the most brutal winters in recent memory, 3-4 feet of snow from december till march. We hunted big hollows in 2002 that had plenty of deer in them and thenagain in2003 and they were darn near devoid of deer.

The reason for that and what both you and George seem to be missing is how the winter actually affects the deer population. The reduction in the next fall deer sightings usually isn’t a result of the deer that died through the winter as much as it is from the reduction in the fawn survival rates following a hard winter.

But, before I get into that a will try to clear George’s thoughts that the deer mortality was backwards do to having more mortality with fewer deer. It might seem that way until you realize that the mortality is connected to the winter conditions. Back when we had more deer we were having a run on mild winters combined with good fall mast conditions. That allowed the deer herds to go through the winters in better condition and have higher fawn survival rates. That in turn allowed the deer populations to build to the maximum number that could be sustained with ideal conditions.

Even after we started reducing the deer numbers the habitat in many areas didn’t have enough time to recover before we got hit with those hard winters of 2002/2003 and 2003/2004.

2001………………..2
2002………………..1
2003………………..3
2004……………….10
2005..........................4

As you will the winter deer mortality in my district was higher then previous year in the spring of 2003 but still not excessive. That is pretty typical of one year of harsh winter conditions. The deer move into the wintering grounds in early 2003, which hadn’t been used much in recent years due to the mild winters. The deer hit those wintering grounds pretty hard but the winter opened up before we had a lot of mortality. What did happen though is the bred does lost so much weight through the long winter they couldn’t build their bodies back up to weight and get enough nutrition to the fawn the were carrying for those fawns to be up to the correct weight before they were born. That then meant we had few fawns in the population that fall. That is what made the first difference in the number of deer hunters were seeing in the fall of 2003.

Then in the 2003/2004 winter we had another long hard winter with even more snow and for a longer period then the year before. This time though when the deer pulled down into the wintering grounds the habitat in those areas was still in poor condition yet from the damage the deer had done to it the winter before. During that year the deer really suffered and as you can see when you look at the mortality numbers there was a lot more mortality following the 2004 winter. Of course that also meant a lot fewer surviving fawns again in the spring and summer of 2004. Once again hunters saw another decline in deer numbers since we then had two years in a row when the fawn recruitment was lower then the natural mortality of the deer herd let alone what were harvested by hunters.

Then in 2005 we still didn’t have a mast crop and though the winter wasn’t as long or harsh the habitat still hadn’t recovered from the years of being over browsed. The recruitment was somewhat improved the next spring but we were into the compounding factor by then of having fewer deer to reproduce due to the fact that the does that should have been producing fawns didn’t exist because they had died within a couple of days of being born back in the spring of 2003.

We still haven’t totally recovered from those harsh winters though we are making headway. More importantly though is the fact that the habitat has had an opportunity to see some recovery the past couple of years and that is going to allow the deer herd to increase a bit higher then it had been before.

The key then will be to protect that habitat recovery instead of the deer or we will just see the deer herds crash again the next time we have a couple of harsh winters.

When I get the time I will post the research data results on fawn survival rates based on the amount of nutritious food available to the does in the winter and spring. Perhaps that will help some of you better understand how deer herd reduce their own numbers, even without hunting harvests, following a harsh winter.

R.S.Bodenhorn

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