Deer come down to the rivers, streams and creeks when the snow gets deep and burns up their energy trying to push through it to find food. That happens every year we have prolonged periods of deep snow.

They walk on the ice because a lot of the snow gets blown off of the ice and they no longer have to push through deep snow to move around. By walking on the ice they can also reach a lot of browse that hangs out over the water and out of their reach during all other times of the year.

Deer can walk on the ice of the waterways without much trouble because it is level and frequently still has a little snow on it that allows for traction. If deer are forced to run on the ice though they are more prone to pelvis injuries but they generally do better at avoiding predators when they can get to the wind swept ice with little snow cover then trying to plow through deep snow. That is why deer head for the ice when they are being chased in the snow, we saw that all the time back in the seventies when we had some major problems with dogs. We actually worked the river corridor shooting dogs as they chased deer on the frozen river ice.
Dogs killed dozens upon dozens of deer out on the ice during some of those years.

The year of the ice on the steep mountain sides did kill a lot of deer in some areas but not nearly as many as what I have seen following some of our worst deep snow years. I that know that because I was out there working and seeing the affects of both the ice on the mountains and deep snows of a prolonged winter.

R.S. Bodenhorn