tjschwarze

I'm curious to know if anyone has checked on their herd recently. The winter has been disastrous and nobody knows what the end result is going to be. I haven't been able to check my herd yet, so I'm curious. I wish I would have planted some corn to leave standing through the winter and not just clover.

Phil from Maine

I am not sure what part of the state you are inquiring about, but if you read my post on record snowfall you can see the picture being paihted here..

Maine Shooter

Down here in southern Maine (greater portland) I believe my three are still around. They travel through a path out front heading towrds my father's house (apple trees) via my brothers house (bird stuffs) next door. Come summer I fully expect them grazing out front as they have the past cpl years - mother & 2 little ones.

tjschwarze

We own about 100 acres West of the Old Town area, and I've been down in Tennessee for the winter tying up soon loose ends since exiting the Army. We had some monster bucks last year and several good 3 to 4 year olds that we passed up. We already had a coyote problem, and I can only imagine they've had a significant imapact. Last year was the first time in years that we had large groups of does being seen daily, and we thought our herd was finally back up to par. Damn Global Warming!

Phil from Maine

I hope so, up this way alot of them have been starving and others have been hit by cars.. Most of the ones being hit by cars are being fed close to the main roads.. Here near town 2 got hit this morning one of them that hit one was a police cruiser.. In that area I think 8 or 9 was hit and it was from a small deer yard that was crossing the road were someone was feeding them beside thier house. In one of the bigger yards ( around 200 deer ) last i heard was something like 38 deer hit there and that was about 2 weeks ago.. It's a sad situation up here..

tjschwarze

Phil, do you think planting corn and leaving it standing through the winter would be a good idea? Me and the Old Man are trying to do our best to come up with to add some benefit to the animals. We also have a large number of turkey, so I'm looking at the corn to go with our clover. What do you think?

Phil from Maine

If you have a hundred acres and can plant it someplace away from the roads where they do not need to keep crossing , yeah i do think it would be good. Also another food source that works well up here is turnips.. In the Old Town area north to lincoln quite a few deer have been hit this year along 95.. They have been doing alot of wood cutting along the edges trying to open the area up some. The deer have been crossing back and forth trying to get at the tops there. So right now that area is having some what of a problem as well. Yes last year the deer numbers were up in this area as well so hopefully with the restrictions being placed on them in my area and in the northern parts of the state the deer can rebound quicker..

tjschwarze

We don't really have to worry about deer being near the road. Our land is placed conveniently back in the woods, it keeps the traffic of unwanteds to a minimum. We had already planned to mix turnips when we strengthen our clover plots this year, give the deer a little mixture. I've heard turnips are an excellent source of calcium and can significantly increase antler growth, not that we need it, but its good for the deer.

Phil from Maine

They also like to feed on the turnip tops in the fall when the rest of the green stuff has just about died off.. This will help them some going into the winter months as well..

Champlain Islander

I don't think corn is a good bet for winter deer especially in the great north woods. I understand their metabolism changes and they require lower protein feed for proper digestion. In winter they eat cedar leaves but usually don't touch them in summer. They do like to dig through the snow to uncover root crops like potatoes, turnips, beets and carrots. I am not sure if it is good for them but they seem to like it.