Deer Struggling In The Deep Snow
 

Hope everyone is praying for warmup/ melt-off in the near future...the deer are having a pretty tough go in my area (5B).

Amazing how strong and smart they can be. In my area I drive along a creek bottom with flowing water and almost every day i see 1/2 dozen down there eating whatever along the banks standing in the water. They walk a long way through the water until they climb through the snow. Now their runs are really wide open.

Went to a favorite hunting spot and was following a well plowed run and the deer used a plowed dirt road for at least 100 yards to get from one field to another.

With these warmer days I don't think we will see any winter kill. Lord knows in PA we can't spare a single deer. Watch out if we get 2 weeks of single digit weather. That would be a problem.

I think today is the turn around day where we start to see some good melt, at least I hope so.

There is no doubt that it's going to cull some late fawns and weak deer, no doubt.

lmao..thats funny..never seen that before. good pic..how far ya think they went in that?

we have been breaking trails w/ quads and snowmobiles. Laying out hay, suprising how quickly they start traveling on those trails, like w/in 4-5 hours. Try not to cross back into them as we are breaking them in as it spooks em'.

That's an old picture that's been circulating for several years.

I dunno...My buddy said his best friend took the pic in his yard earlier this week. Could be, I guess...but either way this is what we got here for those in other parts of the state. Very little melting so far. have over 30 inches on average still in the back yard. If I'd had my camera last week I could have taken a very similar pic showing nine doe up to their chins going across my field.

The runs look like a 2 foot wide snowplow went through in my area.

We had well over 30 inches.

Deer stayed put for a couple days now they are making significant trails.

That picture has been making the rounds but it is a good portrayal of what we got.

In my area of 5C, we got two 24" storms in 4 days. That's 4 feet in 4 days!!!!

In 3B, up north, there's only a foot on the ground. That's good because they also have the bitter cold to deal with up on the mountain.

And the PGC is glad,that deer might starve.
Takes the heat off their backs for a while for terminating the deer. What they should be doing is air lifting food to the deer instead of sitting in their warm office smerking. I have put out over 2000 lbs of feed this month on 54 acres and the deer are doing great. I have another 2000 lbs ordered for march.

Yep that picture has been around for a while but it is realistic for the current conditions.

Yeah, that pic has been around for a couple of years now anyways... Also a few pics of a moose that had gotten shoveled out of the snow as well. The bad thing about the moose was it had to be put down as it was buried to long before geing discovered..
But none the less the heavey deer populations you folks have down that way is likely to be thinned out at least for a little bit any ways..

we were supposed to get two killer storms here near Albany, NY, but all we got was about 3 inches in either, which is burning off now. The only thing keeping it here is the wind chill. Anyway, I have seen alot of deer in the fields during the day, and even more close to dark.
BigBuck95

Do you think there would be a larger % survival rate if there was more deer working together in larger yards compared to HR and bad winters? Also predators have a better chance of killing off smaller groups of deer than they would in larger groups working together. Just a thought.

Instead of 6 people try to plow thru snow while walking 12 would be better and less tiresome.

Sorry but it doesn't work that way..When deer are confined to using trails they are bunched up. This makes it easier for predators to prey on them.. I had a pic on here quite a while back where coyotes wiped out an intire deer yard. That place has not recovered yet from it. They circled and forced the deer to run. The deer normaly runs to water to escape them. Unfortunately the water was frozen and coyotes distroyed them all. It is not uncommon for coyotes to circle deer yards and try to drive one out. The pack will get the one that busts from the yard. Also keep in mind a lot of deer yarded up needs more food. If there is not enough there the deer become weak and die..

Maybe a good strategy is a couple guys to take up post outside the deer yard and wait for them murderin' 'yotes to show up in a pack, lock and load and let 'em rip!

cardeer.
You unfortunately are probably right.

The PGC will blame their terrible mismanagement on the storm of Feb 2010. The huge SGL around Shartlesville PA 4C will not have a problem with mortality. There are only a handful of deer left in the 10 mile stretch that I walk weekly

lol those are now pets lol

I can understand the concern, but let me see if I can enlighten here abit. Being from Northern NY where snows average 3-4ft during winter months, plus some education I rec'd in college in wildlife mgmt. I've learned a little on deer survival. 1st off 30" at average is not a considerable amount of snow. Plus were over halfway through the winter. Deer are very adaptable creatures to our environment and mother nature. In times of deeper snows deer will be able to reach browse higher up than normal. They will travel to food sources via the easiest routes if able. If snow depths prevent travel deer will yard up in a area of protection, water, and avail food. Colder temps are only a concern when run for long periods of time, and water sources freeze up solid such as running streams. Feeding deer low nutritional foods such as hay can only do more harm than good as deer will use up energy, and fat reserves to feed on it with little useful return. If supplemental feeding is used (where legal) it should be of nutritional value, and used all winter. Only used for a few wks also will do deer very little good as different food sources need time to be beneficial in a deers system. Warming temps doesn't mean deer are out of the woods. In fact March can be the worst of times for a deer herd during a harsh winter. Reason being as temps warm deer use more energy to get around, and winter browse is running out.
So to be honest if deer are not experiencing a full winter hardship, winter mortality should be minimal.

Care to tell us how turkeys will fair in this weather?

Deer most certainly are effected by severe conditions. Just ask Maine, who despite having relatively low deer densities still have winter loss regularly, and at times a significant portion of the herd.

Deer burn alot of calories just walking through that stuff, and staying just staying warm in very cold conditions.

Deer might be able to reach a very slight bit higher up , but remember, they dont walk on top of snow. The very small narrow shape of the feet and legs are not conducive to walking on snow like a snowshoe hare. They sink straight down into it.

There will most likely be losses. Perhaps not as severe as some states, but some fawns of the year wont fair well.

I ride horseback up on that strech a couple times a year. I don't see very much deer sign either. They do have some really nice food plots on that mountain .

As I said long harsh winters. Thats what Maine has every winter. So yes obviously Maine has more winter mortality as do other harsh winter states. NY has had winters with significant deer mortality. Also I've never seen snow that remains light, and fluffy all winter long. It packs down. Ever notice a fresh snow of several inches, and next day its a few inches lower? Snow on top of snow compacts it. Deer don't drop all the way to the hard ground throughout winter. I've seen winter yards in spring that the height deer reached available browse is quite high.

i saw this same picture last year in the winter.

I think that photo is an old Larue or Briggs photo, it's in one of my fathers old books.

I drove around today and saw quite a few deer and about 10-15 turkey all feeding while the feeding is good.