How do you think this will effect the deer herd?
 

I live and hunt in West Virginia,and we just had our 2nd snow of over 2 feet,we have had snow on the ground since the end of Dec.,and now there calling for 6" more this week.
Just wondering what kinda effect this will have on the herd,I guess only the strong will survive.
I do have feeders out and was able to fill them before the last storm but it will be awhile before they will get refilled.

My experience here in Michigan is that when heavy snows come, the deer bunch up around an available food source (if there is one) and/or cover from the wind. They will move less and usually only have to go short distances from their bed to a food source. They are very adaptable creatures. Although real heavy snow for an entire winter can increase mortality, it is usually ice layers that can come from freezing and thawing that makes it difficult for the herd to dig to their food. My guess is that unless you have a sustained heavy snowfall on the ground, that it shouldn't have a significant affect on the herd. You might experience some mortality to young and unhealthy deer though. If legal, continued feed during your winter will help your local herd.

Your deer I am sure are not used to this type of snow and probably don't have "winter grounds"? Just a guess on that...but, like Jackson said, they will probably yard up in areas they can find food and hopefully the snow won't stick around long, if it does, you'll probably lose some deer, time will tell.

They will be ok, here in western NY we get a lot of snow the deer will servive. Were you are at it will get warm before it hurts them

iM WITH mn ,I would say your going to lose some deer,That must snow there going to burn up alot of body fat and energy to find food.

Nim rod.... I own land in Northern WV. Wetzel County to be exact.. and there was almost no mast this fall so you can look for some winter kill up there. Might be slim hunting next year. Deep snow+no food= not many deer next season unfortunately. They were already in the fields and eating greenbriers in November.

I dont know what part of WV you are in but I think most of the state experienced a mast failure.

I'm in Hampshire Co. and we had an OK mast this year,but they are now calling for up to 25" more snow tonite and tommorow,our deer numbers were down last year,we have had problems with CWD and I figure we will have a big drop in numbers this year also,if the worst happens and we get the 25" on top of the 32" already on the ground its going to be very hard for any wildlife to find enough to eat.
I hope we don't lose to many but it don't look so good right now!!
This maybe away to thin out the deer that have CWD and get that under control,so maybe something good will come out of it,I hope anyway!

Deer are amazing creatures and can survive a lot of different conditions. They're instincts will lead them to eat whatever they can find to survive, but extended periods without quality food will thin out the herd some. Feeders will help if you can maintain them throughout the winter.

i live in texas..so no experience...but i read alot...lots say the deer will stay active looking for food and to keep warm. lots of cold = lots of dead deer. yotes and wolves will take down big bucks so the packs can survive. do or die in nature. 50 somethin inches is a whole lotta snow, if there is an abundance of food the deer will be fine..i g feeders and plots that are not buried in 4-6 feet of snow.

If the deer went into winter in decent shape and have adequate browse,they'll do ok.Some will die but the fawn recruitment has a better chance of suffering.Once a doe loses 20-25% of her body weight,the chance of her having fawns or them surviving for more than a few days diminishes greatly.That reduced recruitment will have a much greater effect on future deer populations than just winter mortality.