Snow depth and Winterkill

[Osprey]

I know Colorado did a study on feeding I think on one of the last severe winters they had was when it was done. I think it came out to roughly 1 million dollars in feed cost for roughly 2.5% increase in buck harvest the following fall. The study also showed flaws in feeding hay to deer in that they were dying with full stomachs since they don't digest food like Elk and cattle they need a more nutritious food source now this is all off the top of my head but it was an interesting read.

As far as whitetails go in farm country I would say almost all are exposed to pesticides at some point in my neck of the woods deer hit bean fields hard in the early summer plus whatever run off into water sources etc. It gets even worse with guys pumping all sorts of nutrients and chemicals on fields in private leases planted for the sole purpose of antler growth and nutrition although not all of them use chemicals in the soil. I hunt primarily public deer with few ag fields around but they are still exposed at some point in the year to pesticides. Whitetail hunting is fun but its really taking a turn where a lot of guys are farming bucks for slaughter IE managing large chuncks of land with low pressure feeding them etc to promote prime antler growth then passing all bucks until they are worthy of shooting in other words said mature buck is really not exposed to much of any negative consequences of mistakes made until slaughter time making them a HECK of a lot easier to kill and IMO a 140" mangaed buck is not = to another 140" buck from a heavily hunted area but thats a topic for another day.

 

[Idahohillboy]

IDFG is not feeding them hay or alfalfa from what I have read. They get a special pellet for the deer is what they said when they asked people not to feed the deer.

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[mtnwrunner]

It has been an interesting winter here and quite depressing. I work in an area where I see a lot of deer and elk every day and it is bad----lots of weak animals. I've never really been around a wintering area during a bad winter and have seen a lot of winter kill and it is also absolutely incredible about how many are killed by vehicles. It has been better the last several days and we have received some warmer weather and some of the south slopes are now bare. A lot of the animals have moved off the roadway thanks goodness. I recently spoke with a friend of mine who lives in one of the areas I hunt and I asked him how bad he though the winter kill was. His reply was not very encouraging. He normally has 200 deer winter near his place and this year he has had----0. So............I am not sure what the hunting season here in Idaho will bring.

Randy

 

[Joelweb]

In Idaho and Montana, the deer went into winter in excellent body condition. We had a wet and warm fall. That should help reduce the losses.

 

[Jd259]

Any word on wyoming specifically the winter grounds for region g and h I was planning on headin there this year but I'm having second thoughts after reading all of this...

 

[TXCO]

What animals seem to survive the winterkill best? Immature bucks and does? I figure fawns and rutted out run down bucks would fare the worst. Any additional updates on snow pack in the CO and Utah area?

 

[sneaky]

Any word on wyoming specifically the winter grounds for region g and h I was planning on headin there this year but I'm having second thoughts after reading all of this...

NRCS National Water and Climate Center | Mapper 2.0

 

[sneaky]

Lots of areas in G and H are over 200% on snowpack, and that was from 3 days ago before this storm total is added in.

 

[robby denning]

It's a strange winter so it's gonna be hard to predict. Warm wet fall with hardly any weather till 12/10, then record amounts of snow for 50 days with early big melt off following, exposing a lot of winter range below 6,000 feet, mild for two weeks but now cold again. I don't think it'll be super bad like some of the worst, but it won't be fine either. Fawn losses 70-85% does up to 20% and mature bucks a little higher than that won't surprise me in the Intrmountain West. A few pockets will have very high losses while others will skate. Also depends on next four weeks. I hear central Colorado to S. Utah and S half of Nevada not too bad.
Nail biter!
i haven't changed my app strategy yet but still might if the dang bio will pick up his phone.

 

[MuleDeerMike]

Long term weather forecast for South Central Idaho is looking pretty warm. Boise is supposed to be 72 on Tuesday. Perfect timing for the deer. What are you Idaho guys seeing for snow depth on the winter range this week?

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[Matthews]

Here's some info out of Wyoming. Our group is looking to do a mule deer hunt this year.

Wyoming hunting forecast: The good, the bad and the ugly | Open Spaces | trib.com

 

[MuleDeerMike]

Here's Idahos press release on the winter kill.

F&G will offer more elk hunting opportunities for 2017, but fewer mule deer tags | Idaho Fish and Game

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[atcflick]

I know from what i've seen so far it's pretty bad. I've seen a ton of dead fawns in basically every drainage I've been into in the last couple weeks.

 

[bigdesert10]

I'm not a fan of feeding: if we need to feed them, they are clearly over their carrying capacity. It blows my mind that IDFG is going to spend $600,000 to feed this winter, but I guess that's the price they pay to keep deer densities high. There is another thread right now talking about white-tailed deer and pesticides, and it makes me think about these mule deer. I like to think a freezer full of mule deer or elk is about the most natural, organic meat money can buy, but the reality is that even wilderness deer and elk are probably feeding on alfalfa pellets!

Feeding the deer and elk, at least in Idaho, is less about helping the animals and more about depredation and public safety issues. The feeding sites are established to try and keep the animals away from residential areas and off roads.

On a separate note, I feel like the historical data show that length of the winter is more of a factor in mortality rates than even the severity of the winter. As a biologist, do you think there is any validity to that point? Also, rump fat surveys are a good indicator of how the deer will do through the winter, and unfortunately, average doe rump fat was down (in Idaho) this last fall compared to the trends of recent years - largely due to forage loss as a result of large wildfires in the last few years. Although this winter was severe, I'm hopeful that the relatively short to moderate period of severity will be somewhat of a saving grace, as compared to the high mortality rate seen in Idaho in 2011.