Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire mild winter helping deer recover in Idaho

Last winter was a real killer. IDFG radio-collared a bunch of mulie fawns and lost 100% in one area near here. This winter is much milder and fawn survival so far is 88%. Winter isn't over yet but the prospects are infinitely better than last spring.


Through February, 88 percent of fawns and 97 percent of calves are still alive

Mild weather so far means more young deer and elk are surviving this winter, which will likely grow herds and produce more game for big game hunters next fall.

Idaho Fish and Game biologists have been monitoring 244 mule deer fawns and 246 elk calves that were captured earlier this winter and fitted with telemetry collars.

Through the end of February, monitoring showed 88 percent of the fawns and 97 percent of the calves were still alive. That compares with 55 percent of the fawns and 80 percent of the calves surviving through February last winter.

Less snow, especially at lower elevations, and warmer temperatures means fewer animals are likely to die from malnutrition, predation and other factors that increase mortality during a difficult winter.

Despite spring-like temperatures in early March, the young animals still have not cleared their final hurdle. Those weakened by winter may have a hard time transitioning to fresh, green forage and can still die.

For that reason, “March and April is when we normally see the highest mortality,” said Daryl Meints, Fish and Game’s deer and elk coordinator.

However, barring a late surge of cold weather, it’s likely that survival will be considerably higher than last year. Only 30 percent of fawns that were collared and 54 percent of calves survived last winter, which was among the lowest survival rates in the last 20 years.

Biologists will monitor animals well into spring and produce the final survival rate for fawns and calves, but will continue monitoring them until the collars quit working or fall off, which they are designed to do as the young animals outgrow them.

We had a horrible winter here about 4 years ago and the deer herd is still recovering. Reports then of 20-30 deer dead in an area were often. How do you explain to the average hunter to let them walk for a couple years??? I hunt for the thrill of seeing deer that I could kill not just for killing, So glad to here your news.

Good news. I did a couple of hunts in the Salmon and Beaverhead regions last year and saw less deer and Elk than in any year previous. The snow was azz deep to a tall giraffe.


mike r

Same over here so far. The elk usually do pretty good anyway but those mule deer fawns can really take a hit with a bad spring & coyotes after them every day running on top of the snow & the fawns breaking through it.

Dick

Good news +1.

Was surrounded by does and fawns as went out to truck this AM. Made my morning. NW Montana.

We have a 2yo doe that hangs around, who this past spring had one fawn. A month later she evidently adopted a pair of newborn twins, nursed and tutored them all, one of whom made it through the winter thus far. They, another doe with fawn (who is a known but less frequent visitor), and a new doe with twins I don't recall seeing, all chose to converge on the driveway as walked out there. I suspect they make a circuit around the homes in the area snatching bird food. Do wonder what the carrying capacity of the area will prove to be, regardless, in this rural creek community w/ deep snows, some coyotes, and some wolves running the ridges above. Who knows what the future will bring, but for the moment it was quite a sight to enjoy.

They found 244 fawns?

That would take some doing, no?

One thing we saw this last fall was a huge increase in twins. About every other doe had multiples. They have their ways of catching up

We had a series of mild (for deer) winters with twins all over the place. Crop damage became an issue. The GF&P as usual ran a couple years behind in their management plan and things got difficult when winters went back to around normal. But numbers should be better, mild winter again. Hope ID is more prompt.

This winter has been a piece of cake as well in SE Oregon. Last winter (16/17) was just brutal.

Typically, IDF&G is slow to react, if at all. Because the regulations and seasons are set every two years, immediate reaction isn't going to happen unless lots of hunters start screaming about struggling game herds. The IDF&G is far more interested in selling tags than the health of the game they are supposed to manage.

Good to hear. I hunt deer within sight of the Idaho side of Hell's Canyon and I'm hoping for a healthier deer herd this year.