Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Winter is tough on the critters this year

It's been relentlessly cold since early November around here, with good amounts of snow to boot. I'm seeing close to 100 elk come down to the CRP above the farm for the first time since I started there in '99. Turkeys are around daily, vs rarely before. Huns are foraging along the open ditches, and they usually stay higher. I had to lift a doe out of a raceway last week, and my farm manager had to help a doe out of a ditch a few days ago, and salvaged one that got caught in a fence. Elk and deer are hitting unprotected haystacks with a vengeance. And hay is dear, very dear this year. F&G has started to feed the herds on the other side of the Bear river. Which, incidentally is almost completely frozen over, pushing out the wintering swans, geese and ducks.

We desperately need the water, but at this point, I don't expect much of the fawn crop to survive. It's just too rough on the little ones. Just hoping that the adults will make it ok at this point. Warmer weather would help, but we're back to below zero next week, along with some fresh snow. Neighbor just started calving. It's going to be rough for a while, I'm afraid.

Nature is unforgiving, I suppose. Hate to see animals struggle like this.

Live just off the foothills. Moose and deer in the front lawn. Next 4 weeks are going to be hard

Dutch;
Good evening to you sir, I'm sorry to read of that report but not entirely surprised.

We too are having a long and cold winter. We're at 125% of snow pack and it hit us in early November this year which is at least a month earlier than usual.

As mentioned in another thread, today was the 72nd Annual Sheep Count our gun/fish/wildlife club has done and about the 34th for me and the numbers of everything was way, WAY down.

Hopefully as you say the adults will survive but the fawn, lamb and calf crop will surely take a pounding.

Despite that, I do wish you the best possible week.

Dwayne

It is a bummer to see this kind of thing from an individual animal point of view, but the extreme cold and high snow years (such as this winter and the '16'-17 winter that supposedly killed 90+% of mule deer fawns in some areas of SW Wyoming) also can kill ticks and other parasites, making those who survive healthier in the long run.

It is kind of a love/hate relationship, with me.

Good time to do some predator reduction.

T Inman;
Good evening to you my friend to the north, I read earlier of your travels and purchases today, I hope the new machine treats you well.

Thanks for that post sir, once again I learned something from you!

Ticks can be a real issue with moose for sure, that much I recall.

We had way more Pine Beetle kill when the winters were milder too if I'm not wrong. They don't like early cold snaps much either.

Thanks again and all the best this week.

Dwayne

We have had the easiest winter in many years here in northern Michigan. Barely any snow and it feels like late April instead of mid February. Animals are totally fine.

its winter. Its supposed to be cold.

Yes sir.....I am going to start really getting into the ptarmigan and good trapping areas now.

Moose for sure have a tick issue and from what I have read/been told, a particular species of disease bearing tick is one of the bigger reasons why they're not doing so well in the lower 48. These kinds of winters do bring some hope to that front, despite all the negatives they also bring. I have not heard that pine beetles may also be knocked back by the prolonged cold, but it wouldn't surprise me if some research has pointed that direction.

You have yourself a great evening.

It's supposed to, and sometimes colder than average, but the animals don't seem to get much comfort from that, nor do I, really. It's hard to watch deer struggle and get hung up in fences, etc.

We're just 100 miles west of you and it's abnormally warm. We did have a few days of below 0 but we've also had many nights above freezing. Last week a friend and I went to Fairfield on Hwy 46. There was no snow at all until we got to to the top of the ridge above Fairfield, then was some decent snow on top. It was 31F at the top. 2 miles farther and 200' lower, when we dropped down into Camas prairie, it was down to 5F with some decent snow in the bottom.
We drove around north of Bliss where we normally see a lot of elk wintering but we saw none. A month ago we saw a lot of deer and antelope there but this trip we didn't see any at all. I don't where they are right now.

NUH UH!

That is what fire is for.

From what I see near me is the opposite, a massive forest fire has reinvented the food supply for ungulates, not much for Elk around here at this time, but the Moose and hard hit Mule deer are looking exellent, Mule deer need fire.

Snow at the lower elevations is lower than normal and because that is where they are wintering it looks good thus far.

Most of Idaho is at or above normal snowpack right now. However, we still have 2 months to go and that can change dramatically. Last year we didn't get the late snow and we ended up way short.