Monday, March 24, 2008
Late Winter Is A Bad Time For Deer
The last two weeks of March can be an empty time for a deer herd if the weather turns bad. The five-day forecast for this week and part of next is for milder weather and some snow.
It’s not always this way, and it could certainly change in a matter of days, if past two weeks means anything. By now, most deer are stretched pretty lean and it doesn’t take much to tip them over the edge if they can’t find food.
However, I’ve been seeing a number of deer feeding along the shoulder of roads and those numbers will increase. Slow down and look ahead for deer.
However, for as freaky as our weather has been this winter, it wasn’t all that bad. The same cannot be said for some deer herds in the Upper Peninsula where heavy snows doomed many animals to an early death. We’ve got over 100 inches of snow, and it’s been spaced out well between thaws so that most animals can walk on the snow crust.
When grub gets low, and deer start living off fat reserves and bone marrow, the chance of survival is mighty slim. Deer need a bushel of browse daily, and when snow depths prevent any movement and deer are confined to deer yards with minimum food, the toll can shoot upward.
Fawns and older bucks often die first. Does, even though pregnant, can usually survive. Bucks, especially adult animals, often succumb when they can’t replace the weight lost during the rut. A rutting buck can lose 30 percent, or more, of their body fat and it is difficult to recover when the winds of winter blow cold and snowy.
The recent bit of rain sprinkles and slight warmer weather has cut snow depths in the Lower Peninsula. Whitetails appear are moving easily, and I saw a couple of animals in my back yard last week. They were moving around, and after they walked off, I checked the snow depth at less than six inches.
It’s when the snow gets belly deep, and a crust of ice forms on the surface, when deer die. They cut their legs striving to move through the ice-covered snow, and become easy prey for free-roaming dogs and coyotes. Wolves take a deadly toll on Upper Peninsula deer during a severe winter.
Winter’s back may have been broken by now, but it’s not unusual for us to get a late-March or early April snowstorm Let’s hope the deer continue to thrive, and that our 2007 deer herds will make it through in fine shape.—The Whitetail Wizard