Only the second week in February and already the OWSI (Ontario Winter Severity Index) and SDI (snow depth index) is looking pretty grim. I'm at about 64cm in the closed hardwood stands on my property near Fenelon alls
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Only the second week in February and already the OWSI (Ontario Winter Severity Index) and SDI (snow depth index) is looking pretty grim. I'm at about 64cm in the closed hardwood stands on my property near Fenelon alls
They say that 50in of snow over 2-3 week period is pretty bad for any angulatesQuote:
Originally Posted by Fenelon
On the other hand, the rivers will hopefully fill up next season
Hard to have one without the other
Deer that are in an area of food should be ok. If they have to travel at all because they ate everything available it ain’t looking good.
Turkeys might be all gone.
Impact will happen if this amount of snow stays for very long time.End of March-mid April ish can be bad in certain areas with limited food supply.
Hovewer-very bad wipe out happens at :two years-two months with two feet of snow.
All this is out the window and major starvation may/will happen if serious ice covers the snow for extended length(see the infamous 2013-2014 winter)
Had to get to the back trailer the other day was waist deep. You can add another ft to that today and just saw orillia was calling for another 30 to 60 cm starting tonight into Tue from the squalls.
Probably a good 4 ft in the yard now port bolster .
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Another 33cm here in the past 12 hours. The snow is now over 100cm in the closed hardwood stands at my place in Fenelon now (north end of WMU 75). I cannot even think how bad it must be in the Huntsville-Gravenhurst area where pics last week showed literally 6-7 feet of snow. The Hindon 2 snowcourse in Haliburton Co. (Hwy 118) is over 150cm. No predicted miraculous thaws coming. Only more snow. I'm thinking we've lost the 2025 fawn crop and probably this year's yearlings in central WMU's. Ten bucks says MNR still issues the same number of antlerless tags and hunters will be foolish enough to harvest the tiny percentage of does and fawns that somehow managed to make it through. Everyone who likes to deer hunt and eat venison needs to Google the definition for the proverbial " what does shooting oneself in the foot ,mean?".
Felt bad for the 40 turkeys and the snow Buntings at our place today. Got the tractor out and snow-blowed through a meter of snow to make a cleared area. Hand fed them some cracked corn and the turkeys were coming to within three feet of me. I had a bag of leftover feed wheat so I threw some of that out as well.
Unfortunately we have good reason to fear this. We've seen this movie before. Over the course of the last 30 years I've watched the Loring deer herd get devastated. Even when everyone could see the writing on the wall, the MNR was still giving out doe tags like candy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fenelon
On the flat in my backyard:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7ed241fc_k.jpg
Winter is hard for many wildlife. Nature is unforgiving.
I am no expert on this subject but from my understanding deep snow hurts wolves more than deer.
I read in some studies that while snow is fluffy, wolves are disadvantageQuote:
Originally Posted by Marker
However once weather warms up a bit and ice crust is on top of snow, wolves don't fall through and angulates get stuck, this is the time when deer mortality goes through the roof.
I think it's the other way around. Deep snow favors the wolves - by a large margin.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marker
I'd think the deer will be okay if the wolves/coyotes don't find them. There was very little snow (55B) up until last week - less than a foot accumulated on the ground. Deer weren't yarding (sticking to trails yet, so they had access to a lot of food). We're about 40 days from the end of March - and hopefully the snow will be melted enough that the deer can move at will again. Deer in good shape can survive on minimal food for up to 90 days. So if the wolves and yotes don't get them, they'll be okay. In areas where they got the deep snow early - Bracebridge? - this last snow might be a killer.
This report supports what you said above:Quote:
Originally Posted by werner.reiche
Relationship between snow depth and gray wolf predation on white-tailed deer
July 1, 1986
Survival of 203 yearling and adult white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) was monitored for 23,441 deer days from January through April 1975-85 in northeastern Minnesota. Gray wolf (Canis lupus) predation was the primary mortality cause, and from year to year during this period, the mean predation rate ranged from 0.00 to 0.29. The sum of weekly snow depths/month explained 51% of the variation in annual wolf predation rate, with the [COLOR="#FFFF00"]highest predation during the deepest snow.
https://www.usgs.gov/publications/re...te-tailed-deer
Quote:
Originally Posted by newbiehunter
UngulatesQuote:
Originally Posted by newbiehunter
Lol. Thanks for correction [emoji3526]Quote:
Originally Posted by Wullie
I've taken the sled back through several of the properties I hunt over the weekend and hinge cut several trees with lots of buds on them right beside the trails I've made for them
It's worked in the past but then again snow pack hasn't been like this in many years now
Fifty days with 50cm of snow is considered severe. Much will depend on the physical condition of the deer herd going forward. Deer will burn through their fat reserves trying to reach food sources and are susceptible to exhaustion. If deer are in yards with good cover and browse then some will make it through.
Up in NW Ontario, our herds took a nose dive about 12-13 years ago and they haven’t recovered yet! Hopefully herds in the east , central, and sw don’t get wiped out too.
It looks like the worst of winter is behind us (knock on wood). The last couple of days have been spring like and the snow levels have dropped. Hopefully better for the deer.
The turkeys been using the rd the last month in the Beaverton area. Seen them many times just using the side of the rd.
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Lol my daughter drove up from the Soo today and she said thatthe snowbanks at Hayden were up to the top of the moose and deer crossing signs… I told her that they would be taking those signs down in the spring as they won’t be needed anymore.