Winter Yard Status

[Fenelon]

Anything south of about Bethany/Ponypool had substantially less snow. The north part of WMU 75, and 60, got absolutely hammered. I just heard that Loring deer yard had very heavy losses - dead deer numbers in the bush are apparently very high. Can anyone from up that way comment on what they've seen.

[jlmorgan]

An article in Manitoulin newspaper says they are looking at 25 to 30 percent winter kill off for their deer herd, deer on Bruce Peninsula got hit hard as well, they have all dispersed from the yards now and the survivors are looking decent.

[Foxx]

Anything south of about Bethany/Ponypool had substantially less snow. The north part of WMU 75, and 60, got absolutely hammered. I just heard that Loring deer yard had very heavy losses - dead deer numbers in the bush are apparently very high. Can anyone from up that way comment on what they've seen.

Counted 37 deer in one field east of Loring last week. Going back up Sunday again so will see if there are many around and I will talk to some of the local guys to get their opinions on the winter kill.

[3030]

Almost hit 2 tonite on my way in to work

[oaknut]

The deer here have been spreading out away from their yards. Most have every rib showing. I know its not easy to tell yet but most of the does ive come across do not look to be carrying young. Some had last years fawn with them. A year with few f awns would be a shock to the population in itself.

On the bright side I've got a doe with two of last years f awns happening across the back yard on a nearby daily basis. These three look as healthy as they would in late August and the doe has a rider inside to boot.

[Fenelon]

The word I heard about Loring came from some pretty reliable MNR staff who were actually out in the bush these past couple of weeks. I looked up the snow course data for WMU 60 area. According to the Ontario Deer Model, the snow depth index correlation will mean pretty much 100% of the does abort, and a good percentage of the adult prime bucks, and yearlings, will be dead. The deer around my place do not look good, unless they managed to get some supp/emerg feed. Enjoy the venison you have in the freezer now! She's gonna been lean this fall. Might be a good year to apply for a southern WMU controlled hunt. Somewhere that didn't get pounded by the winter. Heven't heard anything about problem bears yet, but it can't be good. They've been out now for almost a month, and there's not much for them to eat. They've usually gorging on coltsfoot and dandelion flowers, and poplar/aspen leaves right now. We still have snow in the bush! Boo-boo's tummy must be growling!

[GW11]

The word I heard about Loring came from some pretty reliable MNR staff who were actually out in the bush these past couple of weeks. I looked up the snow course data for WMU 60 area. According to the Ontario Deer Model, the snow depth index correlation will mean pretty much 100% of the does abort, and a good percentage of the adult prime bucks, and yearlings, will be dead. The deer around my place do not look good, unless they managed to get some supp/emerg feed. Enjoy the venison you have in the freezer now! She's gonna been lean this fall. Might be a good year to apply for a southern WMU controlled hunt. Somewhere that didn't get pounded by the winter. Heven't heard anything about problem bears yet, but it can't be good. They've been out now for almost a month, and there's not much for them to eat. They've usually gorging on coltsfoot and dandelion flowers, and poplar/aspen leaves right now. We still have snow in the bush! Boo-boo's tummy must be growling!

Thanks for the info Fenelon, always appreciate your reports.

[30cal4me]

The word I heard about Loring came from some pretty reliable MNR staff who were actually out in the bush these past couple of weeks. I looked up the snow course data for WMU 60 area. According to the Ontario Deer Model, the snow depth index correlation will mean pretty much 100% of the does abort, and a good percentage of the adult prime bucks, and yearlings, will be dead. The deer around my place do not look good, unless they managed to get some supp/emerg feed. Enjoy the venison you have in the freezer now! She's gonna been lean this fall. Might be a good year to apply for a southern WMU controlled hunt. Somewhere that didn't get pounded by the winter. Heven't heard anything about problem bears yet, but it can't be good. They've been out now for almost a month, and there's not much for them to eat. They've usually gorging on coltsfoot and dandelion flowers, and poplar/aspen leaves right now. We still have snow in the bush! Boo-boo's tummy must be growling!

Fenelon,
Can you give us the link to where you were finding this data? It will be an interesting read.

[Fenelon]

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodcons...nr_e001298.pdf

30Cal:
Here is the paper on the Ontario snow course network. Sadly, with no budget, many of the courses are no longer maintained, or if it is, it's just the snow course. Back in the golden years, you'd see chillometers at every district office in the province. I used to maintain a snow course and a chillometer station for the Nogies Creek yard. Couldn't do it anymore when the government canned the CFWIP program. It's not MNR's fault. You can thank our good old provincial government. Minden District still has two snow courses - one off Hwy 118 in the Hindon deer yard, and another one in the Percy Lake yard. There is a chillometer station at the district office in Minden.
The attached paper is a paper that every deer hunter/conservationist should read. When you read the paper, keep in mind that the Hindon snow course had a SDI of over 1100 this winter. You'll be able to see the implications of this. Would be interesting to contact some of the northern districts (eg. data for Loring), to view some of the snow course data from this past winter.

Dave

[Mattones]

Have one or two back I have seen