Mother nature at her worst

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fingers284

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As has been mentioned before in this forum, the snow is very heavy in central Ab. and has been since early fall. In my particular area we have at least 4 ft on the level ground.
All morning I have been watching a young mule doe struggle to feed herself in the brushy perimeter of my back yard (about 40yrds from my dining room table). Her chest/belly are dragging at least 4" in the snow where ever she goes. From watching her ,I can tell her strength is being taxed to the limit. She will paw a bit then stop and tremble/ shake a bit (very visible with binoc's at such a short range) but never gets down to something to eat other than the few buck brush/willowy sticks already tall enough to stick out above the snow . The snow has a very stiff crust to it half way to the ground. Every time she moves she has to lunge to get anywhere, she has moved maybe 30 yrds in the last 2 hrs, lunging/jumping a couple of times then lays down for a while in exhaustion .
I don't notice any evidence body of deterioration (hard to tell because of the heavy winter hair on her) but her lack of strength will pull her down eventually.
I'm not the only one to notice her plight, a flock of 1/2 dozen magpies have been hovering over her all morning as well (no doubt making enough commotion to let the neighborhood coyotes know where she is to speed up the process) , they know its only a matter of time before its their turn to eat.
 
a custom from old country my family practices here still, at the end of season feeders are left full for winter, we take what Nature gives us, but we make sure their winter is more bearable
 
we got a foot of snow, Then 20mm of freezing rain, then -20 for a week. Then another foot of snow, Now its +5 and pissing rain. Going to be cold again by Tuesday and it will be another layer of ice.


The deer can barely paw threw to the ground. I'm taking a 50lb bag of horse feed (stole from parents LOL) and a bail of alfalpha out of them. Coyotes run right on top the ice and I'm expecting to see many deer kills this winter.
 
We need more snow here, still too much wood to go off the trails with our sleds. There is more up higher but snow levels below average right now. The lake keeps flooding so no joy there.
 
rhino519 said:
a custom from old country my family practices here still, at the end of season feeders are left full for winter, we take what Nature gives us, but we make sure their winter is more bearable
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We always leave some second cut alfalfa cropland uncut for the deer to pasture on over winter. This year we left 95 acres for them but the damn snow has buried it totally. Other years it's not uncommon to see 30 or 40 deer a day feeding here. The field starts only 150 yds from where the doe was trying to feed.

snowing quite heavy again since daylight.
 
fingers284 said:
We always leave some second cut alfalfa cropland uncut for the deer to pasture on over winter. This year we left 95 acres for them but the damn snow has buried it totally. Other years it's not uncommon to see 30 or 40 deer a day feeding here. The field starts only 150 yds from where the doe was trying to feed.

snowing quite heavy again since daylight.
Click to expand...

Wondering what's gonna happen in March April, when we usually get most of our snow. Thinking flooding as well and it's not gonna be confined to river valleys.

Grizz
 
fingers284 said:
As has been mentioned before in this forum, the snow is very heavy in central Ab. and has been since early fall. In my particular area we have at least 4 ft on the level ground.
All morning I have been watching a young mule doe struggle to feed herself in the brushy perimeter of my back yard (about 40yrds from my dining room table). Her chest/belly are dragging at least 4" in the snow where ever she goes. From watching her ,I can tell her strength is being taxed to the limit. She will paw a bit then stop and tremble/ shake a bit (very visible with binoc's at such a short range) but never gets down to something to eat other than the few buck brush/willowy sticks already tall enough to stick out above the snow . The snow has a very stiff crust to it half way to the ground. Every time she moves she has to lunge to get anywhere, she has moved maybe 30 yrds in the last 2 hrs, lunging/jumping a couple of times then lays down for a while in exhaustion .
I don't notice any evidence body of deterioration (hard to tell because of the heavy winter hair on her) but her lack of strength will pull her down eventually.
I'm not the only one to notice her plight, a flock of 1/2 dozen magpies have been hovering over her all morning as well (no doubt making enough commotion to let the neighborhood coyotes know where she is to speed up the process) , they know its only a matter of time before its their turn to eat.
Click to expand...
Why don't you purchase a few bails of alfalfa and feed them this winter? I did the same in the past when there was deep snow in my area.
 
If you're going to feed deer during the winter and help them out, you need to do it from start to finish. If you're only planning to feed at the beginning or end, it's better to let them fend for themselves. By the time they look weak, it's generally too late.

Alfalfa bales are definitely a good idea.
 
Here is Southern AB the Chinook has melted the majority of the snow, green grass in places unburried from snow. Deer are loving life. Quite the plight north of here, plenty of road kill as the animals travel easier on the roads too.
Good time to call in the coyotes and blast them, as well those magpies! Thin the yote population down and collect some furs.
 
The last two weeks around here have been hovering around 0 degrees too. Went out yesterday and noticed alot more ground showing then before. That should help some...
 
I'm not from your neck of the woods, and we don't get quite as much snow, but I always make a point of making as many snowmobile tracks through the bush as I can. At least then they can get around easyer. My sled trails look like huge game trails because of all the tracks
 
goosethegunnut said:
I'm not from your neck of the woods, and we don't get quite as much snow, but I always make a point of making as many snowmobile tracks through the bush as I can. At least then they can get around easyer. My sled trails look like huge game trails because of all the tracks
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That's a great idea..
 
bearkilr said:
If you're going to feed deer during the winter and help them out, you need to do it from start to finish. If you're only planning to feed at the beginning or end, it's better to let them fend for themselves. By the time they look weak, it's generally too late.

Alfalfa bales are definitely a good idea.
Click to expand...

this.

but at the end we (the hunters) shouldnt do that. the weaks shouldnt survive and pass their gene pools and if during the hunting season you cant bait then you should not feed them : they re lossing humane fear.

but who i m deer population is so small over here ...
 
Its a tough winter here in Ontario too. Lots of snow/ice and very cold.. not really any warm spells to give them a break. Coyotes will be getting around easily on the crust though. Very windy and cold forecast for the next week.
 
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