This winter started out looking bad; cold, and lots of snow early on. It was looking grim for the local deer population, which has been bouncing back after a couple of bad winters. The past couple of deer seasons here have been one tag per hunter, bucks only. This, combined with last year's mild winter, had the deer coming back strong. Fortunately, this winter came in harsh but quickly mellowed. After an initial heavy snowfall we had very little in terms of additional accumulation, and were even blessed with a couple of shockingly warm spells that actually melted some of our snow on the ground.
I take my dog for a walk every morning and am pleased at the numbers and the condition of the deer we are seeing. They're not the gaunt zombies you expect to find in March after a brutal winter; instead, they look well-fed and healthy. My dog found her first shed of the year just this morning, and my fingers are crossed for a great hunt this coming fall. I have a couple of new hunters that I hope to be indoctrinating this year (granddaughter and her boyfriend), along with a beginning hunter (stepson) who got his feet wet last year but didn't score a deer. I won't shoot a doe myself, but I hope they are legal so that these younger folk can increase their chances of making their first kills.
A major winter storm is forecast to hit us two days from now, but this late in the year it won't have a major impact on the herds. How about the rest of you? What's it looking like in your areas?
I take my dog for a walk every morning and am pleased at the numbers and the condition of the deer we are seeing. They're not the gaunt zombies you expect to find in March after a brutal winter; instead, they look well-fed and healthy. My dog found her first shed of the year just this morning, and my fingers are crossed for a great hunt this coming fall. I have a couple of new hunters that I hope to be indoctrinating this year (granddaughter and her boyfriend), along with a beginning hunter (stepson) who got his feet wet last year but didn't score a deer. I won't shoot a doe myself, but I hope they are legal so that these younger folk can increase their chances of making their first kills.
A major winter storm is forecast to hit us two days from now, but this late in the year it won't have a major impact on the herds. How about the rest of you? What's it looking like in your areas?
