Last year's long winter. How has it affected wildlife in your area?

I haven't seen many wild turkeys yet around here but could be the time of day plus they took all my windows out of the barn last winter and I can't see outside but there is still a million deer around. They have something like 675 doe tags for the draw here in my area plus after the rifle season you can shoot a doe with BP so the deer did well. Just have wait a while too see how many raccoon show up on my door step.
 
Well, in my area, winter was actually pretty short and not much snow as previous years. I see lots of does with twins. Moose Cows each have at least one calf and I am seeing lots of moose in several places and herds of more than a dozen deer. Not what I was seeing 5 years ago, but there is some hope that, with another decent winter, our populations should come up.

That, and the fact that in the past three years, the MD has paid out on almost 4000 coyotes and wolf.
 
we had about 4 hours of Winter here.the big sh*t rat bears are in the garbage already and the deer have destroyed every garden in town .We have zero snow pack & are going to be in poor shape for water come summer.
 
I live in south Ontario. There is a river by my house and when the ice melted there was tons of dead fish. Carp, bowfin, bass, crappie and catfish. I couldn't believe how many their were. When I would go fishing I would through some of the small fish I caught in my pond. They would spawn in my pond and they lived through all the winters up in till last years. Here's a picture of some of the dead fish I pulled up after the ice melted:

 
Also found some dead bowfin that were just under the Ontario record. Ontario record is 31 1/2" and I found a 30". If you click on the image, it will bring you to photobucket where you can zoom in to read the tape measure.

 
Looks tasty! Things are looking much better in my parts of Ontario this year so far. Compared to last year it seems a lot more fawns have survived, and I've seen much fewer deer carcasses out in the bush. Time to go do my part and get my spring bear.
 
Ran out of oxygen, most likely. Must not be much flow there?

As an aside, the records are "angling records". Fish acquired by other means (commercially or found) dont count.

dante_mags said:
I live in south Ontario. There is a river by my house and when the ice melted there was tons of dead fish. Carp, bowfin, bass, crappie and catfish. I couldn't believe how many their were. When I would go fishing I would through some of the small fish I caught in my pond. They would spawn in my pond and they lived through all the winters up in till last years. Here's a picture of some of the dead fish I pulled up after the ice melted:

Click to expand...

dante_mags said:
Also found some dead bowfin that were just under the Ontario record. Ontario record is 31 1/2" and I found a 30". If you click on the image, it will bring you to photobucket where you can zoom in to read the tape measure.

Click to expand...
 
the deer around here did not winter very well.
They are in poor shape, at least the ones that I've seen.
I suspect many didn't make it. Was a long cold winter.
Even the rats in the swamps and ponds around here froze.
 
2 weeks in the turkey season here in the Eastern Townships and I can tell you their numbers are waaaayyyyyy down... I've seen a lot of deer but they look in rough shape.
 
Yes, the turkey numbers are also way down in WMU 60. The winter of 13-14 knocked them way back and this past winter was no better. Not as much snow but I think the temps in February were way too tough on them. Some bushes I have traditionally hunted in opening week are now totally void of any birds. We need another good spring hatch with some milder winter weather. Can't see 3 brutal winters in a row.
 
Just got to collect and review my trail cam memory cards for April and May. Confirmed my previous observation of few deer tracks in early spring. Just a few deer and you can count their ribs. Same with wolves, few in Pathetic shape. Surprisingly (maybe not), moose and grouse seem to be doing good (More tolerant to cold?).

Too early to check for fawns, but I am not keeping my hopes up. I agree with the above poster, one more winter like this in my area and it will take the deer population a decade to go back to 2012-13 numbers.
 
I would like to add some info.

My trail cams and observations are one thing but I will say what is a definite sign of low numbers.

I am in the collision repair industry , wildlife hits are WAY down and have been for the last two years, this year actually seeming worse.
 
Kelly Timoffee said:
I would like to add some info.

My trail cams and observations are one thing but I will say what is a definite sign of low numbers.

I am in the collision repair industry , wildlife hits are WAY down and have been for the last two years, this year actually seeming worse.
Click to expand...

Road killed deer do seem to be quite rare. Used to be 1 a mile now theres hardly any.
 
Saw two between pa and sask last Sunday. Also I have been seeing some alive as well. There are still some out there so let's hope for the best.
 
last camera check for the month of May - good number of deer - pregnant does and small bucks, last year's fawns seemed to make it through the winter, more bears - no coyotes but timber wolves moving in, occasional moose...lots of turkeys - few grouse,,, tons of goose broods and @#$%#@ deer flies
 
Our moose hunting area is over run with partridge and rabbits, never has anybody seen that many in the area. The predator trapping program in the area combined with the long cold winter has caused an incredible explosion in small game populations
 
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