SK Deer herd down by 40-50%

Varmit

Varmit

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I talked to my buddy in PA today and he said there is still 2 ft of snow in Smeaton and the deer herd is down by 40-50%. has anyone got any more info on this?
 
he said he heard something on the radio but I don't know the source of it. He said it was an unusually long winter with lots of snow and that the farmers are going to be late getting on the fields.
 
the numbers are definatly down but I'm not sure what the % would be. A lot of guys are finding alot of dead deer. It's been a long winter for everybody in the prairies. I'm still seeing a lot of mule deer but not as many whitetails. They'll bounce back though.
 
jaydog said:
Is that his guess or was there some kind of MNR count? These long winters are tough on critters.....
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You know it, then there will be the flooding to contend with as well in Sask. as well as the flooding that is going on or soon to be in Manitoba.
I hope the farmers will be able to get into the fields and till some soil and plant so seeds for this years crops.
It sucks when the banks and big suppliers are the only ones making money.
Do many of the farmers help the wildlife out by feeding ? Read about someone in Alberia who was feeding upwards of 150 deers Mulies and White Tails .
Keep Your Powder Dry Boys and Girls.
Rob
 
We still have about 3 feet of snow in the Southeast corner of the province. Two years ago we lost about 60% of the deer. This winter is worse. We have dead deer all over. There are so many the coyotes are not even cleaning them up.
 
I can't imagine there not being significant winter kill in the NE. There is still plenty of snow to go snowmobilling and we just got 2 inches overnight here. We had a lot of snowcover all winter starting Oct 20. I guess we'll see when they do a count.

George
 
I've heard the same percentage figures as well and have seen dead deer that are laying there untouched by coyotes. Sad really. I do know of a few farmers that have been feeding them so that will help a bit. Some of the live ones I've seen look good, others pretty skinny and scruffy. Hopefully it warms up soon and greens up or they will continue to die off.
 
They must be very weak, they aren't even making the trip to my yard with feed for them, just see them picking what they can by the train tracks barely 1/4 mile away , and the group sizes seem smaller, other than that I cannot comment on what is happening in other areas near by or by my hunting area.

Just a lot of damn snow and even more yesterday and high winds today.
 
the numbers are low central sask. me and a buddy went out shead hunting for a couple of hours and we found 4 dead deer in a small bush. also not seeing to manu tracks and there is still also of snow!
 
dgl1948 said:
We still have about 3 feet of snow in the Southeast corner of the province. Two years ago we lost about 60% of the deer. This winter is worse. We have dead deer all over. There are so many the coyotes are not even cleaning them up.
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Where might you be???
 
No snow and a fair amount of deer to be seen here in the SW.

I drove from Regina to Swift Current today. Between Mortlack and Swift I saw scads of deer, more than 2-300 with-in sight of the #1 Hwy......

There is still too much snow for the critters to forage down by Estevan and Regina tho......

It's going to be a real rough year on deer in some parts of the province.....
 
They are in rough shape here. Found lots of dead ones, don't think there is going to be much of a fan crop either.they don't even get up when you drive past them on the road. And it is going to be quite a while before we are going to have green grass to, @ 2feet off snow on the flat and a pile in the bush.
And the maign has cleaned up on a pile of coyotes too.
 
Driving between Moose Jaw and Saskatoon on the weekend, I saw at least 80-90 mule deer just hanging out next to the highway. They were looking a little skinny, but their numbers didn't seem to be diminished. Back around home in the northeast (Nipawin area) the numbers of whitetail seem to be holding, if not only dropping a little. Riding some trails in the bush on snowmobiles, there were tracks, beds, etc. everywhere for deer, moose, and elk. I am sincerely hoping my wife will get her first deer this coming season.
 
The numbers around Big river and north to Meadow Lake seem to be good, some loss but not to bad the deer are skinny but still foraging. I was out last Sunday in a fresh clear cut west of town and there was at least 50 deer eating the spruce tops/ moss they were scruffy but healthy looking for forest deer. The ones in the farm land are looking good, they cleaned up any old bales left in the fields that they wouldn't touch in a normal winter.
 
I still see quite a few of em. As long as we dont get a rediculous chill, like -30 we'll be fine. Plenty of fat coyotees, should make for a good trapping season.

I see gophers out. They must be pissed about the snow more than we are. Lol
 
I have to correct my previous observations.

Now that the snow has gone down considerably I see that the same amount of animals are moving about my direct area as did in the fall.Still can say as to what happened in my hunting area.
 
Seeing the deer in spring out in the open and moving around gives people an inflated idea of the numbers. Seeing lots of deer from the highway at this time of year just means that they are starving to death in the open instead of dying in the bush. I've heard lots of comments from local people about how many deer they are seeing so the winter wasn't so bad for them after all. What it really means is that the few remaining survivors are trying to scratch out a living in the ditches and in peoples yards where a small patches of bare ground showed up first. Winterkill was a very serious problem and very widespread this year, people observing from their cars just don't understand. You need to actually walk in the bush at least once a month all winter to get a true perspective.
 
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