Tough on the deer this year

John Y Cannuck

John Y Cannuck

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The Conservative part of Ontario
I was up breaking trails at the cottage this week. Did 10 miles yesterday.
Snow is deep, and there is a 1" crust. Not enough to hold up a deer consistently. It wouldn't hold me up on snowshoes.
I found where a moose had walked through, and there was blood in the track.
If you get the chance to break some trails between feeding areas, the deer could use some help.
 
That sucks!

There is going to be an overabundance of deer in southern Ontario,we have barely had enough snow to cover the ground!
 
Most of Ontario had a mild winter... everyone should be mounting cow catchers on the wifes car. The deer numbers will be off the chart this fall.
Turkeys wintered very well in all the southern areas, look for a good hunt this spring.
The mange is licking the coyotes hard in the high population areas, there have been lots of reports of mangey foxes too.
The fishers and feral cats are bad in my area... I have also noticed a lot of Owls and Hawks.
 
BIGREDD said:
I have also noticed a lot of Owls and Hawks.
Click to expand...

Yah the rodent population has done well too. And they have been available to the birds for most of the year due to no snow. I'm sure the weakening yote numbers will also be benificial to the raptors
 
It was a very easy winter for the deer/moose in my area up until about a month ago. Weve since got a boat load of snow.

One bad thing maybe that the wolves numbers seem to be up too.

If we get some warmer weather to knock the snow down a bit in the next 2 or 3 weeks I think the deer/moose will be fine.
 
BIGREDD said:
Most of Ontario had a mild winter... everyone should be mounting cow catchers on the wifes car. The deer numbers will be off the chart this fall.
Turkeys wintered very well in all the southern areas, look for a good hunt this spring.
The mange is licking the coyotes hard in the high population areas, there have been lots of reports of mangey foxes too.
The fishers and feral cats are bad in my area... I have also noticed a lot of Owls and Hawks.
Click to expand...
One of my friends has killed three wolves this winter over bait, and all three were very mangey.
All three however, were also old lobos.....
Cat
 
The deer look pretty healthy out my way, snow isn't as deep and no crust, they've got some pretty deep trails they've been using anyways. These are from last weekend.

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BIGREDD said:
Most of Ontario had a mild winter... everyone should be mounting cow catchers on the wifes car. The deer numbers will be off the chart this fall.
Click to expand...
Same here. Since we moved to the country 8 years ago I have never seen so much deer sign.

Looks like there's a crossbow and a tree stand in my future.:D
 
The deer in NWO will be fine, this next season will be the best yet.
compared to some of the previous winters we've had, this is a walk in the park for them.

we have barely any snow, and all of january and febuary was extremly warm

parts of superiour that normally freeze in january haven't frozen up yet and wont either
 
Been trailbreaking with the snowmobile here since December. There's only about a foot of snow, but from the amount of use on the trails, the wildlife obviously appreciate it.
 
Scar you are just east of where I hunt near Vennachar. I'm hoping they don't have a great deal of snow either.
Those snowmobile trails are a Godsend for the deer when there is a crust.
Ten miles of breaking crust with snowshoes that almost held me up pretty much did me in.
 
I was in Macarthurs Mills yesturday just outside Bancroft and there were about thirty or so elk and four or five deer all looked very healthy I got pics on my phone I will try to post them. I had a bull that wouldn't move for me to get by heactually held me there about 15 minutes. When he left he was falling through the crust and I guess this is why he was so hesitant to get off the road.
 
Its been snowing for the last 2 days here and there is finally enough snow to cover the lawn, finally the brown is gone. :)

Easy winter on deer here, only animals taking a beating are the rabbits all white with no snow to hide.

Our party shot 12 deer last fall, and there were lots left over so this fall should be good hunting too.
 
Heres what the local rag says about moose in NWO.


Moose population down
Tb News Source
http://www.tbsource.com/
Web Posted: 2/22/2006 4:28:36 PM
Some discouraging news for area hunters especially those who have been shut-out recently in the moose tag lottery. A recent survey shows the moose population is on the way down even though hunters are harvesting fewer animals

An aerial survey in the Kenora area shows the moose population at approximately 650 animals. The last survey, conducted in 2003 showed about 1,100 in the area.

MNR biologist Scott McAughey speculates the decline in the number of moose may be connected to an increase in northwestern Ontario's wolf population. He calls the decline disturbing and says the deer population is thriving and has prompted increases in both bear and wolf populations which may affect moose calf mortality rates.
 
Young lad & I decided to snowmobile up the lake to town for supper yesterday & stumbled on a fesh deer kill. You could see where it was struggling in the crust before the wolves got it down!
 
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