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Old 02-21-2018, 06:01 PM
Sportsman Sportsman is offline
 
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Default Bad winter for deer in N AB

Any thoughts on how you think our herds will do this winter? Personally I think our herds in NE AB are going to be decimated again due to snow depth, the cold and the crust on the snow. At the very least we are going to lose a lot of the older age class bucks. Too bad, we were just starting to see those 5-6 year old bucks come back again.

I hope a lot of you are also feeding and pounding as many yotes as you can.
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Old 02-22-2018, 08:24 AM
Big Grey Wolf Big Grey Wolf is offline
 
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Default deer

You are probably correct, deer will be hit hard in NE Alberta. Talked to trapper friend in McMurray area and he said was fighting snow drifts and high snow banks this winter on his line.
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Old 02-22-2018, 10:50 AM
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HuntingAlberta HuntingAlberta is offline
 
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Camrose and EC Alberta hardly have any snow, and the stuff that came was well into February. The herds here should be fine.

The snowpack west of Calgary in the foothills could be an issue if it sticks around for a while.
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Old 02-22-2018, 11:17 AM
Norwest Alta Norwest Alta is offline
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Hoping they alright. Was seeing quite a few before this most recent snow. Lots of stubble in some fields poking out other fields under 3' of snow.
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Old 02-22-2018, 11:30 AM
HunterDave HunterDave is offline
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I don't think that the amount of snow that we got around here will be too much of an issue for deer. If it's deep for deer it's deep for predators as well. It's when there's a thaw after a lot of snow causing a crust to form on top is when it's a problem. It happened here back in 2013(?) and the coyotes could run on top of the snow making the deer easy pickins. For now the deer are yarded up just fine.
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Old 02-22-2018, 11:48 AM
slough shark slough shark is offline
 
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It’s a bit touch and go in a few areas, if this winter stays cold and we get more snow there are a few regions that may be in trouble. It all comes down to March, it it warms up and snow melts back some deer will be fine, if it stays cold and more snow it’ll be bad. Thankfully for the worst cold snap of the year back around Christmas there wasn’t much for snow on the ground so the deer were able to eat whatever they wanted, also winter had a pretty late start at least down south here.
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Old 02-22-2018, 09:58 PM
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Red Bullets Red Bullets is offline
 
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I haven't been in the north to know but if the snow is deep hopeful the dropped antler hunters don't disturb the the deer yards. The human intrusion can be a big stress on the deer during a winter with deep snow.
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Old 02-22-2018, 10:32 PM
HunterDave HunterDave is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Bullets View Post
I haven't been in the north to know but if the snow is deep hopeful the dropped antler hunters don't disturb the the deer yards. The human intrusion can be a big stress on the deer during a winter with deep snow.
Yup, I bumped about 8 whitetails on my sled the other day. They looked very healthy and energetic. I’ll leave them alone now that I know where they hang out. All of the dopey mulies that i’ve Seen this winter just stand there and look at me......lol. All of the deer are doing great around here.
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Old 02-23-2018, 05:48 AM
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58thecat 58thecat is offline
 
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Got about 1.5' of snow and the deer/moose are doing very well around here, good winter so,we should see some increased numbers this spring/summer
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Old 02-23-2018, 08:11 AM
Ranch11 Ranch11 is offline
 
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The deer around here are fine and in very good condition. Only bad thing that can happen now is a quick thaw followed by a hard freeze causing a good crust on this deep snow.
Even the moose look pretty good.

Seen 32 deer in the hay field yesterday afternoon. Beautiful day had em out early. And in my travels, I haven’t found one dead one.

Bonnyville area.
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Old 02-23-2018, 08:27 AM
Slicktricker Slicktricker is offline
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Seeing lots of healthy deer in my area and on my land and more moose then I've seen in years in a zone I heard someone say on here there is none left lol
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Old 02-24-2018, 05:59 AM
NCC NCC is offline
 
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From what I saw on my place in Valleyview when I lived there, it's the winters that drag out into April and May that are really hard on the deer. It was like they had enough reserves to get to the middle of March and then they started to deteriorate fast.
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Old 02-24-2018, 06:34 AM
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husky7mm husky7mm is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NCC View Post
From what I saw on my place in Valleyview when I lived there, it's the winters that drag out into April and May that are really hard on the deer. It was like they had enough reserves to get to the middle of March and then they started to deteriorate fast.
^this^
And add the extra fat reserve burning of dealing with super deep snow and it =winter kill. Hopefully the warm weather brings a big melt. Right now they are yarded up hard, the predators will have a hay day if they get to the yards. Its best to refrain from providing connectivity to the yards. Hold off on shed hunting and exploring for a bit this year.
If you have trails into the area already and want to help, them cut down some trees heavy with goats beard. Bush deer dont have the enzymes in their gut to digest supplemental feed unless it is what they have already been eating.
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