I haven't made it out too much this past winter but was wondering what everyone else has seen for deer winterkills. I know the populations were quite high in most areas up north and if the snow cover was high the predation probably took a heavy toll. Likewise high snow cover can get a bit of starvation going as well.
It was Gilbertson. It was a casual remark so I didn't dig deeper.
The total snowfall for the year was 72 inches. In Feb there was a total of 53 inches measured on the flat at the airport.
That would have a significant effect on the deer pop in my opinion. But I am not a biologist. They say it was a 35 year high for snowfall. Farther north they have significantly more snow.
I have been sledding west of whitecourt since january. I have only seen two dead deer with lots of wolf tracks around. Did not see any sign of dead deer or moose anywhere and we have been riding all around the west of whitecourt to fox creek. The moose we saw, their bellys were almost touching the snow, the deer were dragging their bellys though. We did not see a lot of game though but we figure the animals were back in the bush where the feed was and the snow not so deep.
greg is over reacting....i would say 10-15% based on what i have seen in and around whitecourt swanhills and foxcreek....i spend alot of time in the bush and watching animals...only found one dead moose (wolfs))and 3 deer....50% of our population would be a huge loss and we would be seening them everywhere...cant wait to quiz greg on this one...hey chung u from whitecourt??do i know u??
rob
Ya i would agree with everyone here. I'm near Athabasca and there is no way it is anyway near 50%. I'm actually quite surprised at the number of deer hitting the fields right now. I would have thought with the snow and early cold weather the rate would have been higher but its just not so and the proof is out in the fields every morning and night going to and from work.
Deer Mortality this Winter
Linear Mode
