Winter kill... What do you think now?
Contributors to this thread:Connecticut
From: Buckiller
01-Mar-15
Had a VERY scrawny adult doe at my bird feeder yesterday. The winter is really hurting her bad.
On Tuesday night, my neighbor had two yearlings and a mother at his bird feeder. I saw both fawns and they are not looking so good. Very thin and desperate.
2-3 feet of frozen snow on the ground with no end in sight.
I don't know guys. My opinion is that this IS hurting them.
From: treeman16
01-Mar-15
I had 5 at my bird feeder yesterday. They looked healthy but they were hungry. Two of the does stood on their back feet boxing each other .
From: ROBZ7
02-Mar-15
Obviously any bad winter has the potential to claim any weak deer but around my areas I have spent a lot of time in the woods on a weekly basis both shed hunting and just having fun following the deer highways in the woods and have yet to find any dead or even any kill spots where predators have killed any since it's easy to spot given all the snow on the ground. i also run cameras all year round and lots of yearlings on the pictures which is great since usually they get claimed first .
From: cuntrytocity
02-Mar-15
They're hardy animals, I live in New Haven and I have deer tracks all around the urban area in which I live. The weak will suffer, but the healthier animals will do fine, have to agree with ROBZ7.
From: Bloodtrail
02-Mar-15
This winter sucks again for the deer.
How many of you have actively met or spoke with DEEP and asked for their support to lower tag allotments so the herd can rebound?
From: bigbuckbob
02-Mar-15
I plan on talking to the wall this weekend. Practice, practice, practice.
From: BOWMEN
04-Mar-15
the month of march is the worst month when it comes to winter kill and death do to predators,Thats why I always put high protein grain out this time of the year.Even if you put 200 lbs. out it will give deer the strength to make it through till they can start to get down to the soft acorns( soften from the snow laying on them).It really helps.200.00 lbs of grain is about 35.00 or 40.00 small price to pay,to give back.
From: nehunter
04-Mar-15
Remember that we didn't get any snow on the ground till late January. Last Year they went from mid December till March with snow on the ground.
From: air leak
05-Mar-15
I don't worry or think about it for one second. Deer have survived for thousands of years, long before bow hunters started to worry about them.
From: CTCrow
05-Mar-15
What winter kill? Didn't you hear that there are no deer left?
From: BOWMEN
05-Mar-15
i have seen a couple of deer lately,they look pretty thin,even with a winter coat,if use a good quality corn feed it will not hurt the deer.good source of calicum.
From: Buckiller
06-Mar-15
In all the years I have thrown my Christmas tree outside, the deer never ate it.
This year, it has been knawed to bare wood by the deer.
From: longbeard
06-Mar-15
I saw 8 deer this morning and they were looking good. We had a very easy winter up until about 6 or 7 weeks ago and because of that they should have been in great shape going in to this stretch. Should have little to no problem surviving.
From: spike78
06-Mar-15
Longbeard, you saw 8 deer? Where were the other 1.88? Lol, sorry, couldnt resist..
From: grizzlyadam
06-Mar-15
I think the abundant acorn crop and the late snow cover gave them plenty of time and food availability to fill up on their fat reserves to help them make it through this winter. It's not food that worries me, it's when we get some decent melting snow followed by cold weather where there is a layer of ice on top that coyotes can walk on and deer cannot. I plan on getting out there with a fawn bleat and see if I can call a few in to plug with the 270. I may look into getting some snowshoes to make it easier to get out there.
From: spike78
06-Mar-15
Grizzly, I just got some snowshoes and tried them out. I can tell you its alittle easier but far from easy. I was winded and almost fell over when I took them off. I probably walked 500 yards in and 500 back. My advice dress light. I was sweating like it was summer out.
From: longbeard
06-Mar-15
Spike I think they were sniped by WB!!!
From: Tall 1
07-Mar-15
It's not the deer I worry about so much. The turkeys have very limited food options right now and have to be taking a hit.
From: Buckiller
07-Mar-15
Good point Tall1
From: NEV
07-Mar-15
Well I think they look great. Just went down rt 72 thru harwinton. Counted 27 deer in about a 5 mile stretch. Feeding in the hemlocks. Saw a few had their head down thru the snow feeding. Some bedded and walking. They all looked great. Full body's no ribs.
From: steve
08-Mar-15
Well I just got a call from some one at work sat that his son picked up a road kill buck no horns he asked me to stop by and give him some pointers on butchering it was his first deer he just completed his bow course well when I got there he had it gutted and skinned and when I looked at it it looked like a cat then I noticed it didn't have 1 bit of fat on it .hope it gets warm out.
From: grizzlyadam
08-Mar-15
Just over a week ago, these ones look pretty good.
From: STM
08-Mar-15
I have seen deer in the Westport area over the past few weeks and they were very healthy looking, must be the GREEN surroundings ? ?.
From: jdrdeerslayer
08-Mar-15
Just now got back from Westport. All along the merritt I saw deer atleast 40+ and 3 rd kills all looked pretty decent shape. They were all on there feet today probally the warm day and full moon combo.
From: cuntrytocity
09-Mar-15
"jdrdeerslayer" I saw those same three deer along the Merritt yesterday on my way home.....figured the same thing, that warmer weather has them up and on the move. Damn shame to see those roadkill, unfortunate for the deer and the vehicles.
From: jdrdeerslayer
09-Mar-15
Ya I hate seeing them go to waste on the side of the rd....I thought about stopping and grabbing them for coyote bait but our coyote season ended saturday....
From: CTCrow
09-Mar-15
I saw about 12 on the side of the merrit this morning as well. I think they are the same ones. One dead doe in the middle of the parkway about 100 yeards before the 12. All looking healthy.
From: CTCrow
09-Mar-15
Well, except the dead one. She looked really dead.
From: yukon roz
09-Mar-15
Saw a big dead coyote on rt 2 this morning I love seeing them dead.But getting hit by a car does suck.Glad hes out of the gene pool he looked about 40 pounds.
From: BowhunterVA33
09-Mar-15
Haven't been seeing deer or sign for awhile until last week. Saw a group of 4-6 and they all looked healthy but the snow was givin em a work out. Saw a lone one and another group of 3.. all looked good.
What I really would like to know is where are the deer yards around here?
From: Smoothdraw
09-Mar-15
In suburban areas deer yards are often in unhunted pockets of woods near industries and businesses. If there's cover and food, they'll be there. I think most stateland deer get the hell out of the woods and migrate south to Florida where they have a chance. LOL
From: CTCrow
10-Mar-15
2 more dead does this morning at the same spot (Merritt Parkway) that I saw the dead one yesterday. One was still bleeding when I went by.
From: cuntrytocity
10-Mar-15
I didn't see anything when I went by around 6 this morning.......it's part of the life and death cycle, but it pains me to see them as roadkill.
From: CTCrow
10-Mar-15
I went by at 7:30 and it seems they both got hit by the same car. The biggest one of the 2 still had blood dripping from her nose.
From: steve
10-Mar-15
crow you only shot one this year
From: CTCrow
10-Mar-15
I know Steve. If it wasn't for the $5,000 damage to their car, I would be jealous.
From: cuntrytocity
10-Mar-15
passing that way on my way home from work in Middletown, hopefully there won't be any more fresh roadkills. that warm weather has them up and moving. be careful passing thru there.
From: Bloodtrail
10-Mar-15
They are up and moving because they are hungry. The snow cover is reduced around the roadways and it could be the only place they can find acces to grass, acorns etc.
From: CTCrow
12-Mar-15
Saw a small goup of six on the northbound side of Merrit last night about 1 mile south of the large group. A group of 10-12 at the same southbound side of the merrit this AM. Good thing is there were no road kills.
From: cuntrytocity
12-Mar-15
With the time change, it's pretty dark when I take the Merritt in the morning around 6. Yea, I haven't seen anymore roadkill lately, which is a good thing in my opinion...
From: spike78
12-Mar-15
Crow, what town does that part of Merrit go through?
From: longbeard
12-Mar-15
Have been seeing many killed in the last week or so especially around Westport...You know the town that doesn't allow hunting!! Saw one small deer dead this am in Stamford
From: Buckiller
12-Mar-15
Had a doe in my yard that had the hind quarters torn apart and tail completely ripped off. Yotes must have got her, tore her up and then she was able to get away from them. Horrible. Haven't seen her since monday.
From: CTCrow
12-Mar-15
Right here spike
From: steve
12-Mar-15
Here is the deer with no fat this is Tom a new hunter he just got excepted to west point nice kid !
From: bigbuckbob
12-Mar-15
Steve
you're not wearing your hunting jacket to butcher a deer, are you? You'll have the smell of death to rinse out so the deer don't run away :)
From: steve
12-Mar-15
That's my Sunday go to meeting jacket LOL
From: spike78
12-Mar-15
Thanks Crow, that narrows it down lol.
From: SmoothieJonez
12-Mar-15
...meanwhile up the street in Avon, Massachusetts.
From: spike78
12-Mar-15
Thats when you know their really hungry. Wow cool pic. Apperantly they already ate the browse line clean. Snow should be gone soon.
From: soapdish
12-Mar-15
Longbeard, I saw through your post that Westport does not allow hunting. I know some guys who were told that they could not duck hunt in east hartford for the ordinance against discharging a weapon within city limits. The town was told that "town law cannot supersede state law". For what its worth. By the way.Deer up in northern ct are doing fine.
From: Garbanzo
12-Mar-15
If you read the general statues it specifically names Westport as the only town that can regulate hunting. I grew up there and my parents say the place is crawling with them.
In the past week I've seen 10 plus deer just in the woods along the Wilber Cross in Meriden and I91 in Crowmwell. all looked to be in pretty good shape
From: notme
12-Mar-15
steve , if you had a pack of smokes in your pocket I would swear that's my coat..lol
Garanzo , I fish and used to work a lot in the green farms section . there are some scary ass deer in the swamps..
From: steve
13-Mar-15
Longbeard is right no hunting in Westport . Do people do it yes .Did it go to court I don't think so .I hear there are a lot of cops that hunt there I have had permission myself but never hunted it .STEVE
From: jdrdeerslayer
13-Mar-15
At one time I had several very good spots in westport. My brother still lives there. I even talked to a co about it and he told me they wouldn't prosecute because it was a town law trying g to supercede state law. I also knew a guy that owned property and used to shoot some deer neighbors made a stink and local cop gave him a ticket....went to court and was immediately thrown out.
From: CTCrow
13-Mar-15
Smoothie,
they are not hungry. They are waiting for Santa to come out the chimney.
From: CTCrow
13-Mar-15
Spike,
between 44 and 42 southbound side.
From: longbeard
13-Mar-15
Crow that looks a lot different there now because they have cut all those trees down. I think the land owners right there used to feed the turkeys because there would always be a bunch in that yard, but a couple years back they must have stopped because I don't see them there anymore. As far as hunting Westport, I think you might be able to beat the ticket because its a town statute, the problem is how much time and money would it take to do? Between court fees and time off from work, what would it take?
From: CTCrow
13-Mar-15
LB,
you are 100% right. I remember seeing all those trukeys there all the time. There were a buch of deer this morning again but traffic was moving fast this morning and couldn't count them.
P.S.
the only roadkill this morning was the skunk about 1/2 mile before the spot.
From: SILVERADO
13-Mar-15
From: bigbuckbob
13-Mar-15
crow
did you steal notme's santa and stick him in the chimney?
Still trying to figure out how they got on the roof of that garage?
From: Garbanzo
13-Mar-15
Pulled this for a DEEP publication
The courts have concluded that towns have no authority to regulate hunting on federal, state, or private property within their borders. This conclusion was affirmed by the Appellate Court, which concluded that local ordinances that seek to regulate hunting are illegal. Towns may restrict hunting on town-owned land only. Ordi- nances that restrict or prohibit hunting on private and state-owned lands are illegal. The only exception is the Town of Westport. In 1933, Special Act 33-254 empowered the Town of Westport to determine when and where hunting could occur. Currently, a town ordinance prohibits all deer hunting within Westport's boundaries.
From: bigbuckbob
14-Mar-15
Garbanzo
I never knew that existed!! How could the state allow just ONE town to do something different than the rest of the state? I always thought, and read, that wildlife management falls under the state's control.
From: steve
14-Mar-15
1933 .
From: BOWMEN
15-Mar-15
Will put 3 more bags of supplement food out today for the deer including one bag of alfa cubes.the supplement feed sseems to be helping to does that are fawning,It takes alot out of them.the owner called and told me he saw 22 deer at the area where i put the feed last week,This is the hardest month for our whitetail friends, especially for the older does that are pregnant.
From: Fletch
16-Mar-15
Glad to see it working both ways. Came across this guy on Saturday, right in the middle of the trail. His stomach looks distended, like he starved to death.
From: Buckiller
16-Mar-15
Fletch, I hate to see anything suffer but if it means that more yotes go away, it will have to do
From: cuntrytocity
17-Mar-15
Saw a big deer that was roadkill on the side of route 66 this morning. Couldn't tell if it was a buck or doe, but it was a damn nice size deer. Got to work and saw two deer on company property, heading back into the woods.
From: CTCrow
19-Mar-15
There was a dead doe last night on the same area of the Merritt on the northbound side.
This morning there was another one on the Southbound side. They are getting hammered in that area. There was a group of 12 that I was seing and now there are 3-4.
From: notme
19-Mar-15
maybe they should take 95 ?
From: Buckiller
19-Mar-15
Deer are so hungry they are eating bread and crackers I threw out for the birds
From: grizzlyadam
19-Mar-15
The past few days I scouted hard two private land pieces that I hunt putting in 8 hours afield and found no evidence whatsoever of any deer kills. I usually find a few, but none so far this year. I found dozens of heavily used bedding areas and found nothing but scat. Lots of browse was chewed up but there was still lots more. The deer are fine, at least where I hunt.
From: GF
20-Mar-15
I think they're probably in pretty good shape at this point, at least down low here... How's the snow cover looking up north? Not a lot of food around and probably all of the acorns are still locked up under the ice in a lot of places, but at least they can travel pretty well now, and the coyotes can't run them down on the snow crust...
From: grizzlyadam
20-Mar-15
Still about 8 to 10 inches of snow up near me, but I found a bunch of places where they were digging up acorns big time on the warmer days we had last week. Mostly south facing slopes, they had them really churned up and there were lots of acorns still around. Time to start coyote hunting again now that the woods are easier to get around in.
From: Garbanzo
20-Mar-15
Lots of road kill due to deer licking the salt that is put down to melt the snow.
As far as Westport goes. Apparently back in the 30's someone got killed by a hunter accidentally. So the town requested to be able the limit where hunting can take place. The Legislature passed it. Now what started out as a small section has been expanded over the years to encompass the entire town. I grew up there and my parents still own a home there. I've had 8 pointers walk to within 30 yards of me in the middle of the afternoon. It is not going to change. Town is controlled by those liberal commie bastards now. They even have a ban on plastic grocery bags now.
From: bigbuckbob
20-Mar-15
want to find the deer right now? Find the South facing slopes where the snow has melted and has oak trees and you'll find them looking for acorns as Garbanzo stated.
From: treeman16
20-Mar-15
Why do you need to find deer now! Leave em alone. Worst thing you can do is push them around and stress them out.
From: GF
21-Mar-15
" Worst thing you can do is push them around and stress them out."
True dat.
Strictly speaking, it cold fall under harassment of wildlife, so you shed hunters need to tread lightly!
From: grizzlyadam
21-Mar-15
I fully agree with the stressing them out which is why I stayed out of the woods until recently. Now with some warmer temps, and the snow down to a level where the deer can go anywhere they want with ease (at least where I'm at), I'm going shed hunting, and coyote hunting. There is plenty of food for them out there, and they can access it now.
From: cuntrytocity
22-Mar-15
Harassment...........wow. Shed hunting falls under harassment, that's a helluva stretch. So, I guess people walking the trails are harassing the deer also. Scouting for next years tree stand placement, would you consider that harassment also? Placing my trail cams in the woods during the off season, guess I'm guilty of harassing the deer.
From: bigbuckbob
22-Mar-15
diving back from the store this morning around 9am and came across a doe on the side on Marion Ave that had jumped from the I-84 over-pass at exit 30 and broke it's legs or back, or both.
A truck was there and the driver witnessed 4 deer on the highway, this doe jumped off at the wrong spot and ended up getting injured. The doe definitely looked healthy.
I found it strange that an "animal lover" was trying to approach the deer to comfort it and all she was doing was making it try to flee and causing it more stress. I had to get out of my truck to tell her to return to her vehicle because the police were coming to put it down and she was causing the deer more pain.
From: jax2009r
25-Mar-15
there have been a few dead ones on 84 Street in Southbury ...
the scrawny ones could be old deer....old age creeps in and winter kills them ...
From: CTCrow
16-Apr-15
Finally a good one!
Dead coyote on south bound side of Merritt just before West Rocks road overpass in Norwalk.
From: notme
16-Apr-15
From: notme
16-Apr-15
today in shelton
From: notme
16-Apr-15
From: bigbuckbob
16-Apr-15
notme
what kind of broad head are you using?? Damn that thing tore it up!!
From: GF
22-Apr-15
Is it just that they're about to shed the winter coats? The last few I've seen around have been looking really scraggly and kinda half-starved.....
But leaves are starting to pop, so any buds they can reach must be packed with good stuff.
From: bigbuckbob
22-Apr-15
they always look like crap this time of year. Their winter coat makes them look like they're beat up and sick, but it's just the shedding process. Plenty to eat around now.
From: STM
22-Apr-15
I was getting off 95 at exit 18 south Saturday morning ar 4:00 AM and there was eleven deer standing around the ramp. They were all different ages from adults to last years fawns, very health as well.
From: STM
22-Apr-15
I was getting off 95 at exit 18 south Saturday morning ar 4:00 AM and there was eleven deer standing around the ramp. They were all different ages from adults to last years fawns, very health as well.
From: spike78
22-Apr-15
11 deer? Are you sure it wasnt 7.4? Just saying.
From: steve
22-Apr-15
The next mile doesn't have any. Comes out to 5.5 psm
From: CTCrow
22-Apr-15
There were 2 dead ones on Merritt Saturday by exit 41. One south bound and one northbound 150 yards apart.
From: notme
22-Apr-15
crow buddy , he's the same deer . he just figured the other side sucks !...lol
From: CTCrow
22-Apr-15
My son said: maybe she moved but I could see both at the sametime.
From: spike78
22-Apr-15
Notme, not funny dude, now that area is down to 5 dpsm!
From: cuntrytocity
23-Apr-15
Saw a big dead coyote earlier this week on the Merritt between Meriden and Wallingford.
From: CTCrow
24-Apr-15
I saw what appeared to be a dead bob cat just before west rock overpass. Just about the same place I saw the dead coyote last week but the bob cat was in the medium. I could've been a giant domestic cat but to appeared to be too big for that.
From: bigbuckbob
24-Apr-15
I don't own a cat, so it's not mine. Stop saying it is ;)
Maybe it's notme's cat?
From: CTCrow
24-Apr-15
Leave notme alone. He is putting his new found tree stand together.
From: notme
24-Apr-15
lets see,slot"2" connects with " peg b" that turns cam "y"..dang naamco tree stands!..you cant baitme with the ole puss laying in the road trick..unless its a puss n boots
From: bigbuckbob
24-Apr-15
I like when puss wears the really high boots, you know the ones that go above the knee. Just really hard to get off,.......the boots, that is.
From: notme
24-Apr-15
why am i pictureing some angry fraline german chic with a riding crop..ewwwww.lol
From: CTCrow
21-May-15
I saw a good coyote right at the Wesport-Fairfield line this morning. He was on the shoulder on the south bound side.
From: CTCrow
21-May-15
is there any other kind of good coyote?
