How's your area looking?
Contributors to this thread:Wisconsin
From: Pete-pec
18-Feb-18
With February waning, how is it looking for your area?
Rock County looks especially nice. I understand the deer are traded up, but I took the dogs for a 35 minute ride after work, that is what you'd call a slow ride, simply enjoying the sunset, and looking at deer. Within 5 minutes from where I hunt, including where I hunt, I counted 107 deer. Clumps of deer no greater than 16 in a little herd, but all of them feeding in picked corn fields.
How's it shaping up for you...and where are you at?
From: xtroutx
18-Feb-18
Ive been seeing alot of deer when I am out also. The deer look very healthy and seems to still be plenty to eat. Ive seen plenty of big bodied deer around here in marinette county.
From: RJN
18-Feb-18
I also took a drive the other night when high temps were in the low 40s. The deer are still in small herds by us in the late picked corn fields. I seen around 60 total in our two separate valleys. Bucks are just now starting to shed.
From: Pete-pec
18-Feb-18
Agree. Plenty of food, all look healthy. 2 weeks ago, I saw a 130ish inch deer with his antlers cross in front of my truck. He looked very healthy.
From: Franklin
18-Feb-18
They should be healthy....didn`t seem like a very frantic rut. Unfortunately I didn`t see any hot rut activity this year. I think this winter is pretty much licked and can`t see anything harming the herd.
From: casekiska
18-Feb-18
I am pretty sure the statewide Winter Severity Index will reveal our wild animals had a pretty easy year. I like that, we have to be careful though in assuming all is and will remain well. Should we get cold weather, a lot more snow, and then a layer of ice on top of everything, the winter can turn. I know it's mid-February and it seems as if spring is just around the corner, but the $h!t can still hit the fan! Late February and March can be a tough time for winter stressed critters, let's hope all stays "critter friendly" for the remainder of the season.
Glad to read above most are thinking the deer are healthy. Good news.
From: RUGER1022
18-Feb-18
Lincoln cty- Gun store , 1 guy to the other . Did you report any of your Deer kills ? The other guy smiles & said ,"What for " .
Overheard at bar while picking up fishfry . " Now that baiting is banned we are switching to Peas & Alfalfa. Hard to see .
Yea the herd is in great shape .:-)
From: Tweed
18-Feb-18
Did some fat biking in the Kettle Moraine area of Washington county. Lots of good sign and very little canine (coyote) sign off of the IAT.
From: MF
19-Feb-18
Northern Bayfield County..... still good amounts of snow up here, has gone down some with the warmer weather. Deer look like they are in good shape. Ventured out last week on snowshoes and checked on a bear den.
From: Hoot
19-Feb-18
Case - You are so correct on the bad winter weather hitting late Feb., March & April. In 2014 Washburn County WSI was a 187. That spring was the final nail in the coffin for countless deer that had already survived through February during catastrophic winter. Deer had taken to the lakes to escape snow depth and left them in poor shape and easy pickings for predators. This winter the deer are in great shape and hopefully the weather cooperates this spring.
From: Trapper
19-Feb-18
By this mornings picture it looks like maybe 2-3” northern Waupaca County.
From: Tomas
19-Feb-18
I 've done a lot of xc skiing this year and it appears that the deer are moving freely and only using their packed trails through the swampy areas.
From: JackPine Acres
19-Feb-18
Was in Juneau county yesterday and the snow cover is patchy with some bare ground exposed. Deer are nipping off tips of young white pines but look healthy in my video clips. Surprised to see a group of 5 toms using my 80 acres and that is a good sign that they are finding easy travel and things to browse. If it stays like this, stress should be on the low end for wildlife.
From: ground hunter
19-Feb-18
I will let you know Sunday,,,, going up to MI to pick up my new long bow, on Wed, than do some trout fishing, thru the ice, sit by the fire, and howl at the moon,,,,
From: retro
19-Feb-18
To early to tell yet. March and April will decide.
From: Tweed
19-Feb-18
Watch we get another good friday blizzard.
From: TrapperJack2
19-Feb-18
Deer in our area of Portage Co. are doing really good as we have been logging since January on our land and every day as I walk I see between 30-50 deer hitting the tops of the maples, hemlock and white cedar. They have a buffet to choose from.
From: Pete-pec
19-Feb-18
Yes, ice can be deadly for sure. Too early to tell, but it certainly sounds like good news on the herd so far. Plenty of negative stuff to talk about, and any good news is good news!
From: Ranger620
19-Feb-18
The few deer in forest and Florence counties are looking good thus far. Wolves are taking there toll on them especially in the log jobs. This ice will make it harder on deer easier on predators. Very few coyotes around at all but we have wolves showing up where they haven't been before. If spring comes at a normal time the herd should come out of winter above average. Found a few nice bucks that were pulled down over the last couple weeks. Guessing one 2.5 year old and one 3.5 best I could tell. One area it looks like the pack of 5 or so is traveling around 5 miles a night one way to make their kill and then returning back to core area for a day or 2. It's an area between 2 known packs, interesting that the other pack thus far has left them alone as it is a lot larger pack 8 or so.
From: Bow Crazy
21-Feb-18
Monroe County - shaping up to be an easy winter. We have seen more deer this winter than any winter that I can recall. Years past the deer wintered 2-3 miles from our place. That all changed in 2010ish when a doe and 2 fawns stayed all winter. Since then, more and more deer winter in our area each year. Pretty interesting stuff. My neighbor saw 8 bucks below his house one evening, 11 does/fawns and a buck a following evening. Unheard of ever before. I think they made it this far so easily that no matter what March and April bring they will do extremely well. BC
From: MF
21-Feb-18
We received another 10plus inches of lake affect snow (Northern Bayfield County), will be interesting how the deer will handle this.
From: DoorKnob
21-Feb-18
Snow covered and slippery in spots :)
From: Hoot
21-Feb-18
Ranger - According to the wolf lovers, wolves only take the sick and injured and weak. Ya right!
From: DoorKnob
21-Feb-18
I could see them taking the low hanging fruit first, but mamma gotta eat!
From: Hoot
22-Feb-18
We could possibly have 16" of more snow by Sunday. Something I hate to see this time of year. Good thing the deer look in good shape and hopefully after these two storms hit it'll warm up and start a spring type melt.
From: Ranger620
22-Feb-18
Hoot - 100% agree, I don't think they eat much for beaver or mice either. Lots of active beaver ponds in the last 10 years and more wolves than ever. They are very effective killers- they have pulled down 7 deer that I know of in one log job since weekend of 2/3. Probably more. I was hoping the mating season occurring the two packs would start a turf war and pick a few of each other off. Not the case as of yet.
From: Hoot
23-Feb-18
We added another 8" of snow last night and another 12" expected tomorrow. We have 22&1/2"s in the forest now and with another foot I believe the deer will become very vulnerable to the wolves and coyotes where I live.
From: Live2hunt
23-Feb-18
Luckily we are looking at warmer temps the next few weeks, it should settle some. Hoot, were you at? That would really be messing with my late season ice fishing.
From: Jeff in MN
23-Feb-18
I am east of Hayward, measured the snow in the woods today, most was also at that 22" mark including the 8 or so inches we got in 2 snowfalls since Monday. Good part is I did not feel any sort of crust breaking as I stepped though the snow. Bad part is another 12 inches is looking pretty certain for Saturday nite.
I do have one or two yearlings still hanging around picking the shriveled apples that got left on the trees. They also clean up the apple core and peels after my wife makes her wonderful apple pie for me.
From: Live2hunt
25-Feb-18
Jeff, did you save any pie for me?
From: Hoot
25-Feb-18
Thirty inches in the forest this morning after last nights storm. Time for warmer weather!
From: dbl lung
25-Feb-18
Deer around Lacrosse are spreading out it seems. Fields that had 100 deer a couple weeks ago not have 12 and fields the fields are around all have equal amount. Deer have changed to feeding on hay or green fields instead of corn and beans. Still a lot of ice from the past couple of weather events too. Deer appear healthy and cameras show about half of bucks holding antlers. This has certainly been an easy winter for the critters in my area.
From: Drop Tine
25-Feb-18
Snow, then a layer of ice and after last night about 5” of snow on top of the ice.
Deer a looking good so far but the ice has locked in any food other than browse. Young maples getting browsed back to the trunks.
From: Jeff in MN
25-Feb-18
We got about 8 inches of the 12 predicted so snow depth in the woods is now 30" east of Hayward too. I walked out into my small drainage pond to pick the cattail heads off and wow, really hard to walk thru 30" of snow. Need to go to town tomorrow as I am down to a quart of milk and under a quarter tank of diesel fuel for plowing. I have gone through 15 gallons in the last week.
L2H, you are in luck, I put a bag of apple peals and cores out today which means there is a fresh apple pie in the frige. Come on over, if you wait till tomorrow I will have milk too. If you want anything other than cool whip for topping you will have to bring it yourself.
From: northbound
25-Feb-18
From: Hoot
25-Feb-18
Jeff in Mn - It was a bitch walking out in the forest this morning! I too have to head to Birchwood in the morning for milk and a few other groceries. Sometimes on days like these I wished I lived in town. NOT! A neighbor is almost out of firewood, I said come over and get some. Hope he brings a shovel. Warmer the next few days so the snow depth should plummet hopefully. I'm ready for spring type weather.
From: MF
26-Feb-18
With all this snow I even heard the Firles are migrating South.
From: ground hunter
26-Feb-18
My scouting was more limited, than what I can normally do, but I was pleased with what I saw,,,,, Iron County MI, and western Florence County,,,,,, snow depths are reasonable, and this weeks forecast of 40's and sun will bring it down,,,,,,, seeing deer on regular basis, crossing Hwy 70,, and lots of trails in the back roads,,,,,,,,
Looks like they are on the browse heavy,,,,,,, My friends son, operates a big logging picker, style machine every day, and reports a good deer population, despite the wolves, which he said, are concentrated in two yards, on being in Florence and one in Forest County,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
I do not feed, but have select cutted, and I do not food plots,,,,, Had lots of pictures of deer, on the browse, which I believe is the best food for them,,,,,, looks good to me
From: Jeff in MN
28-Feb-18
Temps in the Hayward have been above or very close to 40 for several days now. Looks like the next 6 days will be highs in the mid 30's to low 40's. With the snow as deep as it is here (wad 30") that has been a blessing for the deer and other critters.
From: Live2hunt
28-Feb-18
Jeff, how much did you lose up there from when you had 30". Just curious as to how much melts at the temps we had. We are doing a 4 day ice fishing trip this weekend North of Turtle Lake and am wondering about truck travel on the lakes.
From: Jeffd
28-Feb-18
My family has a cabin in Turtle Lake and I work near there as well. I think truck travel will be difficult anywhere that is not plowed. There is probably still 15 to 20" on the ground here and it is obviously dense snow.
From: Live2hunt
28-Feb-18
jeffd, your not painting a good picture!!!! I'm hoping less on the ice, prior to the last snows, there was not much snow on the lakes. Will have to bust trails out to where we fish I guess.
From: ground hunter
28-Feb-18
looks like the NW area is having the tough winter, the NE is having little winter
From: Jeffd
28-Feb-18
L2H, It might be melted down enough by Saturday. 41 for a high again today, 35 tomorrow, 38 on Friday, and 43 on Saturday. I guess it depends how much sun we get. I'm still in snowmobiling mode so I feel like I might be one of the only ones on this site that is hoping that it doesn't melt too much... I'd like to get one more ride in and then let it warm up. It's tough when a guy loves to hunt and snowmobile. Great winter for riding=tough on deer herd.
From: smokey
28-Feb-18
My depth in Seeley was 25" on Sunday but now 20". With sunny and warm temps it is dropping. Snow in the woods is less but no way to accurately say what that is since it varies a lot. We are above normal for this year so far. Now the problem with the melt and freezing at night is the crusting. Hopefully, soon it will stay above freezing overnight until snow depths drop a lot.
With the snowfall last weekend I have not gone shed hunting and won't until more snow melts. This is not a good time to pressure the deer.
Still, though, the deer are looking good but I have seen them switch to some undesirable browse.
From: Live2hunt
28-Feb-18
Jeffd, thanks for the info. We are leaving tomorrow AM. Staying on Big Round and fishing there + other lakes in the area. Smokey, that's pretty much inline with the temps. 2+ inches of snow loss per 45-50 deg days.
From: Hoot
28-Feb-18
I just got back from measuring the snow depth and we are down from 30" to 19" in the Birchwood area. These higher temps and sun are taking their toll on the snow.
From: RUGER1022
28-Feb-18
Been ice fishing all week . Plenty of ice depth . A bit messy with slushy snow . 4x4 with decent tires is enough .
Pike & Perch are biting . Caught 7 Pike , kept 1 for supper .
Lincoln county WI river .
From: smokey
28-Feb-18
There is rain forecast for the Hayward area on Sunday night and Monday. That will knock down the snow more but put even more crust if it cools off too much.
From: TrapperJack2
01-Mar-18
They are eating well as we continue to do our cedar cuts. At dusk we see between 30-40 deer feeding. We have 6 of these cuts.
From: MF
01-Mar-18
No starving deer there! its a buffet
From: Jeff in MN
01-Mar-18
L2H, I sent a PM. Call me.
The snow finally got loose from my pole shed roof. Way later for the first drop in the season than ever before. Quite an impressive pile of packed now. It fell on an area that was plowed clean and it is still an impressive pile. Pile goes out like 25' from the shed.
From: Jeff in MN
02-Mar-18
The two yearlings we see frequently just showed up for the first time in about 2 weeks. Sad news is one has a broken rear leg. Looks like it is also favoring the front leg on the opposite side, or maybe it just looks like that because of it being harder to walk. Wonder if it was broken by a vehicle or a result of the difficult walking thru deep snow or the slippery packed snow on driveways and roads. The healthy one is obviously going slow and waiting on the injured one to follow close.
The bad leg is not just dangling, It is in a partially flexed position with a bulge at the knee area so maybe dislocated.
From: Hoot
02-Mar-18
Jeff - It won't be long before coyotes or wolves home in on that injured deer.
From: MuskyBuck
02-Mar-18
MuskyBuck's Link
Scroll down to the second map with lots of blueish purple indicating 30+ inches.
From: lame crowndip
02-Mar-18
Putting in taps (90 so far). Snow is about knee deep in the sugarbush. Hope this weekend knocks it down at least 50%.
From: xtroutx
02-Mar-18
Put in my taps earlier this week. About 8 to 10 on the ground by me in Marinette county.
From: Jeff in MN
02-Mar-18
Hoot, I hope you are wrong. I plowed the first two loops in my woods that those 2 deer live in with hopes that would provide them access to some grass and the injured one could get around better. (See pics) After thinking about it it occurred to me that it would make it easier for the yote to get around too. Pretty good moon lately, maybe I will sit in my deer stand tonight, it is right where the loops intersect from 3 directions.
After my last post the healthy deer was on the driveway when I drove in. It flew through the snow like nothing.
I would say my place near Hayward is at 26 or more inches on the ground. It is perfect snowball/snowman making consistency. Packable but not wet. With it being so deep and packable I could not just plow, I had to angle the blade left/right and spin the skid steer to push it to the sides. No way could it have been plowed with a truck because the paths were purposely made narrow and with tight bends/corners. Without tire chains even the skid steer would not have done it.
If you are wondering how I plowed so clean to the ground, that pic was taken about 4 hours after plowing that section and today is another really nice mostly sunny day. No, or very little frost in the ground too.
From: Jeff in MN
02-Mar-18
Forgot to put the pics in.
From: RutnStrut
02-Mar-18
Jeff you need a big V-plow for the deuce and half.
From: Jeff in MN
02-Mar-18
Rut, that is a good idea. I was wishing I had a V-plow on the skid steer today.
That would mean I need to figure out why the duece won't start. I think I have something clogging up the air intake. Some idiot stole my air filter and I did not notice it until when the problem with starting happened. I would like to get the oil filters changed over to normal filters some day too. Anyone know an active or retired Deuce mechanic that would like to spend some time in Hayward?
From: Hoot
03-Mar-18
Jeff - I noticed that to about little or no frost in the forest. Tapped a few maple trees yesterday and all were running. Will try to get more tapped later today after I get back from picking up bear bait.
From: Jeff in MN
03-Mar-18
I think on reason why the snow left on the ground melted so fast was the lack of frost and hence some warmth left in the ground to help the sun melt it.
From: smokey
03-Mar-18
smokey's Link
The 30+ on the map Muskybuck has seems to be in Iron County area. Around Hayward more like 16-20 with some a little over.
From: smokey
03-Mar-18
smokey's Link
Clam Lake station has not been reporting for a few days. Scroll down in the upper left window for snow depth.
From: Treefarm
03-Mar-18
Deer bounding
Deer bounding
Clam Lake today.
From: RutnStrut
04-Mar-18
I had to work most of the day today but had some time and got out into the woods. Holy crap is there still a lot of snow on the ground down there. It took me an hour to go 200 yards on the 4-wheeler. I used my winch a lot. But there was a ton of fresh deer sign in the little bit of woods I checked. Where we have bare ground around home it is really soft. I made the mistake of pulling onto my yard to turn my truck and trailer around. I now have 2 very deep ruts to fill in before mowing season.
From: Pete-pec
04-Mar-18
Rutnstrut, would those "ruts" be as deep as the "strut"s? :-)
From: RutnStrut
04-Mar-18
That's a good one Pete. There wasn't much strutting though as my wife was in the passenger seat next to me telling me the yard was too soft to drive on. Funny thing a few days ago I just gave her and the kids the annual spring lecture about no driving on the lawn as it's way too soft. Now I'll never hear the end of it.
From: RutnStrut
04-Mar-18
So it starts. The wife says to me this morning that she thinks I should change my forum handle to "RutnStuck.
From: Pete-pec
04-Mar-18
I like her!
From: Hoot
04-Mar-18
Rutnstuck - Your wife is hilarious! Winter storm for tomorrow and tomorrow night with high winds. Up to nine inches of white crap so back to possibly 30" of snow in the forest. Pulled the sap bags I put out as they'd probably be ripped to shreads with this wind forecast.
From: Jeff in MN
04-Mar-18
Smokey, it is well over 20" here. Sure hope we don't get much with this storm that starts tonight.
From: smokey
04-Mar-18
Jeff, how and where are you measuring the snow? No stations are reporting that amount here.
From: Jeff in MN
05-Mar-18
My observations are from on my property in the woods. My knee high boots are 18" and the snow is still at least 4" over my boots. Been a long time since I have seen this much snow on the ground here. In the open where the sun gets to it there is a little less. Not that it has melted much it just got slightly more compacted. I would say on the lake it is close to 20". But I was on the down wind shore when those stiff winds came during and after the last big snowfall. So that snow is fine grain from getting blown around.
From: Hoot
06-Mar-18
Jeff - How much snow did you get last night and today. I'm guessing we had another 8", but really tough to say with the strong winds that accompanied this storm. It'll be snow shoe time tomorrow when I head out to tap trees.
From: Jeff in MN
07-Mar-18
It probably was close to 8", for sure at least 6". Plowing it was hard because it was so damp by the time the snow quit. It just didn't want to slide off the plow plus there was thawed out gravel and lawn under it.
Wind was horrible. I walked around my snowbird neighbors house just to be sure there wasn't any damage from flying branches. No problem there but there were ice dams that were 7" thick. I raked the snow above them, some if it 3' deep. Farther up the drifts were probably 4' deep downwind of the ridge. Interesting how funnels of no snow are created around tree trunks with snow drifts around the funnel being 3 feet deep.
