Midwest deer
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: Pyrannah
19-Feb-19
Any truth to the rumors I have been hearing about massive deer die off from recent polar vortex?
From: MQQSE
19-Feb-19
Not in southern iowa. Checked cameras today. All look good and plenty of them.
From: Pyrannah
19-Feb-19
Good to hear so far
Heard people say finding deer in fields frozen solid.. didn’t sound right but it was limited sample
From: longspeak74
19-Feb-19
Not in SW Wisconsin. Some nice bucks still holding antlers.
From: Lee
19-Feb-19
Not in central IL either.
Lee
From: Highlife
19-Feb-19
Hell they are looking healthy in northern Illinois
From: Heritage
19-Feb-19
Fake news.
From: Milhouse
19-Feb-19
I've been watching a herd all winter....so far, they're ok. I'm in North Dakota. In an area with some of the worst winter deer habitat you could imagine. Seriously. If a deer can make it through the winter here, they can make it anywhere. They're not out of the woods yet, by any means. Mother nature can take her foot off our throats anytime. I've been watching 2 big bucks all winter....they still have their antlers. I've read that how long a deer holds antlers is related to how much stress they are under...that is, holding antlers longer means less stress....I don't believe it, because there is no way these deer are not somewhat stressed.
From: Schmitty78
19-Feb-19
Looking healthy in Northern Missouri
From: Scrappy
19-Feb-19
Yup all the bucks in iowa that still had their antlers died. The idea is the antlers froze and caused their brains to freeze to the point of death. I'm sure the dnr will be releasing information soon about shutting down the nonresidents hunting in iowa for the foreseeable future.
From: Dutch oven
19-Feb-19
Are there any facts out there about this question? Why listen to rumors?
From: Milhouse
19-Feb-19
I'm continually amazed anything can live outside here in the winter and make it. There isn't a hell of a lot of nutrients in snow, and actual temps that rarely get to 5°f for a high, and routinely hit -20 to -35°F for lows burns calories in a hurry.
From: midwest
19-Feb-19
The deer are fine. Stinkbugs....not so much.
From: Pyrannah
19-Feb-19
Dutch, that’s why I’m askin.. not sure what you mean by listen to rumors?
Hate stink bugs and ticks, hope they all die
From: Franklin
19-Feb-19
That damn Al Gore with some more Climate Change BS stories...lol. Polar bears will be extinct and deer will freeze to death like statues.
From: Brotsky
19-Feb-19
All good so far, if this persists into March though we’ll have issues.
From: SB
19-Feb-19
The problem here is the snow depth with multiple layers of ice under it. We have one fawn in the yard everyday digging for grass wherever it can find an edge not drifted over. Went out to shoot a few arrows this aft and she was under a tree digging for whatever kind of berries are falling off if it. She looked OK,but judging from all the tracks every morning in the deep snow they are having trouble finding food. Haven't seen or heard a pheasant in a couple weeks either!
From: RutnStrut
19-Feb-19
We have 30" or more of snow on the ground here in west central WI. We have more on the way. If we have a late spring it will be even harder on the deer and turkeys. But our DNR will not do a thing to be proactive about it. They will double down on the antlerless tags once again.
From: 12yards
20-Feb-19
We will see some death in northern MN. We have a lot of winter left and there is 2+ feet of snow up there and it's been cold. Probably lose some fawns.
From: MT in MO
20-Feb-19
I'm seeing more deer than I have for the last few years in my back yard. They don't seem to be in any trouble...
From: rallison
20-Feb-19
I'm in south-central Wisconsin and the ones yarding up around my place look good. Bucks still holding, and the does look good. About 14 clean out my bird feeders pretty regular, so I'm sure they're a little hungry.
From: grindersonly
20-Feb-19
West central Wisconsin here and all is well. Lots of snow, but lots of food for the deer.
From: happygolucky
20-Feb-19
I was up at my camp in the UP and could barely even get on the land. The snow was up to my thighs and made trudging very hard. I had very few deer tracks which was not normal. The cameras are a few inches over the snow line. I didn't exert any energy to try to get the cards. I cut down a few cedars for any deer still in the area. If this persists into March, there will be issues. I can't even get onto the lake at our place in northern WI to ice fish. More snow coming today there as well.
From: Cheesehead Mike
20-Feb-19
Yeah there will be some winter kill in the north but for the most part deer are smart enough (or have strong enough instincts) to not stand out in a field and freeze solid...
Somebody probably saw a road kill frozen solid...
From: South Farm
20-Feb-19
What's a "Polar Vortex"?
Nevermind, somebody just told me that's when it gets below zero...kinda like it's done here in Minnesota almost every winter since the dawn of time.
Anyway, deer look fine around here, nice and fat, but I have noticed they're coming in the yard more digging around as the snow's piling up. I think they'll make it through just fine; we round the corner to spring pretty soon.
From: elkmo
20-Feb-19
Yep all dead...Cold Weather Disease.
From: ahunter76
20-Feb-19
N.E. Ia & still got head gear. 13th. Been seeing a Dz + almost daily & they all look great.
From: Aspen Ghost
20-Feb-19
Polar Vortex is the new dramatic media term for winter. They seem to be surprised by that it gets cold and snows every year. No deer problems here. Unlike the media, the deer consider winter to be pretty routine.
From: Old School
20-Feb-19
I’ve heard rumors that they're expecting the Tropic Turbine to show up soon and push the Polar Vortex away.
;-)
-Mitch
From: Glunker
20-Feb-19
Why pass rumors? Winter effects do not show until late March at the earliest and it is northern areas, not an iowa, s wi, etc. Why start a controversy unless you have facts?
From: kentuckbowhnter
21-Feb-19
yeah, i remember back in olden times when the polar vortex was called a cold front.
From: Jon Simoneau
02-Mar-19
Most of the deer die offs in the Midwest are due to politicians “managing” the deer herds based on monetary interests rather than biology.
From: t-roy
02-Mar-19
It needs to warm up here pretty soon. We usually don’t see much, if any, die off here in Iowa, but with the prolonged cold weather along with more snow than usual here (snowiest February on record) I think we will lose a few deer that, normally would survive, but it won’t be an appreciable number, IMO. They are browsing heavily on cedar trees around here right now, which is generally not the norm, but not extremely rare either. Not the best food source for sure. Seeing lots of deer out on the prairie in the picked corn and bean fields, often 2-3 miles from any cover, but again that is not that unusual either. Thankfully, we don’t have a layer of ice on everything around here, so they can get to the waste grain under the snow. I’m WAY more concerned for the pheasants around here. Tougher sledding for them.
From: Elite 1
03-Mar-19
I’ve been feeding around 25 all winter now it’s around 18 give or take. So a few are mia lots of snow and lots of cold we need we need a brake and soon minus 15 this mourn so not good.
From: MQQSE
03-Mar-19
I left 21 scattered acres of corn and beans on my place. From the looks of how much is still standing I went overboard. I pushed over another 5 acres of corn two weeks ago.
From: BOHUNTER09
03-Mar-19
Moderate winter in se Illinois. Ground has not been snow covered more than 3-5 days in a row. Been seeing quite a few deer feeding in harvested beans. I left 1 acre each of standing corn and beans. Beans are pretty much gone, but corn still has some remaining. Turkeys and deer have fared well.
From: JusPassin
03-Mar-19
I have to commend you guys. Pretty darn rare to see any landowner around here leave anything standing for the wildlife. We did it all the time back when I grew up here. Different thought process then.
From: Sawpilot75
03-Mar-19
All good here in Ohio. It’s snowing again but I think the bad stuff is over hopefully. Our deer seem Healthy. A few of the young ones didn’t make it but that’s it to be expected.
