Winter Severity
Minnesota
Contributors to this thread:
How are the deer doing in your area? Seems like a lot of snow and it's going to be prolonged. Hopefully we're not losing too many deer this winter.
Amoebus's Link
Starting to get up there (see current in the link). The next month will be the critical time.
We have had 4 really easy Winters in a row (2014-2017). This one is hitting pretty hard the last 2-3 weeks.
I think March is going to be tough on the deer. Going to stay cold so not much snow melting is going to happen until maybe April.
I was just to Ely and hiked 12 miles in and out of the BWCA...never cut a deer track, so winter can probably get as bad as it wants to around there, as apparently there's no deer to worry about anyway! Back home in E. Central Mn. the deer are fat and sassy and don't appear to be suffering much if any yet. I think they'll be alright.
I guess the good thing was winter didn't really start until mid January and with all the acorns this year maybe they went in in great shape.
The best thing is to go out and hinge cut some aspen, this will help the deer to get through this rough time of winter before spring.. The only negative is using snowmachines that it creates a runway for the wolf to travel through.
Every deer I've seen between Duluth and Ely in the past couple of weeks has been in good condition, despite the deep snow. March will tell the tale, but I think their condition is nearly optimal for this time in the winter. JMHO.
eidsvolling, and its a good opinion. I think we lucked out that all this deep snow and cold happened the second half of the season. If this stuff would have started in early December, I think a lot more deer would be in trouble. I'm sure they are having a harder time now, but they are very rigid animals, and the thaw is right around the corner.
What corner? Where is it? I wanna go there!
Every "corner" is warm, Whocares, 90 degrees to be exact;)
Watched a doe and 2 (last year) fawns in my yard about 30 minutes ago. Doe looked pretty good, both fawns looked skinny. Supposed to get 7 to 9 more inches of snow ..... UGH.... feel sorry for the little buggers.
Still pretty clever after a long winter, South! Heading to my shack tomorrow to check things out. The deer usually migrate out of that area but a couple miles up river usually a pretty good kill zone for the wolves on the river. Just watched Greenway play a pretty nice hockey game so that made the day.
They still known as Greenway Coleraine? They were a Powerhouse way back when I was in high school! Always had a soft spot for those iron range teams.
The school is Greenway located in Coleraine. Several small towns part of it. One of those, Taconite, is where my wife was from. They play smart hockey.
Nashwauk and Keewatin are in the co-op.
Grew of age in GR - but, the mines were on their way down by the time I graduated ('83). A few years ago, you could get a home in Taconite for $4,000-$10,000 and a lot of utilities were paid for. I had a step-grandmother (if there is such a thing) who moved there in order to live.
It is fun to look at the swimming and hockey records from the 1930s-1950s. All Hibbing and Eveleth - from when the mining were in full production and the new money was not in the TC.
Another note - I swam at the Hibbing jr high pool (20 yard) and the tile was dominated by swastikas. Apparently it was built before hitler ruined that (along with everything else he touched) and Hibbing decided not to destroy a good pool by tearing it down.
Amoebus, remember my father telling me about a gent that came into the local bar, north of Black Duck, and was saying how great Hitler is, before the war, he didn't show up after that exchange for awhile and didn't say word when he did show up again.
When living in Wi. a friend and I went to N. Wi. area to check some land out. Stopped in a country brick bar to get direction and when walked in there was a picture of Hitler on the wall, the bartender was a little old lady and started up about immigrates. I told my friend she was rehearsing for the night rally but she will be in her jackboots and leathers, we left quickly.
True story.
Amoebus, remember my father telling me about a gent that came into the local bar, north of Black Duck, and was saying how great Hitler is, before the war, he didn't show up after that exchange for awhile and didn't say word when he did show up again.
When living in Wi. a friend and I went to N. Wi. area to check some land out. Stopped in a country brick bar to get direction and when walked in there was a picture of Hitler on the wall, the bartender was a little old lady and started up about immigrates. I told my friend she was rehearsing for the night rally but she will be in her jackboots and leathers, we left quickly.
True story.
Well, in fitting Range tradition time for me to fix a vodka and settle in for the championship game against Cathedral! (it'll soon be noon)
What has been the severity north of Bemidji?
Just - click my link above. Historical and this year's WSI are there.
How come there isn't a black spot over the CWD cull area?? I would think being shot before winter ends heightens the severity...
Severity is only for deer, if there is no deer there is no severity. The insurance lost rate just went down but not the premiums.
Contrast that with a tough year....
Severity Index is a poor indicator of what deer are really facing as it does not take into account food or shelter. The deer at my ranch in SW MN are in much rougher shape than the deer at my cabin on Lake Vermilion. Not even close, and I've seen a lot of deer in both areas.
"Severity Index is a poor indicator of what deer are really facing"
DNR could do better, but probably not without a lot more money. Now they utilize existing weather stations to get a good overall status on deer health for the next year. You can certainly see the correlation between the winters with bad WSIs and deer harvest.
Latest heat, rain and wind has really reduced the stressers. Winter won't turn out to be that bad.
I'm not attacking the DNR. Just saying the WSI is not very comprehensive. Found two fresh dead deer on my property in SW MN today. Coyote chow. Snow melt and spring can't come soon enough.
I've seen four does in the last two days just north of Duluth. Three looked very good and one looked OK. I'm pretty sure they can get to browse as needed now, but they will have difficulty outrunning a predator with the compacted, icy snow we have on the ground currently. Canids are capable of running on top of it during the night and morning, and deer will be unable to do that. Weather forecast calls for a slow melt and lows in the low 20s here for the next week. In other words, it could have been a whole lot worse given the cold and snow we had mid-winter, but it's not all peaches and cream here either.