Buck Magnet

Hey guys,

Well we got hammered this week with a pretty bad snow storm. We had about 8 inches of snow on the ground before the storm hit Tuesday morning and by Tuesday night it had dumped another8" or so down, but to make things worse Tuesday night the snow turned into freezing rain. Wednesday morning I woke up to find that we got over 1/2" thick of solid ice on top of the 15"-16" of snow we had and it was snowing again. This morning the snow was finally done and is probablly 20" deep so I decided that I better get the 4-wheeler out and go take a trip around the property to see what the storm did. Let me tell ya, that much snow is a chore to go through on a 4-wheeler, all the trails were entirely covered but I did see some promising sign, there were deer tracks goin through the woods but you could tell that it was a pain for the deer. I headed towards one of the best spots for winter deer activity (a large patch of tall pines) and when I got there I found one doe that couldn't take the storm. There is a swamp right on the far side of the pines and I could see where she had crossed the swamp which was drifted about 3-1/2 feet deep. She somehow made it through but it must have been tough for her because when she made it into the pines she bedded down and she must have used all her energy as she never got up and she froze to death. This was a pretty sad sight to see so I decided to try and help out a bit. I went back to the house and got the plow and attached it to the quad and off I went through all the trails in the woods just trying to plow the snow down so it would be easier for the deer.I then got to thinking about how it has gotta be rough for the deer to even find some food so off I went to town. I picked up 400 pounds of corn and 400 pounds of deer feed pellets (mix them 50/50) and filled up the feeders. I also picked up a dozen feed blocks for deer, I think they are made by purina, but they appear to be a mix of some grains, corn, and clover, and I set them throughout the property. I just hope that this helps out atleast till some of this snow melts which doesn't seem like it will be anytime soon, its a whopping 8 degrees out right now without the windchill and tommorrows high is supposed to be around 12-15 degrees.

Here is a pic of the doe where I found her!

shed33

When the snow gets deep in the winters here, a lot of folks including myself throw out alfalfa bails and corn for the elk and deer to feed on.

KoBear

that sux man.

atleast the coyotes and vultures will have something to eat when she thaws out a bit... i'd move her to a place where she wont be near one of your hunting stands so when she decomposes, wont stink up the place.

Red Lion

Unfortunate as it is, it is nature going on her own agenda.

Hotburn76

I was once told that a bad freezing rain storm is real hard on big game animals. Said it would stick to the coat and freeze just like everything else and then weigh them down and make it hard for them to walk exhausting them in a already stressed state.

j_beste

I know the local enforcement would at least advise against it (because of disease), but we have in the past put out alphalfa and corn during a hard winter for the deer. I dont know if I would do it now- It no doubt helps them get through the winter, but there is the scarce chance of disease being spread.[:@] Without help alot of deer will most definately perish in thatkind ofsnow. However, you can look at itas nature doing its thing.

outdoorslover

that sucks guys!! I prefer to just let nature take it's course though. what happens happens

jmbuckhunter

I help them out by reducing their numbers during archery season! Less mouths to feed makes the winter rations go farther.

Show that picture to the PETA PEOPLE. Mother Nature can be cruel. Can you imagine how many more would starve to death if hunters did not reduce their numbers as much as we do?

I have heard that feeding hay during the winter does no good, because the deers stomachs cannot digest that type of food during the winter. Anyone else ever heard this?

Fieldmouse

I shoot them in the fall so they won't have to suffer in the winter. I don't think that's the help you were asking for so let me try again. I like to drive big car's and take long trips so that they eat a lot of gas.That way it hurries along global warming so the deer can have a milder winter.

Dubbya

Very true. It's nature's own way of keeping the herd size at or below the carrying capacity.