sproulman

douge, cut it out!

sproulman

no wonder jim shockey said he heard this is great forum.

i agree,battle of titans continues.

i learned at lot on here,true or untrue you get to follow up on point you dont agree with .

man, i may change my title to PROFESSOR SPROUL,hmmmmmmmmmmmm

bowtruck

R.S.B.

Eight inches of snow isn’t normally enough to cause deer any problems or to force them into the wintering grounds. Even with ice under the snow it is not a problem for the deer as long as they have mobility.

Deer get forced into the wintering grounds when the snow is deep and they have trouble pushing through it. When they have to push through deep snow, especially when it is frigid cold, it causes them to expend too much energy so they head down hill until they find the most protected areas with the best thermal cover they can find. Those areas are also generally the areas where the snow depth is a little less if it is under the cover of the pines and hemlock. Once there they will make trails that they continue to use day after day to keep them open.

If those deep snows continue for extended periods the deer can get locked into those wintering grounds and simply can’t muster the energy to get out even if they have totally depleted the food supply.

Hopefully it doesn’t get that bad this winter. It sounds like things are ok in your area so far. The deer here are starting to show early signs of winter stress but then we have about eighteen inches to two feet of snow on the high ground of the mountains and plateau. Hopefully the warmer weather predicted for this weekend helps to pack the snow down enough the deer can more around easier.

R.S. Bodenhorn

BTBowhunter

RSB

I was always under the impression that a hard crust, say 6-10" that was not quite hard enough for deer to walk on was pretty tough on them because itrubs their lower legs raw. We don't see that stuff often even around my camp in 2F. Is thatmyth or fact?

muzzyman88

Sproul,

To answer your question about my thoughts on your area.

Compared to a lot of areas, that area has always been a little thin with deer.I have several friends with camps up around those parts and they all have said the same thing.I don'tenvy anyone who hunts up there. This was even before all of the PGC nonsense. It's big woods hunting, which by nature is always tougher. I just think the PGC's policies have hit areas like yours very hard. The guys that own a bow shop up that way hardly hunt around there anymore and drive to Ohio to hunt more than here.

I took a walk myself on our property the other day and found lots of tracks, some trails right down to the bare ground and lots of pawing in the fields. We've also been hearing about and noticing a lot of deer around houses and such lately. I believe they're starting to get real hungry. I predict this prolonged snow, ice and extreme cold we've had is going to hurt the deer this year some.

sproulman

that means no fawns in may/june next year do to harsh conditions.

the doe hunting needs close so the deer that are left survive for another year and get older and maybe better chance for fawns.

to kill off the deer that are left when we know ,according to RSB that chances of having fawns is not good.

i hope the PGC sses this and closes the season in wmu2g for 2009.

bluebird2

There is no way the PGC will close doe season in any WMU unless they are order to do so by the court and that is highly unlikely.
By closing the doe season they would be admitting that they reduced the herd too much and they will never do that. They may cut the doe tags by 5 or 10K ,but they won't close the season.

BTBowhunter

My buddy had a great idea. He was plowinghis driveway last week with his quad and buzzed out into his field and took a few swipes across the snow and exposed some of his field. The deer showed up that night and have been pounding the snot out of that area since.

bowtruck

that doesnt sound like a bad idea btb i am glad i am putting corn out