Looks like some deer are in deep stuff!

[avb3]

My son took this picture of a deer near Consort today. Methinks this little fellow is going to be coyote food.

snow 015.jpg

[cover]

It's a double edged sword..... although well insulated from the cold .....grub gettin' is tough.... I see this years fawn bedded doing not too bad in this photo ...

[Tuc]

He could be lying down too.

[Private Ear]

Good reason to get after the coyotes.

The rabbits are plentifull this year and the yotes are looking pretty healthy in my neck of the woods.

Get them Boys!

[slough shark]

Holy cow, I sure hope that the snow isn't that deep everywhere and this is just a drift. As well I hope that it stays like powder so the coyotes at least don't have the advantage of running on top of the snow when there is a crust. Do you know if there are reports of a large number of coyote kills out there?

[cujo1969]

Local snow plow guy here seen 1 trapped in the snow to think gonna thin the weak out
\

[calgarygringo]

You were not kidding in your pm about having lots of snow on the farm. Reminds of snow when I was a kid growing up back east. have not seen snow like that since then. If we ever get that mucj here in town we would be shut down for days.

[TreeGuy]

Originally Posted by Tuc

He could be lying down too.

Good call Tuc.

al gore would likely blame this situation on global warming........

[hillbillyreefer]

The snow around Consort is up to the deers bellies. They are having trouble getting around, even the rabbits are. Mother nature is going to thin the heard much more effectively than the cwd tags ever could.

[Stop Staring at my Rack]

Definately in trouble, will have to thin out the coyotes

[sourdough doug]

The snow is one thing but it's this Jan. thaw that will hurt even more..

[sheepguide]

Originally Posted by avb3

My son took this picture of a deer near Consort today. Methinks this little fellow is going to be coyote food.

Attachment 31453

The little guy is laying down. If the snow was that deep all grass would be covered or pressed down. You can see a bunch of grass chute still sticking through the snow.

And this warm weather is what could possibly hurt our deer more than the deep snow.
SG

[slough shark]

How is the warmer weather hurting them? the only thing that I can think of is it may create a crust on the top layer once the snow freezes up again. If there is another reason why I would like to know what it is as I like to learn these sort of things.

[FCLightning]

The crust is the reason. Things are going to be very tough for the deer. Too bad.

[sheepguide]

Originally Posted by FCLightning

The crust is the reason. Things are going to be very tough for the deer. Too bad.

Some areas shouldnt be to bad. Alot of areas west of Sundre and Caroline have little snow with many south facing hills bared right off. And still melting fast.
SG

[McLeod Valley]

I was out on the trap line yesterday riding my Bravo and off trail in my area there is still 36" of snow , and with this warm spell about the top 6" was wet and heavy , once things cool off this is gonna be a death sentence for the deer as the coyotes are already running on top , It won't be long befor the wolves can do the same.
On another note the moose over here are really getting ticked up as well , lets hope for a early spring!

[209x50]

The warm weather has settled the snow a lot here but yesterday I saw ravens feeding on a deer carcass out in the field. Won't be the last I think.

[Rockymtnx]

Now that the warm weather has settled the snow and it cools off in the next few days, there will be a crusty top. This crusty top will be a hassle for the deer to paw through. If we get more snow on top of it, the deer with have even a tougher time getting down to the ground. The next 8 weeks will be the toughest on the deer.

[Big Red 250]

Originally Posted by 209x50

The warm weather has settled the snow a lot here but yesterday I saw ravens feeding on a deer carcass out in the field. Won't be the last I think.

Did you check it out to see if it had antlers or not?

[solocam3]

Originally Posted by Stop Staring at my Rack

Definately in trouble, will have to thin out the coyotes

How to start rumours. One of the Fish and Game Clubs at the F & G conference in Feb. is proposing to the Gov to put out a $20.00 bounty on coyotes

[209x50]

Originally Posted by Rockymtnx

Now that the warm weather has settled the snow and it cools off in the next few days, there will be a crusty top. This crusty top will be a hassle for the deer to paw through. If we get more snow on top of it, the deer with have even a tougher time getting down to the ground. The next 8 weeks will be the toughest on the deer.

The deer or any critter haven't pawed around here in a while! At least the snow is down to below their belly's. The ones at my place are making out fine on oats and alfalfa.

[209x50]

Originally Posted by Big Red 250

Did you check it out to see if it had antlers or not?

Nope, I wasn't about to break trail on the snowshoes all the way over there to look!

[hillbillyreefer]

The snow around here has melted off the hill tops and settled a lot. The deer if they can get onto the hills should be fine. The snow is going to be hard as cement as soon as it cools off. Still going to be hard going in the alfalfa fields. They are herding up a fare bit.

[sheepguide]

Looking good here. Went for a tour tonight and alot of the fields have bare spots and any hill that is south facing is mostly grass. My yard is close to an acre that we mow and at least have of that has zero snow right now. We will get a crust on what snow is left but I dont think it will affect the deer at all in this area.
Have to see how the rest ofthe winter goes but so far we are ok.
SG

[slough shark]

Ah so it was the crusty snow that the coyotes can run on and the deer break through, I was just thinking perhaps there was some other reason that I didn't know about. From what I gather the worst of it is likely going to be a band from edmonton going down the provost area, They have around 3 feet of snow there and the chinook only melted enough to firm up a thick crust in those areas.

[yamaha 1]

Originally Posted by slough shark

Ah so it was the crusty snow that the coyotes can run on and the deer break through, I was just thinking perhaps there was some other reason that I didn't know about. From what I gather the worst of it is likely going to be a band from edmonton going down the provost area, They have around 3 feet of snow there and the chinook only melted enough to firm up a thick crust in those areas.

If the crust gets too thick they can't forage for food also it can cut there legs making it sore and easy pickings for the wolves and coyotes.

[Darcey]

I was out in the by Kirriemuir last weekend and seen hundreds of mule deer. The snow was deep in some areas but only amongst the hills where it had drifted in.

[buck]

in some areas where the snow is deep one can use a sled and bust trails from one bush to another which the deer will use and across feilds for better feed and browse the deer will browse more this winter if the crust gets so they cant dig out the grass bust trails in thru pines and such they will use them and it helps out and they have some where to run if needed a packed sled trail is like a hwy for them the deeer i feed have been holed up in smaller areas but are moving more now since it got mild and seem to like the trails and im feeding oats to help them out and some areas the deer are feeding with the cattle and horses

[hillbillyreefer]

There was 10 mule bucks in the swath grazing with my cows early this afternoon. They 9 out of 10 were in good shape. 1 was a bit skinny and hobbling badly, don't think there is much hope for him. Looked like an old feller, gnarled up little horns.