We had bad winterkills on mule deer in 83-84, and again in 93-94. Seems about every 10yrs or so we can kiss the big ones good-bye for awhile. I've noticed the Rockies are pretty cold right now especially in E. Idaho, W. Wyoming and N. Colorado. What do you guys think so far? Are these cold temps(0-20degF) hurting the muleys yet? sure-shot

Not up here, so far. They're calling for a -30 degrees stretch next week and more snow (which is falling now) so i guess we'll see. - Dan

I have heard through my friend who's a game warden, who talked with his counterpart in Id. that the Deer were forced into winter range early and due to the drought the feed really wasn't there to support it. RMEF is planning a feeding campaign from what I hear but everything is secondhand.

So far, NW Colorado has seen a very mild winter. The snow is a bit lighter than usual and the temperatures have occasionally been in the upper 30s (F) in the afternoon, down to -10 to +10 at night. Consequently it is difficult to judge the true amount of snowpack because it keeps settling.

February is usually the coldest month, and March and April brings the precipitation. We're not out of the woods yet. The snow reports from Steamboat Springs are somewhat inflated; there aren't any deer on that mountain anyway.

In the early '80s we had two consecutive winters of high game losses. First, there was so much snow that, especially with deer, food was inaccessible. Both deer and elk just moved onto the roads. The second year the temperatures were high enough that every new snowfall developed a 1" crust within a day or so. Deer hooves would break through, leaving them struggling at mid-chest depth. Many died from the exertion of crossing a field. Coyotes were light enough to stay on the surface and picked off the weaker deer.

Those two winters reduced the deer herds to less than half the numbers from the '70s. Since then, DOW has emphasized pronghorn in some traditional deer areas. And, a state referendum passed, banning certain traps. We have since had an explosion of the mountain lion population and they each supposedly take a deer per week. Guess they got tired of lamb. So... the deer herd is about half what it was 20-25 years ago. DOW claims to be happy with that, but they're alone.

Here in eastern Wa. the winter has been mild, but the deer still come down to the highways...road kills.
Still less than most years.

It's really been pretty good so far. F&G has laid in a bunch of feed, just in case.

So far, we've had some snow, but there has been no crust until the warm spell last week.

A lot of the winter range has bare ridges due to the wind, so feed is available. From what the wonks at F&G are saying, the deer were in very good shape going into the winter, so let's keep our fingers crossed. The crust has me worried a little, but we get some every year. FWIW, Dutch.

Southern Idaho has not suffered yet, but the worst is yet to come, but the snow is light in the magic valley and deer are doing well..

The herds have not come back since the winter kill of 92-93, and they just keep pounding them..I think the whole state needs a rest. Hunter success is way down, licenses are not selling out anymore for the first time. Idaho Fish and Game needs to get the damn politics and money grabbers out of the picturef, one gets the impression that the less deer we have the easier they are to manage and the more money to spend on new trucks, buildings and salary increases and not they have gone up on non-resident licenses until it's unreasonable, and there "whistleing who'd a thought it" and begging for the legislature to give'em a tit!! Absolutely disgusting....

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

SOuthern UT is fine so far. Central UT has been hit early, but we have had a reprieve in recent weeks. Northern UT has been hit a little harder.

It will be March before we know if we've made it. Feb is a hard month and the Icy rains of March do a lot of damage.

Just thankful Mother Nature gave us a rest since those nasty Nov. storms.

I just got back from a 2000 mile road trip through Colorado, Wyoming and Montana and I didn't see anything to make me worry.

I was in Gardiner Mont yesterday and they are in the middle of their late elk season outside Yellowstone. Talked to several people that had tags and they stated most of the elk were still in the park and that the weather hasn't driven them out yet. There was only about 4 inches of snow on the ground. I hunted bison outside Bozeman Mont on Saturday and other than a cold wind blowing, it was nice out. No snow, just cold wind. In Wyoming, I saw scattered snow but no real accumulation. Lots of wind though. In Colorado, where I'm from, we haven't had any winter to speak of.

This doesn't cover the entire Rocky Mountain region of course, but I saw a lot of country and I didn't see anything that worried me. But then, Feb is usually the month that kills us down this way.

Mac

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When hunting and fishing get in the way of your job, it is time to quit the job!