Curious what the Canadians here think about te severity of the winter kill on sask? Any info is appreciated

The severity varies widely from area to area. My area (southeast corner) was hit incredibly hard. There are still a few giant bucks kicking around but the herd was virtually wiped out. Most guys out scouting or running trail cams are seeing very few deer. Sign is minimal as well. I've been hunting mule deer in the southwest part of the province and there are plenty of them as well as a normal amount of whitetails. The locals there say they wintered well. Hopefully some others can give some more details on some different areas.

Thank you for that informative post

quote:

Originally posted by Peter Andersen:
The severity varies widely from area to area. My area (southeast corner) was hit incredibly hard. There are still a few giant bucks kicking around but the herd was virtually wiped out. Most guys out scouting or running trail cams are seeing very few deer. Sign is minimal as well. I've been hunting mule deer in the southwest part of the province and there are plenty of them as well as a normal amount of whitetails. The locals there say they wintered well. Hopefully some others can give some more details on some different areas.

Have you heard how things are north of PA? That area got killed about 3-4 years ago and just starting to come back.
Any info would be great.
Thx
Elmer

No problem PATRIOT76. I don't know anything about that area. For a bit of help, check out menoutdoors.com and go to the forum. The sask hunting forum is the best one and has the most relevant info. Just do a bit of poking around and you'll see what guys are saying about there areas...it's a great place to see some of the excellent animals taken by sask residents every year too. Most never see any publicity.

The deer in my area had a tough time during the 2011/2012 winter. This past year just claimed most of the survivors. I think they should've done away with non resident tags in my area and even started a draw for locals. There's simply no deer and I hope the meat hunters realize it and don't shoot any does or young bucks...we need all the seed we can get.

Elmerdeer, I hunt NE of PA about 40 miles. So far it looks terrible. I grew up there so have an idea what normal should look like in terms of deer no's. I've had my cams out since early august. The actual number of deer are way down. Bucks, does and fawns included. Next year will be only
marginally better as the fawn crop was virtually wiped out.
We're still going up to the bush and staying a week or more in the wall tent but I think most of the time will be spent trying to thin the wolves out.
It's a shame for sure but in the end this is why we have the biggest deer on the continent. Only the biggest, strongest and genetically superior survive. Probably not what you wanted to hear. Cheers.

The north, where non-residents can go is hit very hard. If you are already booked you may as well go, but if not hold back for a couple years.

Words of truth spoken by Dogleg. It will take 2 or 3 yrs before we can consider things "normal". Of course there will be some good bucks taken but nowhere near what should be.

quote:

Originally posted by Dogleg:
The north, where non-residents can go is hit very hard. If you are already booked you may as well go, but if not hold back for a couple years.

Yes, good advice. The deer really got hammered here in SW Manitoba as well and when we travel in parts of SE Saskatchewan we are seeing next to nothing........ areas where you always had to drive slow at night or look forward to a visit to the autobody shop.

There are still a few good bucks around but they are few and far between.

Our farm is about 40 miles north of Regina. Still seeing fair numbers of whitetails including a few average-size bucks, though not as many as in previous years.

My concern is they are so darn thin! Last winter was hard on them, we had a foot of snow in October followed by rain which left a hard crust, and lot more snow over winter.

Spring '13 came late so the deer who did survive have not recovered their normal weight.

Given a mild or even average winter this year the numbers should recover fairly quickly, but another hard winter like last year would be devastating.

My brothers-in-law farm near North Battleford and are seeing much the same thing, somewhat reduced numbers, but not nearly as bad as SE Sask and SW Manitoba.

We had the first snow of the winter this morning!

Visited in-laws last weekend north of Yorkton, pretty much the same story. Areas where we normally see a pile of deer have very few. Looks like it could be a lean season.

QUOTE]

Have you heard how things are north of PA? That area got killed about 3-4 years ago and just starting to come back.
Any info would be great.
Thx
Elmer[/QUOTE]

I've got 800 acres northwest of PA, bordering the park and Sturgeon River in forest fringe, farmland blurring into the big bush. In short, its as good as it gets for big Saskatchewan whitetail. Long story short, I haven't even seen a big or even real nice buck this year in that area.

Leaving tomorrow for Saskatchewan. I'll let you know what we see. The hunt starts Monday.

We did manage to kill some pretty nice bucks. Deer numbers were down but it was better than I expected. What I didn't see were a lot of 1 1/2 year old bucks. Could be a little lean a couple years from now.

quote:

Originally posted by chuckmaxman:
We did manage to kill some pretty nice bucks. Deer numbers were down but it was better than I expected. What I didn't see were a lot of 1 1/2 year old bucks. Could be a little lean a couple years from now.

Nice to hear that there were some good ones still around. Im heading there tomorrow so i'm hoping to see some good ones. Where abouts were you hunting?
Thx
Elmer

We hunted south of Battleford.

Just got back from my annual trip to the great fringe in Sask. Grew up there now living in Southern Sask. Needless to say I come back with an unused tag. I've had 5 cams out since early Oct. The no's of deer are extremely low. Lowest I've seen in the 50 yrs I've been on the planet. And as far as mature bucks, almost non existent. Very sad indeed. Government dropped the ball on this one for sure. It's too bad our government doesn't have the balls to make a move. Abbreviated, modified or cancellation all come to mind when I think of the deer season. They've done it for yrs with our antelope. It's such a short sighted approach just letting things go like nothing is wrong.
Do want deer in the yrs to come?
Sorry for the rant, but had to something.
If you're wondering the area I hunt is NE of PA.

We did talk with the locals who said the same thing about the deer north of us. The herd was decimated.

I've been seeing a few deer every time I go out and my one camera is producing some 3.5/4.5 year old bucks that I hope catch a break this winter. Last year the population was low and they should have been prepared to limit opportunities for this year. This year it is just plain sad seeing how few deer are really out there. The either sex tags should be cut back to antlered only and I'd be happy with some sort of horn restriction too so that the age structure can rebuild. The non-resident Canadian tags should be eliminated too (there is actually a petition trying to get it halted for this year still) and I'd be more than happy having to draw a tag. I'm hoping the meat hunters don't take a doe or yearling this season because they need there deer sausage… modern hunting is about conservation and this is when everyone needs to step up.

Part of the reason nothing was done about the tags is that SGI holds quite a bit of sway with SERM. Look at how many moose tags were added to the draws over the past two seasons. There are still lots of moose but the trophy bulls are all but wiped out and the cows are next. I would not be surprised one bit if SGI comments on how this has been the year with the fewest wildlife related collisions.

I find this thread very interesting having just returned from hunting north/central Montana just south of your border for the 6th time in the last 8 years. The deer numbers are a fraction of what they were the first few years I was there. Yes, there are a few good ones around but nowhere near the numbers of a herd that was world-class on the Milk.

The reason I mention it is that you talk to some and they say that at least 60% of the herd is gone while others say it is near normal......can't be both. The reason there is, as you all know, two-fold......EHD and winter kill. Add coyote predation and it's easy to see what's happening.

I agree with you all that when this happens to a herd the only answer is banning hunting in specific areas for awhile to allow recovery...or else. That and the scientists need to figure out how to control those damn midges!

quote:

Originally posted by Norton:
I find this thread very interesting having just returned from hunting north/central Montana just south of your border for the 6th time in the last 8 years. The deer numbers are a fraction of what they were the first few years I was there. Yes, there are a few good ones around but nowhere near the numbers of a herd that was world-class on the Milk.

The reason I mention it is that you talk to some and they say that at least 60% of the herd is gone while others say it is near normal......can't be both. The reason there is, as you all know, two-fold......EHD and winter kill. Add coyote predation and it's easy to see what's happening.

I agree with you all that when this happens to a herd the only answer is banning hunting in specific areas for awhile to allow recovery...or else. That and the scientists need to figure out how to control those damn midges!

EHD isn't much of a concern in Canada....we did have a localized die off on the Milk River right at the border, no doubt due to the unseasonably warm fall but winter kill is a fact of life in Canada. Having three tough winters in the past 10 years has really done a number on deer population in some regions.

It's so sad what's going on here. I talk to lots of guys in the hunting fraternity. They are seeing virtually nothing. Everyone thinks that hey, there must be enough deer. Our government has a season. I ended my season early this year. It happened last Tuesday. A beautiful 160 class 5+5 come in and stood still. Binos down, safety off and finger on the trigger with heart racing. That same moment is when I decided the herd needs that deer multiple times more than I do. First time that's ever happened to me. I put the rifle down and watched till it got dark then headed home.
My family loves making and eating deer sausage. I love trophy hunting but this is different. Hopefully groups like Outfitters and hunters themselves come to the realization that this is extremely serious and the same goes for our Wildlife Branch of the government.
Cheers everyone.