wildlife winterkill?

[guywhofishes]

This is a late but brutal start for winter for some areas.

Conditions (snow depth) should be fine for wildlife in SE ND - how bad is this going to work out in other areas?

Man did some of you get hammered... or continue to get hammered.

 

[ItemB]

 

[Ericb]

We'll if the protesters can make it threw...

 

[Kurtr]

only good thing about the wind it should have cleared some of the ground it did down here

 

[dean nelson]

Oh you can all but guarantee we've killed some pheasants already! can't have snow blowing that long and that deep without taking a toll. for deer it's going to come down to if we get a thaw during winter or if we stay this corse. obviously if we stay on the track we are on now the deer are fucked!

 

[guywhofishes]

that's what worries me - 4-5 days of uber-nasty wind. ENOUGH ALREADY!

 

[NDSportsman]

Oh you can all but guarantee we've killed some pheasants already! can't have snow blowing that long and that deep without taking a toll. for deer it's going to come down to if we get a thaw during winter or if we stay this corse. obviously if we stay on the track we are on now the deer are fucked!

Yep. Too early to tell for deer will depend on how the rest of winter goes and especially the February-April period when food sources are scarce and their fat reserves are used up.

 

[SDMF]

Thermal cover being blown shut/full is going to be the biggest problem IMO.

 

[ItemB]

Thermal cover being blown shut/full is going to be the biggest problem IMO.

This is what worries me too, in my area much of the cover that is left is sloughs, and it looks like they are pretty well filled with snow or the cattails are pressed way down from the heavy wet snow the in the first storm.

 

[Riggen&Jiggen]

Seen dead pheasants already around Minot. It is going to really knock the crap out of the pheasant. In times like this they should take the limit off and let guys shoot as many roosters as possible. They are going to die anyways and they out compete hens for food. If this snow lasts all winter we will lose some deer as well. The worst part is how this will affect the fawn production. If the doe makes it through the winter they will either not give birth at all or just have 1 fawn instead of twins.

 

[Fritz the Cat]

Saw a pheasant yesterday standing on the black top, his head was encrusted with snow. We were only doing 20 mph because of the snow blowing and my friend said we should stop and ring his neck. Nope, if another vehicle came along..........

 

[KDM]

We have some bright spots here in VC. The snow has been blown off most of the corn fields up on the top so the critters won't have to dig too far to eat and at least the 20 acres of pines on my place are clean of snow for the most part from about 10 ft in to the south side. LOTS AND LOTS OF CRITTERS IN THERE!!! Saw at least 8 deer and 4 pheasants last night when I went up to check things out. The cat tail sloughs are holding up and with the fields being mostly cleared off, I have some hope things aren't as bleak as some places out west with tons more snow. Mama KDM will be taking good care of the tweety birds, squirrels, rabbits, and other small creatures here in the yard you can bet your butt on THAT!! Got two deer carcasses up in the trees for the birds to peck at and enough bird seed here to feed a fair sized horse for a month. When the wind calms a bit, I plan on doing some walking around to get a better feel for conditions. Could be a rough one guys, but I'm still hoping this will be it for a while.

 

[guywhofishes]

This is what worries me too, in my area much of the cover that is left is sloughs, and it looks like they are pretty well filled with snow or the cattails are pressed way down from the heavy wet snow the in the first storm.

 

[Brian Renville]

Seen some pics already of dead deer. Way to early to start that, without a little break at some point it's going to be tough for them to make it til march.

 

[guywhofishes]

Seen some pics already of dead deer. Way to early to start that, without a little break at some point it's going to be tough for them to make it til march.

CRAP!

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here's where we are at now

 

[Duckslayer100]

CRAP!

- - - Updated - - -

here's where we are at now

Good thing there's so much cover in the black-dirt oasis known as SE ND. Our game populations should explode!

:::

 

[Enslow]

Haha

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I see bare field tops so the animals should be able to get some food.

 

[camoman]

I think the big thing for my home area, ~25" of snow, is that we don't get a thaw then freeze. The snow may be heavy, but if it moves the critters will find food where it's available to them. We get a thaw and the snow crusts over, we're gonna find trouble.

 

[Enslow]

The snow is already getting very hard. That megawind actually helped keep some field tops open.

 

[Lycanthrope]

I dont think shooting as many as possible is a great idea. I remember driving around on snowmobile and finding them when I was younger. Should provide plenty of food for the yotes and other foragers.