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Montana outdoors: Stage set for deer deaths
By MARK HENCKEL
Of The Gazette Staff
So the waiting game begins for the deer of Eastern Montana. How many will live? How many will die? The remaining months of winter will decide.
Deer numbers were very high across almost all of Eastern Montana last fall. Hunters harvested lots of them. But plenty remained to enter this winter.
Now those deer are facing what many call a good, old-fashioned Montana winter - deep snow in some places, strong prairie winds and periodic dips into subzero temperatures.
Winter is the big reaper for deer of the open spaces of Eastern Montana, especially when it comes on the heels of a drought summer when food sources dried up and fat reserves on the animals was poor.
At this time of year, deer always have to dip into their fat reserves to burn up calories and supplement what they're eating. But in years like this one, those fat reserves are even more critical.
Worst in northeast
The worst of winter in Montana is hitting the northeastern counties and that's been chronicled here before. They've had deep snow in that area since the last days of October.
Giant flocks of pheasants there are being fed thousands of pounds of grain screenings at two cents a pound by landowners to keep them alive. Deer are moving to the edges of town and sometimes even into town. Snow is more than 2 feet deep on the level and much higher in drifts.
But deer are suffering hardships elsewhere, too, across Eastern Montana.
"It's worrisome," said John Ensign, wildlife manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks at Miles City. "We're not dealing with the really severe stuff they're dealing with in northeastern and parts of northcentral Montana. But we have our spots.
"The Jordan area figured they had 2 feet of snow on the level. As you get down toward Wyoming, they don't have too much at all," he said.
"At least we've had some breaks in the weather. It warmed up in early January. Now we're back in the deep freeze," Ensign said. "We haven't seen any mortality yet. If this weather continues, I'm sure it will happen."
Dry summer hurt
Last summer's drought is only complicating things for deer as they face this winter.
Eastern Montana had good spring rains last year, but the rain clouds vanished in July, August and September. Quality food became more scarce.
As a result, some deer were very lean by the time hunters took them last fall. They didn't have much stored fat for the winter. That's working against them now, too.
The deer most vulnerable to winter mortality are the fawns and mature bucks. Fawns put most of their calories into growth and generally don't store as much fat. Bucks burn off their fat during the November breeding season, then don't have much time to put any back on before winter closes in.
Does who carried, gave birth to and then nursed twin fawns last year are also at risk. Keeping two fawns going until they're big enough to feed on their own puts a strain on does and diminishes their fat reserves.
The amount of winter kill that occurs in Eastern Montana will unfold in the coming months. As they say, the stage is set.
"When you do get mortality, it typically comes at the end of winter," Ensign said. "The deer make it through the toughest part of the winter, then at the end, they're in such poor shape that they just can't make it through the last of it.
"Out here, that's usually March. You get those last big snows and they just can't seem to make it," he said. "By the end of March, we're usually out of the woods but you can get those big, heavy, wet snows in April sometimes, too, and that could tip them over."
With big deer numbers going into this winter, there is some room for moderate winter kill this year and the chance to have a good deer population survive. Fawn production this spring might be affected because does are in bad shape. Buck populations might look different, too, because the older bucks are so vulnerable. And there might not be many yearlings.
All that will play out in the next couple of months. It all depends on what type of winter finale Mother Nature plans for the deer of Eastern Montana.
Mark Henckel is the outdoor editor of The Billings Gazette. His columns appear Thursdays and Sundays. He can be contacted at 657-1395 or at [email protected].
Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
By MARK HENCKEL
Of The Gazette Staff
So the waiting game begins for the deer of Eastern Montana. How many will live? How many will die? The remaining months of winter will decide.
Deer numbers were very high across almost all of Eastern Montana last fall. Hunters harvested lots of them. But plenty remained to enter this winter.
Now those deer are facing what many call a good, old-fashioned Montana winter - deep snow in some places, strong prairie winds and periodic dips into subzero temperatures.
Winter is the big reaper for deer of the open spaces of Eastern Montana, especially when it comes on the heels of a drought summer when food sources dried up and fat reserves on the animals was poor.
At this time of year, deer always have to dip into their fat reserves to burn up calories and supplement what they're eating. But in years like this one, those fat reserves are even more critical.
Worst in northeast
The worst of winter in Montana is hitting the northeastern counties and that's been chronicled here before. They've had deep snow in that area since the last days of October.
Giant flocks of pheasants there are being fed thousands of pounds of grain screenings at two cents a pound by landowners to keep them alive. Deer are moving to the edges of town and sometimes even into town. Snow is more than 2 feet deep on the level and much higher in drifts.
But deer are suffering hardships elsewhere, too, across Eastern Montana.
"It's worrisome," said John Ensign, wildlife manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks at Miles City. "We're not dealing with the really severe stuff they're dealing with in northeastern and parts of northcentral Montana. But we have our spots.
"The Jordan area figured they had 2 feet of snow on the level. As you get down toward Wyoming, they don't have too much at all," he said.
"At least we've had some breaks in the weather. It warmed up in early January. Now we're back in the deep freeze," Ensign said. "We haven't seen any mortality yet. If this weather continues, I'm sure it will happen."
Dry summer hurt
Last summer's drought is only complicating things for deer as they face this winter.
Eastern Montana had good spring rains last year, but the rain clouds vanished in July, August and September. Quality food became more scarce.
As a result, some deer were very lean by the time hunters took them last fall. They didn't have much stored fat for the winter. That's working against them now, too.
The deer most vulnerable to winter mortality are the fawns and mature bucks. Fawns put most of their calories into growth and generally don't store as much fat. Bucks burn off their fat during the November breeding season, then don't have much time to put any back on before winter closes in.
Does who carried, gave birth to and then nursed twin fawns last year are also at risk. Keeping two fawns going until they're big enough to feed on their own puts a strain on does and diminishes their fat reserves.
The amount of winter kill that occurs in Eastern Montana will unfold in the coming months. As they say, the stage is set.
"When you do get mortality, it typically comes at the end of winter," Ensign said. "The deer make it through the toughest part of the winter, then at the end, they're in such poor shape that they just can't make it through the last of it.
"Out here, that's usually March. You get those last big snows and they just can't seem to make it," he said. "By the end of March, we're usually out of the woods but you can get those big, heavy, wet snows in April sometimes, too, and that could tip them over."
With big deer numbers going into this winter, there is some room for moderate winter kill this year and the chance to have a good deer population survive. Fawn production this spring might be affected because does are in bad shape. Buck populations might look different, too, because the older bucks are so vulnerable. And there might not be many yearlings.
All that will play out in the next couple of months. It all depends on what type of winter finale Mother Nature plans for the deer of Eastern Montana.
Mark Henckel is the outdoor editor of The Billings Gazette. His columns appear Thursdays and Sundays. He can be contacted at 657-1395 or at [email protected].
Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
