low winter kill this season?

[bankwalker]

well it looks like there wont be much of a winter kill to worry about this year. hopefully the deer and elk numbers will reflect the mild winter and rebound a little after the last couple years.

[Jamieb]

I hope your right but winter isnt over yet.

[boneaddict]

Looking good so far.   Has to be better than the last couple, but our major kill usually comes about March about the time they start crapping themselves to death with the fresh cheet.  They certainly are going into with more reserve I'm sure.

[GrainfedMuley]

Now if the state would open a wolf season the herds would be killer!

[wolfbait]

well it looks like there wont be much of a winter kill to worry about this year. hopefully the deer and elk numbers will reflect the mild winter and rebound a little after the last couple years.

I suppose s.fitkin has been running his numbers for the Methow deer, wonder how much our deer herd grows this year?

[bearpaw]

Mildest winter in years for the NE Washington area. If we could get rid of some coyotes there would be an excellent fawn crop this year. Hearing rumours (some of them from totally reliable sources) of increased wolf activity this winter. Sounds like we have several packs in NE WA now. 

[GrainfedMuley]

Kill ALL wolfs on sight...........

[zackmioli]

hope that the deer and elk make it through and we have a good calf and fawn survival rate. although i would like to see 1 more hard freeze like we had in december and another big snow storm or two up in the mountains to add to the snowpack.

[woodswalker]

Mildest winter in years for the NE Washington area. If we could get rid of some coyotes there would be an excellent fawn crop this year. Hearing rumours (some of them from totally reliable sources) of increased wolf activity this winter. Sounds like we have several packs in NE WA now. 

Just get rid of coyotes...big and small..but dont shoot ones with collars.

[WAcoyotehunter]

Kill ALL wolfs on sight...........

Wolfs? 

Been seeing plenty of deer, elk and moose in NE washington.  I'm also finding wolf tracks every time i'm out in some drainages.  The Diamond pack seems to be staying in a pretty small area, but there is (suprisingly to me) lots of game there...all winter long. 
We did 18 miles on horseback the other day and saw lots of game up here.  It's looking good for next year!

[Jekemi]

The warm winter also bodes well for the Turkey population. I'm expecting good numbers of Turkeys this April. Any observations by you guys to confirm this assumption?

[WAcoyotehunter]

YES!  Turkeys are everywhere!  Come get them.

[Alchase]

Not to be a downer,
it will be horrible for the Mosquitoes!

[Diehard0123]

Not to be a downer,
it will be horrible for the Mosquitoes!

And the ticks

[bankwalker]

i dont mind those little buggers as long as i have good numbers of animals to hunt.

i took a drive this morning over to a couple of my late hunt elk areas and checked them out. 3" of snow was all i found...when usually its around 2-3ft. and there was alot of sign in the areas.

[Mike_D]

Hey WAcoyotehunter... If you have any unwanted birds, just let me know, I'd be happy to take off your hands.

[Jekemi]

WAcayotehunter: Me too! I'm in a Turkey-bird blasting mood. Just point me in the general direction.

[WAcoyotehunter]

Jeez- anywhere in PO or stevens county is good.  There are some great public land opportunities over here that are loaded with birds.  I don't have much ground or you could come to my house and blast a few. 
They are pretty much widespread right now, they are up to ~3000 elevation already because there is no snow.  I heard about a guy down on Kirkpatrick road that was wanting turkeys killed- it's right on the Spokane/Pend Oreille County line.  you might go knock on a couple doors there- they are having trouble with them.

[MichaelJ]

Gonna make shed huntin a little harder this year as the animals are spread out all over the winter range, should make it better for me though as I don't have time usually to get out early and hit the lowlands like everybody else!

Michael

[bearpaw]

Fortunately we had a good turkey hatch here in NE WA last summer (not too much rain like the previous several hatches) and numbers were up last fall and its unlikely many died during this mild winter. While I do not believe turkey numbers are back as high as 3 or 4 years ago, there are much higher numbers than late winter last year.

As far as deer, I think the realistic and optimistic analysis is that "we didn't lose many deer over the winter and there should be a high fawn birth rate with so many does coming through the winter in such a healthy state". We still do not have any more deer than we did during the last hunting season, which is below average for the area. In reality, it will take several mild winters and years with good fawn recruitment to get back to the previous numbers of deer we have had in NE WA a few years back.

[MichaelJ]

Fortunately we had a good turkey hatch here in NE WA last summer (not too much rain like the previous several hatches) and numbers were up last fall and its unlikely many died during this mild winter. While I do not believe turkey numbers are back as high as 3 or 4 years ago, there are much higher numbers than late winter last year.

As far as deer, I think the realistic and optimistic analysis is that "we didn't lose many deer over the winter and there should be a high fawn birth rate with so many does coming through the winter in such a healthy state". We still do not have any more deer than we did during the last hunting season, which is below average for the area. In reality, it will take several mild winters and years with good fawn recruitment to get back to the previous numbers of deer we have had in NE WA a few years back.

One of your most recent posts that I actually agree with 100% lol

Michael

[bearpaw]

well thanks michael

I was out this weekend and saw some deer but numbers seemed about one third of normal on the winter range I visited.

[Shootmoore]

I am all ready to go turkey hunting in wolf country this year up in the NE section





Shootmoore

[mulehunter]

Plann to put up 3 TrailCameras over Okanagon County pretty soon! Find out myself how many Wolves THAT I KNOW! 



Mulehunter 

[Pathfinder101]

Looking good so far.   Has to be better than the last couple, but our major kill usually comes about March about the time they start crapping themselves to death with the fresh cheet.  They certainly are going into with more reserve I'm sure.

Amen.  Winter kills happen in Feb/March, not Dec/Jan.  Keep our fingers crossed that winter doesn't suddenly decide to show up...

[MichaelJ]

well thanks michael

I was out this weekend and saw some deer but numbers seemed about one third of normal on the winter range I visited.

Do you think this is due to the snow being so low the deer are still spread out?

Not sure about where you were at, but it was the same last weekend up the entiat... wasn't hard to find 12"+ of wet sloppy snow but the deer were spread out like crazy...  the GF did manage to find her first sheds ever and they were a nice 4 point set laying RIGHT NEXT TO EACHOTHER!  I been shed hunting for a few years (never been serious about it) and I've NEVER found a set laying right next to eachother!  Really brightened her day as she was a little cold and her feet were frozen!

Michael

[bearpaw]

Was in Stevens/Ferry county areas.

We know someone with a cougar permit so we have been up high too, deer are pretty much intermediate level or lower, I am afraid there's just not many deer here in the mountains to migrate down.

The properties we hunt have pretty good deer populations, but I didn't see many more deer on the properties than during hunting season. I was on some excellent southern exposure that greens up first and always attracts extra deer.

2 or 3 more easy winters can change it if the wolves don't all move over from Idaho.  

Heard about a couple more wolf packs (numerous different wolf tracks on an elk kill, and some other sightings in different areas). This was from a very releable source. If he told us he had seen bigfoot, he'd be one of the few people I would believe.

shootmore that photo is funny as hell...

[WAcoyotehunter]

I hope your friend reported all that information!  I agree that the deer #'s are down.  The last couple winters have been hard on them.  Predation was much higher last year in the deep snow.  To add to the problem, we have a distorted doe:buck ratio which leads to some deer being bred later in the season.  The problem is threefold- the fawns are late and smaller going into winter, the fawning period is longer which allows for higher predation, and bucks are rutting longer than they should be because they have to work hard all the way till christmas to cover does. 
It will take a few years to get numbers back to pre die off levels, hopefully in the meantime we can get an appropriate buck:doe.

[bearpaw]

wacoyote, I am sure the WDFW has been told about the sightings. It's not just one or two people seeing these wolves and tracks in different locals, you must have heard some scuttle about some of the sightings in southern Stevens.

[colockumelk]

Yeah kill all the coyotes you can.  And bears too.  One study done in Missouri found that 80% of fawn deaths were because of coyote predation.  And since bears are the only known predator that can smell a newborne fawn I doubt that they help the situation any either. 

I know the Colockum elk herd only has a 20% calf:cow ratio and the Yakima herd only has a 30% calf:cow ratio.  Predators are very, very bad.  Many people blame the low populations on cougars.  Claiming they kill off all of the adults.  This is false.  Coyote's and bears kill of far more elk and deer than cougars do.  While cougars do kill some adults the coyotes and bears kill way more babies.  KILL MORE DOGS!!!!!

[huntnphool]

I have been talking with a friend in SE Montana, it has been cold but no snow and the deer/elk are doing great, eating well and looking real healthy, for anyone interested in an update from that part of the country.

[norsepeak]

very low here around chinook pass....no snow.  The deer and elk are doing great this winter.  And I'm doing my part to save some calfs/fawns...whackin yotes!

[PolarBear]

Gonna make shed huntin a little harder this year as the animals are spread out all over the winter range, should make it better for me though as I don't have time usually to get out early and hit the lowlands like everybody else!

Michael

No kidding!  The deer that are normally living down by our cabin are way up in the hills.  The mule deer never really came down like usual and all the sheds we found last week were few and far between and farther up the hill.  I found one cougar/wolf kill way up in the hills but that is it.  I say cougar/wolf kill because there were tracks from both all around the skeletal remains.  Even the ribs were eaten clean down to the spine, and strewn over  100 yard area.  .Hopefully we get some rain this summer to keep everything green longer and antler growth up.

[TeacherMan]

I would say we had zero winter kill in the NE corner. We start outside track practice this coming monday.

[MichaelJ]

Went shed hunting on Feb 14th up the Entiat... saw 25+ does and they were all FAT!  We were even hiking in some areas with 8-12" of snow and the deer were spread out and doing great... Best I've ever seen them this time of year.

Michael