Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Deer Hunting => Topic started by: Hectocotylus on December 18, 2016, 10:25:39 PM

Title: Cold winter effect on black tail
Post by: Hectocotylus on December 18, 2016, 10:25:39 PM: With all this snow and rather low temperatures compared to normal, what do the black tails do for food? It seems they can't just go down in elevation as everything is frozen and snow covered everywhere and has been for sometime. Is this going to result in a lot of winter kill? Just my second season hunting and I know nothing.

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Title: Re: Cold winter effect on black tail
Post by: Skyvalhunter on December 19, 2016, 05:34:58 AM: They are definitely more vulnerable to predators. The snow doesn't affect them a lot unless is deep or there is snow that freezes on top and makes it tough to burrow thru the snow. Blacktails will eat moss, ferns and lots of buds this time of the year.
Title: Re: Cold winter effect on black tail
Post by: Born2late on December 19, 2016, 06:35:28 AM: They are fine with this weather. I typically don't see them move until the snow is touching there chest. They eat lychen moss that blows off trees, the tips of pine needles and the the tips of vine maple branches.The most i've ever found dead is one per year and i can't say if it was from weather or predators, and i spend a lot of time covering the hills in spring and summer.
I was up last week with a friend muzzleloading and i was in snow to my crotch and there were still deer above me. They seem to not want to move as much to expend energy though. We saw 16 deer and every one of them would let us get within 50 yards before deciding it was time to move out. I'm sure it is different for each area but thats what i've observered from my cameras.
Title: Re: Cold winter effect on black tail
Post by: Hectocotylus on December 19, 2016, 06:43:19 AM: Quote from: Born2late on December 19, 2016, 06:35:28 AM
They are fine with this weather. I typically don't see them move until the snow is touching there chest. They eat lychen moss that blows off trees, the tips of pine needles and the the tips of vine maple branches.The most i've ever found dead is one per year and i can't say if it was from weather or predators, and i spend a lot of time covering the hills in spring and summer.
I was up last week with a friend muzzleloading and i was in snow to my crotch and there were still deer above me. They seem to not want to move as much to expend energy though. We saw 16 deer and every one of them would let us get within 50 yards before deciding it was time to move out. I'm sure it is different for each area but thats what i've observered from my cameras.
Interesting. Thanks! I thought they would head down in the fall once there was a foot or two of snow.

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Title: Re: Cold winter effect on black tail
Post by: fishnfur on December 19, 2016, 08:40:38 AM: From my readings, one foot of snow is what many people report as being the amount necessary to get them moving downward. Obviously, as noted above, there seems to be some variation in different population.

They love Western Red Cedar and hit it hard all winter and spring. As others have stated in the past, they have diets similar to goats. They will eat just about anything if they feel inclined. When things get really tough, they even eat the bark off of trees.

Extended periods of severely cold weather will kill a lot of BT deer, which thankfully is a rarity in the BT range. Long periods of wet rainy mid-30 degree weather may kill a substantial percentage of the fawn population over the course of the winter. We don't see them too often because the carnivores/omnivores clean them up pretty quickly.
Title: Re: Cold winter effect on black tail
Post by: AKBowman on December 21, 2016, 08:46:47 PM: Unless it's a bad year for hair slip they will be totally fine. They know where to go and how to live to stay warm and fed. This time of year when the wind blows down cedars they just hammer the needles from the upper part of the tree. I've seen tracks in the snow where it looked like they set up camp around a big downed Cedar. It's like they would step over apples and oats to eat Cedar bows.

They are surrounded by food. There's no rhyme or reason to the damn things. Haha!