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Worried about 'my' herd

Started by JohnM, February 06, 2015, 10:54:20 AM

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Chuck White

Ray, you must have a little bare ground showing, or they'd be there to be fed!

We don't see as many here either, they're finding a little grass at the base of the trees and along side the buildings!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

thecfarm

A little bare ground?? Yep,about 3 feet square and that is in the driveway.  :D  They are cutting wood just up the road,I suspect they are up there in the skidder trails having a feast. I still have about 2 feet of snow. They showed up in the night sometime.
I just came in from the nightly feeding. The deer are back.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

coxy

over the past week iv found 9 dead deer think they starved or froze to death  poor things made it this long to die at the end  the coyotes are going to have a field day now with the crust deer still cant walk on it but they can

John Mc

Quote from: JohnM on February 08, 2015, 06:03:43 PM
I thought I had heard/read that corn is not that good for deer in the winter as their metabolism can't get the nutrition out of the corn they need and they actually spend more energy digesting the it than what they get out of it.  I'm not a 100% on that but worth checking into if you are feeding them corn.

Really, the only thing you should be feeding them (if you are feeding them at all) is the stuff that they would normally be eating at this time of year anyway - so dropping a tree for them to munch on, or clearing/packing down some paths through the snow for easy access to brush and saplings can help them. Feeding corn or even hay can be a problem for them. Their digestive systems have adapted for wintertime feeding, and just can't handle it (unless they've somehow been getting access to it throughout the year).  It's not just a matter of them not being able to get the nutrients out of it, feeding them the wrong diet than what they are adapted for can kill them.

Here's an article about a dozen deer which were killed recently by supplemental feeding in New Hampshire:
12 Deer Killed by Winter Feeding

Here's a link to a brochure from the state of NH about how feeding deer can often do More Harm Than Good
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

coxy

most people don't know you cant feed them feed with copper in it that will kill them to

E fan

well after the snow and ice I thing they ate up my feed and went somewhere else to feed. I haven't been up to my place in the mountains since the middle of february and I filled them then and pulled my cameras to check them over and clean them then placed them back out last weekend and after seven days ......nothing but squrriels and birds on camera, Hoping that changes as I have the feeders back up and running , well their pellets feeders so they work off gravity .

Bibbyman

I know people like to feed deer but around here it's like putting cheese out in your house to attract mice.  Around here they have become so abundant they are a destructive nuance.  Not only to crops and yards but being hit on the highway.   Cronic waisting and blue tongue has thinned them down in some areas but they bounce right back.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

WV Sawmiller

Bibby,

   Reminds me of the TV show "Chasing Tail" where the bowhunters in Connecticut were shooting suburban deer in peoples yards, golf courses and such. Invariably the deer would run die in the backyard of the one person in the neighborhood who was most vehemently opposed to hunting and they'd have to sneak around somehow and recover it.

   We raised a fawn from a car killed doe several years ago. Spot loved fortune cookies. Her best friend was Morris, the orange tom cat we had. Morris would lick the milk off her face and they became friends from the start. It was a hoot to watch Morris stalk and mock charge her like a leopard after an antelope. She was free to come and go and would go play with her wild friends then come home for a bottle then go back. She would lick the salt off the kids faces like she was kissing them and made great photo ops. During antlerless season I walked up in the pasture and shot a small deer only to have Spot jump up about 30 yards away where I had not seen her. I felt real bad about shooting her friend in front of her but did not seem to bother her. She followed me home and got her treat. I kept an orange collar on her so people could see she was a pet.  She stayed around about a year then disappeared. I don't know if coyotes or wild dogs killed or if a disgruntled neighbor shot her as was not hunting season. She was a neat pet especially since she was free to come and go at will.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

thecfarm

I have seen 20 deer here at night when I am feeding them. Most times only 10-14. I have no idea where they are come June. I see a few,but only 3-4-5 at one time. Come hunting season they are no wheres to be found around here. The step son has been trying for 4-5 years. Has not even shot at one yet. Has seen some,and heard some.One time he came up here with a new fallen snow of about 2 inches. He went all over the hill one morning. He came back and told me,I know where they ain't no deer. He did not find a track.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Bibbyman

 

Local farmers drive over all their pastures and hay fields each spring looking for sheds.  And not for the sport or trophy but to save their tires,

The last three deer I've killed were all within 50 yards of the sawmill.   I say killed because there was now hunting to it.  Two were shot from the mill.  The last one I didn't make it to the mill.  I was walking out to the mill when a doe stepped out just past the mill.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

sandhills

I found one that way once  >:(.  I've also found them walking trees while checking cattle, I prefer that a lot more.

Straightgrain

Our herd of Blacktails is doing fine; we lost one runt-fawn to pneumonia (my guess) back in a December cold-spell. 

At the end of the hunting season last year, we counted the 4 resident does, 1 yearling doe, 2 fawn does, 2 button-bucks, 2 spikes, 2 forkies, a 3-pointer and a 4 pointer (we only count one side of the antlers on the Left Coast).

The bucks disappear after the dating games are over.... but of course.

I like feeding the deer natural food much better than feeding the cows/steers; the steers would somehow know where the tree was going to fall and go stand there and wait like they were playing that baseball game..."3 flies and your out".

The deer patiently wait for the tree to fall and the saw to stop before they come in for the lichen and other "groceries".

The does now are pushing their young bucks away from the herd; they are lethargic and almost ready to give birth. We usually have new life around Mother's day.

Not really hunting here here in the woodlot either; more like a safe, nutritious,  and healthy archery-harvest.

I do my hunting elsewhere. 


"We fight for and against not men and things as they are, but for and against the caricatures we make of them". Joseph Schumpeter

thecfarm

I went out this morning and the food is still there. My "herd" no longer needs my hand out. This is normal. Each year they just stop coming.The turkeys have shown up in the last two weeks,they will clean it up. It's been a fun year watching the deer.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Chuck White

When the ground bares up a little, the deer don't need or want suplementary handouts!

They really like the green grass.

They are starting to shed their winter coats in this area, they're starting to look pretty ragged.
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

thecfarm

I feel it's kinda early for them to stop coming. I walked around the fields the other day,and I am out in the woods and not much green where I am. I did see 2 deer there yesterday morning,but none so far this morning. Last week the ground was covered with snow in the woods here. Now it is just batches of snow.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

JohnM

Quote from: thecfarm on April 18, 2015, 07:05:26 AM
Last week the ground was covered with snow in the woods here. Now it is just batches of snow.
Wife and I took a walk in the woods last evening and we were both amazed at how much and how fast the snow has receded.  Been seeing lots of deer around and had 5 turkeys (two really nice toms) in the yard earlier in the week.  I think the animals adapt better to the snow and cold than I do! :-\ ;D
Lucas 830 w/ slabber; Kubota L3710; Wallenstein logging winch; Split-fire splitter; Stihl 036; Jonsered 2150

brianJ

Quote from: Bibbyman on March 29, 2015, 02:59:43 AM
I know people like to feed deer but around here it's like putting cheese out in your house to attract mice.  Around here they have become so abundant they are a destructive nuance.  Not only to crops and yards but being hit on the highway.   Cronic waisting and blue tongue has thinned them down in some areas but they bounce right back.
Im with you Bibbyman.   I call them long legged rodents there are so many.

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