Winter Severity Index

[Bear55]

This was updated March 6th Map

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/recreation/hunting/deer/wsi_map11.pdf

Now the numbers don't look all that high, most in the 120's and 100 to 180 is considered "moderate" but we also have a lot of reports of a high number of dead deer everywhere, even by the DNR. So you have to wonder how accurate these WSI numbers are? How old is the method to measure these numbers? Does that method need to be updated? Do we know a lot more now about winter severity now then we did back when the WSI was first calculated?

I really don't have any answers but I am wondering if anyone here can share any more info on this.

Here are the numbers but that is all the info I can find.

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/recreation/hunting/deer/wsi_spreadsheet11.pdf

One other thing I found, as of now the winter of 2009 looks a lot worse than 2011 but I don't remember the snow being too crazy or people finding as many dead deer.

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/recreation/hunting/deer/wsi_map09.pdf

[bogwalker]

What I am hearing from D.N.R. officials is very bad (sorry, can't give names). Lack of food, snow depth/crust and high predator numbers continue to take their toll. Many more carcasses than normal are being found. There is talk of bucks only this fall in some areas.

[Bear55]

Are area has been doe lotto with only 100 permits last year so that is pretty much the same as bucks only. It has been very slow the past 2-3 years so I hate to think about what the upcoming season will look like.

[lungdeflator]

It sounds weird but when ive been out walking around this winter ive seen less "winter kills" this year then the past couple years. This is around the Bemidji area. I have also noticed more wolf tracks in these areas than years past so it makes me wonder if the dead deer i have seen have been winter kill or wolf kill?

[crawler harness]

Bear,

the WSI method is pretty accurate in predicting how the zones will be managed the following fall, in most cases after a harsh winter the following fall there is a drop in the deer harvest, most of this is due to the dnr not giving out as many doe permits or permit areas changing from say managed to lottery.

The college up here does a dead deer survey in the spring of each year since '02, this is teamed up with the Tower dnr office. this is done right after the snow is all gone, there are specific transects that we go to. I believe we have 15 sites we go to ranging in different habitat including well known deer yarding areas, and so far there has been no direct correlation between a severe winter and the number of dead deer found (kill site, bones also count as a dead deer.) There have been years where we have found just as many dead deer in a low or moderate winter as a severe winter. So I would say just because you have seen more deer kills does not mean it maybe a bad year for the herd.

[bogwalker]

Seeing more dead deer does not mean it was a bad year for the heard?

I think the heard would disagree.

[Bear55]

Thanks for the info crawler.

Although I was a little confused by this statement:

"so far there has been no direct correlation between a severe winter and the number of dead deer found".

You kind of make it sound like the WSI kind of worthless, or that maybe we just don't have a very accurate way to measure this kind of thing?

[crawler harness]

I would disagree because these deer are herded up, some of these are traveling miles away to get to the wintering area. Yes you may see a few dead deer in this area and think "oh the deer had a hard winter" when in actuality when the remaing deer disperse back to their spring/summer areas there are still realitively plenty of deer around, and you could still have a successful hunting season.

It is natures way of controlling the carrying capacity.

[crawler harness]

Bear,

sorry for the confusion, What I was referring to was the dead deer survey routes that we run in the spring time.

Here is what I have found in my studies. There is a direct correlation between having a high WSI and then the following fall having a lower deer harvest, however in the years that the dead deer survey has been done we have not found anymore deer in a severe winter than a low winter.

The WSI is an accurate measurement to figure on the management of the heard as far as being a lottery, or managed area and the number of doe permits handed out.

[Bear55]

Thanks again crawler, just trying to get a better handle on this whole thing. WSI seems fairly low this year but the area I hunt we haven't seen many deer for a couple years now. I am trying to figure out if things are going from bad to worse, maybe staying about the same, or just maybe getting a little better. I hunt 108 just for reference.

[fr0sty]

The deer all look pretty health on my t-cam pics.

[333]

I think in Central Minnesota there is definatly some winter kill. Most of which I think are late born fawns. Just not healthy enough to make it, or the easist for the yotes to catch? I really think we did not hunt the rut rut and let the deer breed we would solve alot of this problem.

[Bear55]

Well one more big storm to deal with, hopefully this somewhat mild weather we have had has given the deer a change to rebound a bit from the winter. Hopefully we don't lose too many more deer over the next week.