Fat on deer this year vs. other years

[PurpleFloyd]

Hi

I just wanted to check and see what others are seeing in the amount of fat the deer they harvest are carrying this year compared to other years.

I happen to be the one in our party that guts all of the deer after they are shot and this has been my job for quite a few years and what I noticed this year is that the deer have a lot more fat in them than I ever remember seeing. Not sure if that meshes with the old tales that say we will have a long,cold winter, that the deer are getting lazy due to technology , the season being a bit later than in the past or what, but it is worth noting.

Anyone else notice this?

[mntatonka]

The half dozen I've seen have been pretty average for fat. Haven't had any with crazy amounts, and haven't had any with very little fat. Granted, it's a pretty small sample compared to the 25-30 we hope to harvest during the 3B season.

[nofishfisherman]

The doe I gutted for a friend had a pretty good amount of fat on it. But she was a tank of a doe, before dressing she was probably just shy of 200 pounds.

[Eric Wettschreck]

One big buck I gutted was fatty. The other deer were average.

Skinning them in the garage I noticed one big doe had a lot of back fat on her (fat chick). The other deer had average to below average back fat on them.

[paceman]

All of the ones I have seen appear to be about average.

[huntnfish]

The buck I shot last night was the fattiest buck I've seen.

[eyeguy 54]

tagged 2 youngsters saturday. one was nice and fat, one was not.

[slimngrizzly]

Ive butchered 3 mature bucks in the last 20 days and I thought they had a very high amount of fat! Woodpeckers are gonna eat good this winter at my place!

[Odonata]

The buck one of our party shot was very fat, it was shocking. Not just your typical rump fat, but all the way through the ribs and back-straps.

[mainbutter]

On my trail cams this summer, I've seen more skinny, malnourished, ribs-showing deer than I expected. However for the last few months everything I've captured pics of has looked pretty stout. I know winter was hard in our area last year, but if our garden is anything to go by it was a great year for crops and wild food sources.

[TRZ II]

Hi

I just wanted to check and see what others are seeing in the amount of fat the deer they harvest are carrying this year compared to other years.

I happen to be the one in our party that guts all of the deer after they are shot and this has been my job for quite a few years and what I noticed this year is that the deer have a lot more fat in them than I ever remember seeing. Not sure if that meshes with the old tales that say we will have a long,cold winter, that the deer are getting lazy due to technology , the season being a bit later than in the past or what, but it is worth noting.

Anyone else notice this?

My god! You need new friends! You gut EVERY deer. I feel for you. I wish I had a guy like you in my party. Worst part of hunting, maybe the only bad part. the bucks in my party had pretty low fat, they have been rutting hard.

[TruthWalleyes]

I gut almost all the deer in our party. It's not that others can't do it, it's that i can't stand there waiting for it to get done. Haven't had to gut one yet this year though.

[eyeguy 54]

just did an 8 pointer from north of Brainerd. Nice and fat but didn't seam more than normal.

[PurpleFloyd]

My god! You need new friends! You gut EVERY deer. I feel for you. I wish I had a guy like you in my party. Worst part of hunting, maybe the only bad part. the bucks in my party had pretty low fat, they have been rutting hard.

I don't mind it at all. Actually to me it is just part of the experience and since I was a Biology major it's not too different than dissecting something in lab except no formalin.

[TruthWalleyes]

Probably like you FLoyd- i actually enjoy it. Never understood why people wear gloves. I usually step in right around the time someone busts out the rubber gloves and am half done before they get them on.

[FISHINGURU]

We should hunt together, I have no problem lettin you guys get right in there and gettin er done.

I used to have a buddy (RIP) that would get so pumped when he seen a down deer he'd take the knife from ya and get right down there and have it done in 5 minutes.

[nofishfisherman]

Don't really mind gutting a deer either. After a cold morning or afternoon in a stand there is no better way to warm up your hands than sticking them inside a deer.

[CARDFAN_8]

We hunt up the shore from Two Harbors. All 3 of the mature bucks and the 1 mature doe all had a ton of fat. I thought the same thing about the old wives tale while slicing it off.

[PurpleFloyd]

Hi

I just wanted to check and see what others are seeing in the amount of fat the deer they harvest are carrying this year compared to other years.

I happen to be the one in our party that guts all of the deer after they are shot and this has been my job for quite a few years and what I noticed this year is that the deer have a lot more fat in them than I ever remember seeing. Not sure if that meshes with the old tales that say we will have a long,cold winter, that the deer are getting lazy due to technology , the season being a bit later than in the past or what, but it is worth noting.

Anyone else notice this?

I think it is safe to say that we now know why the deer had more fat than they have had in years.

I believe there are many things Mother Nature tells us if we take the time to look and listen.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

We shot a doe in the Cumberland, WI area that had a solid 2-3" layer of fat over her entire body. I've never seen even 25% as much fat on a deer in my life. Looking back I wish we would have put her on a scale.

[Bear55]

I guess I can say its possible the deer know what is coming, but it also might have been the brutal spring last year, deer could have bulked up a little more after a not so friendly winter/spring.

[leech~~]

I think it is safe to say that we now know why the deer had more fat than they have had in years.

I believe there are many things Mother Nature tells us if we take the time to look and listen.

So, when we gut our Deer we should watch for the winter forecast? Huum, I thought it was how high the White mans wood pile was in the fall!

[BuckSutherland]

I was around for 4 deer this year. I thought they were very low on fat.

[mntatonka]

I was around for 4 deer this year. I thought they were very low on fat.

We had around 30 over the course of the seasons in Zone 3. Some had a crazy amount of fat, some didn't. There didn't really seem to be a trend between how big they were, how old they appeared to be, or their sex with regards to how much fat they had.

[DonBo]

I thought the deer in my freezer were very much lacking in fat this year. All came from the metro area.