caorach
Well-Known Member
How well are sika likely to cope with a lot of snow at this time of year?
I ask because in one area I shoot, mostly commercial sitka spruce forestry, the deer usually appear back in the forestry once the grass starts growing. My guess is that the forestry just doesn't have the feeding to support them in winter and as far as I've seen there has been no growth in the grass worth talking about yet. In this part of the world I don't have much experience of significant snow and how it impacts upon the deer and this is specially true of this time of year. On a positive note the last hind I shot had a lot of fat on her so I'm hopeful that will help.
At the minute the area has about 6 foot of snow with around 15 foot in drifts, people are coming and going from their houses via the upstairs windows.
I imagine that deer actually in the forest during the snow might have avoided the worst of the drifts etc. but have no idea if they will get any feeding and I am also not sure if deer outside of the forest area will tend to move into the forest or will they try to head for lower ground?
Any thoughts and experiences gratefully received as anything beyond a few inches of snow for more than a few days is new to me.
I ask because in one area I shoot, mostly commercial sitka spruce forestry, the deer usually appear back in the forestry once the grass starts growing. My guess is that the forestry just doesn't have the feeding to support them in winter and as far as I've seen there has been no growth in the grass worth talking about yet. In this part of the world I don't have much experience of significant snow and how it impacts upon the deer and this is specially true of this time of year. On a positive note the last hind I shot had a lot of fat on her so I'm hopeful that will help.
At the minute the area has about 6 foot of snow with around 15 foot in drifts, people are coming and going from their houses via the upstairs windows.
I imagine that deer actually in the forest during the snow might have avoided the worst of the drifts etc. but have no idea if they will get any feeding and I am also not sure if deer outside of the forest area will tend to move into the forest or will they try to head for lower ground?
Any thoughts and experiences gratefully received as anything beyond a few inches of snow for more than a few days is new to me.