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Bitter Sweat....
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<blockquote data-quote="Festus" data-source="post: 174982" data-attributes="member: 4563"><p>Kirby,</p><p></p><p> I share your sentiments and respect for our quarry. I chose not to hunt deer this year because they struggled to survive a severe winter last year. Many of them didn't make it. No, we don't get the extreme cold here in SE Alaska that you get in MT, but we get a lot of snow on occasion. Last year we had a lot of such occasions.</p><p></p><p> The snow forces the deer to the beach where they can't get any lower. They can't find enough food and end up eating kelp and other seaweed on the beaches that doesn't supply enough nutrition and contains far too much salt. It only prolongs their agony.</p><p></p><p> Hunting reports this year are dismal. There are a few deer being taken but not many, and mature bucks are really rare. They are so scarce in fact that spike bucks (that were lucky enough to survive the winter) have rut swollen necks and are breeding. Nothing wrong with that, their genes are probably as good as the mature bucks would have been, but they would normally be chased off by the bigger bucks. Not so this year.</p><p></p><p> If we get a normal or mild winter this year, the deer will rebound nicely, most does giving birth to twins as feed is good and competition for it is low. On the other hand it remains to be seen if there were enough surviving bucks to service the does. If we have another bad winter now the herd will be decimated and take years to rebound.</p><p></p><p> Isn't it nice not to be the only guy getting mushy in the head. I'll go there proudly with you.</p><p></p><p>Rick</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Festus, post: 174982, member: 4563"] Kirby, I share your sentiments and respect for our quarry. I chose not to hunt deer this year because they struggled to survive a severe winter last year. Many of them didn't make it. No, we don't get the extreme cold here in SE Alaska that you get in MT, but we get a lot of snow on occasion. Last year we had a lot of such occasions. The snow forces the deer to the beach where they can't get any lower. They can't find enough food and end up eating kelp and other seaweed on the beaches that doesn't supply enough nutrition and contains far too much salt. It only prolongs their agony. Hunting reports this year are dismal. There are a few deer being taken but not many, and mature bucks are really rare. They are so scarce in fact that spike bucks (that were lucky enough to survive the winter) have rut swollen necks and are breeding. Nothing wrong with that, their genes are probably as good as the mature bucks would have been, but they would normally be chased off by the bigger bucks. Not so this year. If we get a normal or mild winter this year, the deer will rebound nicely, most does giving birth to twins as feed is good and competition for it is low. On the other hand it remains to be seen if there were enough surviving bucks to service the does. If we have another bad winter now the herd will be decimated and take years to rebound. Isn't it nice not to be the only guy getting mushy in the head. I'll go there proudly with you. Rick [/QUOTE]
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