S. E. Alberta winter kill

J

jimmy

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seeking information on how the mule deer made out this winter. Snow started early and is still on the ground. Planning on hunting the Brooks area this Nov. Please respond with what you know. thanks
 
I've lived in SE Alberta for the last 14 years and this has been by far the worst winter that I've seen - people that have lived here their whole lives have told me that they haven't seen snow like this for over 30 years. The antelope down here have taken an absolute beating, but the deer seem to be fairing alright. I live in Medicine Hat, about an hour east of Brooks. I've spent a ton of days in the field this winter chasing coyotes and although I've lost count of how many dozens of dead antelope I've found, I can honestly say that I've found less than 10 dead deer.
 
To MsD1228. Thanks for the great info. Hope you guys get a break from winter soon. I was going to antelope hunt but my gang voted for waterfowl hunting again. Sounds like a good choice? we will be in the Brooks area in Oct. Are you a fowl guy? We have hunted areas SE of Brooks but never got down to Medicine Hat. I will be back in Nov to hunt mule deer hoping some of the bucks I saw last year made it? thanks again for your response. jimmy
 
Hey Jimmy, although I've given water fowling a try and found it to be a blast, I have a heck of a hard time not spending all of my time chasing critters around with my bow during those months haha. You guys definitely made the right decision in choosing a water fowl hunt over an antelope hunt - the herds were just devastated this winter. I try to get out in the field 2-3 times a week to thin the yotes out and I could watch the herds around here get thinner from day to day. The snow was so deep in the fields and ditches that the antelope were forced to stay on the roads. I remember one day in particular where I counted 26 dead antelope on a single quarter of land - it was pretty sad.

The mule deer seem to be pretty resilient and, like I said, I haven't noticed the winter kill to be too bad with regards to them. I spend a ton of time along the South Saskatchewan River badlands and the deer really seem to be faring quite well, all things considered. I wouldn't be too concerned about the quality of your hunt being too adversely affected.

I hope you have a great time and whack a monster! Things haven't been the same around here in the last 5-7 years as our government seems hell bent on ripping the heart out of the herd quality, but there are definitely a few tanks still out there. Just this past season my elk hunting partner took a nice 206 with his bow, another friend got a 203 with his muzz, and that same fella guided the minister's tag holder to a beauty 216 34" buck right in the area I mentioned above. I was too busy chasing a monster elk I had located south of town to spend much on on muleys though haha.
 

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