Snow depths could put some pressure on deer population

Ken Johnston
Editor

While everyone is getting tired of shoveling, the area deer population is getting tired of trying to move around in the snow.
Snow depths cracked the 50 cm (20 inches) mark last week at the Ministry of Natural Resources measuring station in Arbor Vitae. That is the point that at which MNR says deer begin having mobility issues.
However, the length of time that the snow depths remain at or exceed 50 cm. have a determining factor on the impact of the deer herd in the region. Since winter was late in reaching the 50 cm mark, MNR officials are only predicting about a 30% chance of the winter being classified as severe.
Most of the deer population went into winter in really good shape and have had little trouble moving around until this past week.
A severe winter, one that has the 50+ cm depths early on, will often see the deer population dramatically impacted with some dying from starvation, some from fatigue and others falling prey more readily to predators.
With a fairly large deer population in the region this year, MNR has been working to have the rules changed for the issuance of deer tags. Presently the changes are being posted on the internet so that the public can offer input on the proposal to allow individual districts to raise the number of deer tags per hunter at their discretion. This has been tried in Southern Ontario already and seems to be working well in controlling deer populations that have exploded there.
The lack of severe winters here the past five or six years has seen the population remain large and healthy here. With only a 30% chance of this winter being severe, it is likely that District Managers will have to make a decision to increase deer tags in the region next fall.
Once posted on the internet, a 30 day public consultation period will begin and if there are no major concerns, the changes will likely come into effect this spring, which is when MNR reviews the effects of the winter and other factors on the deer population and makes decisions on tag allocations for the next fall.