deer and water

[jonsimoneau]

Alot of us experienced a pretty severe drought this year.  My area of Illinois was not as bad as the rest of the state.  However I have talked to alot of people who put trail cameras over small water holes this spring and summer and were somewhat suprised that they were not getting as many pictures as they thought they would considering the drought.  
    My thoughts on this are that whitetails get most of their moisture from the plants they eat.  However by the end of August, plants are done growing and are drying out.  My mother told me yesterday that she has been seeing alot of deer coming to drink in the river that she lives on as of about a week ago.  She said that in the ten years she has lived in that house she has rarely seen deer doing this.  I think my suspicions are right.  The food is drying out.  Even if you get rain in your area, it is too late for most of the food.  
    I believe water may be a good thing to hunt over this season.  My scouting as of late has also confirmed this.  The deer are simply not hanging out in areas where there is not a permanent water source.  Its a matter of survival.  The areas that I am seeing the most traffic all have water food and thick bedding cover within a small circle.  Im sure most here already know this but just thought I would pass it along.  Also I feel like I should interject that the deer have really had a hard time with the drought in many areas.  EHD is happening in many places and I have been getting less pictures of fawns on my cameras than normal.  Depending on the situation, this might be a good year for many of us to go easy on the does in some areas.  Good luck guys!

[AWPForester]

I imagine you were not getting as many pics of fawns were because you simply were not getting as many pics of deer.  If that is due to die off or simply because the deer were not in the same ares like you suggested is a who knows kinda deal.

I too agree that all animals get more water from what they eat than what we routinely realize.  I would say that you are right about the deer moving to the river simply because the air is drier as well as the food.  But deer are hardy, and I would suggest that when you find them in those areas they are staging in around water, you'll see just as many deer.

We were lucky here this year but have had extreme die offs due to blue tongue in the past, which is a type of disease very similar to EHD.  Good luck to all and God Bless.

[jonsimoneau]

I think you are right.  But I feel alot of fawns have succumbed to the drought.  Whether it be EHD or not.  I believe deer concentrated around remaing water sources also makes them more vulnerable to predation by coyotes.
   I believe coyotes kill more fawn deer than many people think.  My area of Illinois has some of the best soil in the nation.  It is intensly farmed.  When I first became a whitetail student, I routinely saw does with triplets.  I mean all the time. Triplet fawns are a result of extremely high quality food which of course is a result of extremely high quality soil.  Another case in point is that I have never seen a spike buck in my county.  They don't exist.  Every deer has at least a 4 or 6 point rack their first year! The trick is getting them to make it past that first year!
   I'm getting off topic but I believe the drought in some areas is having an effect on the fawn crop whether it be due to EHD, Blue tounge, or an increase in predation due to limited water supplies.

[stevewills]

i have a creek that runs through my farm,i also have 3,2 to 3 acre ponds.the creek dries up and it will leave deposits of 4 to 6 in holes of water.i have seen more deer in those small puddles than on any pond i own.

[wapiti792]

Jon I have seen the opposite here...many, many fawns all by themselves. We have 2 in a little corn patch by the house that lost their mom to EHD. I smelled her in the drainage nearby and found her. Why they didn't die is a mystery.

Yesterday while checking cameras I had another fawn walk by at 10 yards heading for the creek with it's tongue hanging out, all by herself. Sad, really as my wife and I noted she looked very thin and sick. Most likely walking coyote food.

Every pond I have checked on my 120 has had at least signs of overuse. The rain we got from the hurricane still wasn't enough to fill up the ponds and the mud flats is where the midge that bites the deer (EHD) hatches. My personal thought is like yours: drought causing heat exhaustion and diseases like EHD is putting a hurting on our herd. I think the DNR is grossly underestimating the impact of both. I think that the bad summer combined with a big shotgun harvest will take our deer numbers way down!

I am hoping that the cooler weather at least knocks back the bugs and we get some serious rain soon. I'll even take a hellacious winter with lots of snow if that is what it takes to get the water table up.

[Cory Mattson]

Interesting. Couple of observations from here - Deer water every day - not saying feed couldn't lessen the amount needed - but these are deer not antelope (talking african antelope here that can go some time without direct water intake)

Deer drink from seeps and small creeks and even puddles. They hate open water like ponds and rivers and only use these during drought conditions. Where I live we hit a period each summer where creeks dry up completely - no puddles - and this is when deer change their preferred cover and show up around ponds - as soon as it rains they vanish.

Im thinking deer may drink at night as a rule - meaning most of the time - and I only say that because after a lifetime of hunting and onbserving and studying whitetails I have only seen a handful actually drinking!?  no kidding I have seen deer actually breeding in the wild more than I have seen deer drinking water.

Compare that to only days - only 40 (+) hunting mule deer and I have seen hundreds drinking water.

Cameras bring a new approach of observation to this study and I look forward to the info to come.
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[dnovo]

Lots of reports of EHD here in Missouri. I think I am lucky on my property to have found no sign of it. I believe a difference for me is that I have a spring down in the holler behind the house that runs year round. This year was about the lowest I have ever seen it, but it was still a steady supply of running water. There is a trail coming down to it that looks like a cattle path from the deer coming down that bank this summer. The running water doesn't allow the midges to start like in a stagnant drying up pond.