NY / Northeastern Deer

[Bobtulowiecki]

I cannot believe the numbers of deer I have seen the last couple days here in Western NY.  Between my drive to and from work, shed hunting and seeing how the local steelhead creeks are looking, I have seen well over 100 deer.  Most are in groups of 10 plus including a group of 6 my dog and I got within 30 yards of.  Good to see after this brutal winter.  I thought it was rough and I even have a kegerator waiting at home for me.  Shows how tough these guys are making it through such tough conditions.

[ron w]

Glad your seeing deer.......I see one here, 2 there. Nothing like it was 20 years ago and before that there were even more. It has been a long drawn out winter.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

a couple weeks back I was 1.5 hours south of here and saw around 75 deer in a 30 minute drive.

in certain areas I see groups of 3 or 4 around here.  I think for the most part here they did well this winter, cant speak about your area Bob, I know you had more snow than here.

[Robert Armstrong]

Sounds like you guy's need to hunt more. LOL

[ron w]

Originally posted by Robert Armstrong:
Sounds like you guy's need to hunt more. LOL

Your right.......just in another state!!

[Pointer]

Didn't see much in the southern part of the state this past season. Glad you boys are seeing some.

[Scott E]

I haven't seen too many by me or in southeast NY.

[kevsuperg]

Same around here . groups of 10+ . bedding under the pines near the roads or out in the middle of the fields.
How come I never see em during bow season ??

[ronp]

This is a good thread!

I have seen only a few deer here between Syracuse and the Watertown area.  They are mostly walking on the plowed roads.  We still have a lot of snow.  This is a bad time of year for deer.  There is too much snow cover to provide much feed.  I saw one smaller deer eating on a spruce sapling.  Not a lot of nourishment there!

I have been traveling a little southeast of Syracuse (about 40 miles southeast) and have seen a lot of deer feeding in the fields where the snow has blown off.  Anywhere from 4 or 5 deer to about 15 or 20 deer feeding, which is a good sign for that area.

We had some folks traveling to our work from Virginia and they said they saw many (100s) of deer feeding in the fields from the PA border up to central NY.  They saw deer all the way up but they said the most deer were in southern NY.

Anyone else seeing deer?

[Krex1010]

I think by this point of the winter the deer are pretty concentrated in the areas that provide some kind of food. Deer that most of the year are dispersed over several square miles might all be hanging tight in a couple little pockets. So when you see deer, you see a bunch. The harsher the winter the more you tend to see this.

I saw more deer this year than I have for years, most likely because the food source (acorns) was abundant and concentrated in my area. I see groups this winter, anywhere from 5-15 deer at a time. Hard to tell but most are does, of course. They made it through the winter pretty well around here from what I can see.

[Izzy]

Ive been seeing most of the deer that I get to know well from work, groups of 4 to 8 mostly throughout my patrol area (60) miles. They seem to have weathered here pretty well. What Im worried about is the mange that I saw in one of them. I haven't seen it in two weeks so maybe it died but that doesn't mean that it doesn't have the potential to spread.

       Even with the deepest snow in my area, up to 3 feet of packed snow, they did manage to dig to ground level. Barely a stand of oaks hadn't been opened up.

       Hope for the best elsewhere but keep in mind that deer have evolved to survive seasonal hardships and with the rapid onset of snow melt in some areas and trees and shrubs budding they may have dodged the bullet, or arrow if you will.

[Bobaru]

I think this winter has thinned them out a bit.  A friend reports finding an unusual number of dead deer in the woods.  When the does drop their fawns we'll know more about the populations.  I suspect there won't be as many fawns this spring.

We had two solid months of 24 to 30 inches of snow with no melt at all, and temperatures 15 degrees or less for the whole time.  Not easy on the deer.

[Kopper1013]

Yea, bad winter up here. I'm starting to see a bunch now that seem to still be some what plump but did watch a bunch on the side of the road throughout those cold cold days nibbling on twigs and pines, no good. The turkeys had to take a beating to, the flocks I did see where standing on snow 24" deep, not sure how they fed but I know in that deep snow they where easy Pickens for the yotes. Friend of mine lost his begal to the yotes 2 weeks back in the night, they are hungry to this winter.

[Carcajou]

Finding dead, starved turkeys here;deer are stretched to the max..saw a couple yesterday bags of bones, hanging their heads in the yarding areas. Still Antartica up here..snow is 4 feet deep everywhere..this is a most critical time; fat reserves gone..fawn mortality will be high..not good. Only the strong survive, and somehow always do.

[Tdog]

When where coming home the other afternoon from shopping we saw at least twenty if not more on a hill side.. Nice to see after such a hard winter..

[J.Williams]

Carcajou,it's a wonder any deer or turks survive a winter up there...some serious cold and snow.
Went stumping yesterday and saw quite a few deer on the hoof.Saw a lot of fisher and coyote tracks,too.

[Carcajou]

Finding dead, starved turkeys here;deer are stretched to the max..saw a couple yesterday bags of bones, hanging their heads in the yarding areas. Still Antartica up here..snow is 4 feet deep everywhere..this is a most critical time; fat reserves gone..fawn mortality will be high..not good. Only the strong survive, and somehow always do.

[glenbo]

Last evening I drove from my sisters home in Washingtonville to my home in Newburgh. It is maybe ten or twelve miles, part of the trip through Stewart hunting land, I saw at least fifty deer feeding where the snow had melted.

[PeteA]

We are finally starting to see grassy areas through the melting snow. I live in a suburb and residential area 50 miles north of NYC. All landscaping in the area has been ravaged. I see 10-12 deer a morning between my property and my 10 drive to the train station. I'm my yard they have eaten everything they can reach from the ground up. When the snow was higher they were standing up on just their hind legs stretching to reach the lower limbs of pine trees. I also saw on smaller deer stripping bark from a tree.