Montana winter kill?

[mikeafeagin22]

I’ve seen all kinds of discussion about Wyoming, Utah, and northwestern Colorado about how bad the winter has been but is there anyone in Montana on here that’s got any info? Especially the eastern half of the state after the 50% drop in the population count for region 7.. those deer can’t catch a break

 

[dirtytough]

I drive through there regularly. Definitely above average snow. It has melted off a decent amount in between storms. I'm sure there is slightly more winterkill than normal but overall I think this winter will help more than hurt eastern Montana wildlife.

 

[mikeafeagin22]

Awesome. That’s good to hear. Hopefully all that extra water will help them get over the drought a bit. I was out there last September and it was incredibly dry

 

[Jake Larsen]

It’s really bad in south west part of the state. Just keeps on dumping snow, and we’ve had several extreme temp drops in 24 hours or less (kills them from pneumonia as I understand it). I spend time on/around a couple different ranches, and I’ve heard of several people finding multiple dead bulls already…


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[Tmac]

Where I hunt in SE MT has been hammered. Storm after storm after storm since Nov. Lots of negative temps. Local state highways were impassable recently. More low teens predicted for later next week. Population was already low. Several local ranchers have lost cattle. My hope is the few deer and Antelope left went into winter fat. Thinking they had little competition for food from the last few die offs, that’s what I’m down to. We are not hunting that ranch for the second year in a row. Probably go out there and shoot coyotes and PD’s I guess.

 

[Legend]

Northeast MT is getting its butt kicked. Very deep snow still and no sign of it leaving soon. Deer are definitely dieing every day.

 

[BuckeyeRifleman]

Subscribed.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

SE MT mule deer will not be affected. 50% of zero is still zero.

 

[mikeafeagin22]

It’s really bad in south west part of the state. Just keeps on dumping snow, and we’ve had several extreme temp drops in 24 hours or less (kills them from pneumonia as I understand it). I spend time on/around a couple different ranches, and I’ve heard of several people finding multiple dead bulls already…


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I’ve got a buddy that lives in that area and he’s saying the same thing. said there’s going to be a lot of dead bulls in the mountains this year..

 

[Stache Attack]

Ne will be down some but I don’t think a huge hit from winter but there will be some. Basically all of the southern half got pounded. Dead elk, bison, and deer. Haven’t heard d much on moose yet.

 

[406huntermt]

Ne will be down some but I don’t think a huge hit from winter but there will be some. Basically all of the southern half got pounded. Dead elk, bison, and deer. Haven’t heard d much on moose yet.

I went for an 18 mile hike looking for sheds this Friday in NE MT and found a pile of dead deerthis year! I haven’t seen that many dead deer in probably the last 10 years while out looking for sheds might be a worse hunting season then most think! Hopefully I’m wrong though only time will tell

 

[Stache Attack]

I went for an 18 mile hike looking for sheds this Friday in NE MT and found a pile of dead deerthis year! I haven’t seen that many dead deer in probably the last 10 years while out looking for sheds might be a worse hunting season then most think! Hopefully I’m wrong though only time will tell

I think I’m going to stay away from up there this year. Sw & ne look rough. Deer don’t winter near as well as elk or moose.

 

[mpb21]

Certainly not to the level of the aforementioned places like Utah, WY and NE Colorado but it was a long winter across the state. Started in October and the cold hung on until early April. Montana's biggest problem is still the unlimited take nearly across the state. Would be a great year to not punch those doe tags. Might be an unpopular opinion but I'd sure like to see an antler point restriction in some or all of the general units as well.

 

[ThunderJack49]

Certainly not to the level of the aforementioned places like Utah, WY and NE Colorado but it was a long winter across the state. Started in October and the cold hung on until early April. Montana's biggest problem is still the unlimited take nearly across the state. Would be a great year to not punch those doe tags. Might be an unpopular opinion but I'd sure like to see an antler point restriction in some or all of the general units as well.

I was looking for something else when I found this....did some digging recently and discovered 2022's bear harvest was about 730 bears for the state of montana, both seasons. The population is estimated between 10,000-15,000. As a state it seems like we could stand do better on controlling what we can control.