This winter "SUCKS" for wildlife as bad or worse than 2021-2022 winter

[Sourdough]

Just one more sucky winter for Alaska wildlife. Deep snow, high wind, now rain. Only three or four more months till "alpine" spring.

 

[wildwilderness]

I hope the spring is mild otherwise it may be the nail in the coffin for the next decades.

Some species like sheep will struggle to come back with such a blow to the population. Who knows what the minimum viable population number is

 

[Atigun]

I am sure that no favors were done for the Talkeetnas population with this most recent wind event. I was holding aircraft down for 24 hours at PAAQ in 80 mph gusts and can only imagine how challenging it made the snowpack at elevation for the time being.

 

[Sourdough]

I have slightly less than four feet of snow, with a 1/2 inch of "ICE" on top.

 

[jack88]

Thanks for posting on this topic. I'm seriously thinking about NWT in 2025. Not sure if this weather is spilling over into Yukon/NWT but it will for sure make the decision a tough one if things are bad across all of Dall country.

 

[Mojave]

The sheep areas of NWT freaking mild compared to central Alaska and the brooks. Not sure where you are thinking about but Alaska has miserable weather by comparison.

 

[JBrown1]

Sourdough, you mentioned high wind as one of the factors making the winter a bad one. But at least for sheep, shouldn’t the high winds be clearing the show from the mountain sides?

We’ve always been told that the wind was a good thing for high country grazers.

Are you thinking that the ice is going to negate the winds, as far as uncovering feed?

 

[Snyd]

It's been a mild one so far here in the Interior. We've got some snow but nothing extreme. We had about a week of 30 below and thats it. 5 below, blue skies and calm wind here in Fairbanks at the moment. No rain either like last December. Pretty brutal for you guys in South Central.

 

[Fatcamp]

Snow, ice and cold is gonna screw us in South Dakota. There is a massive amount of snow on the ground and in the ditches already with another storm coming next week with 6-12" of snow through the areas we hunt.

We have 3 months left and the animals are already hurting.

 

[jmez]

Going to decimate an already struggling antelope herd.v

Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk

 

[Mojave]

Going to decimate an already struggling antelope herd.v

Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk

Wyoming as well. I saw the fewest antelope I have ever seen in my entire life in September.

 

[VernAK]

At this time, I think DCUA is OK with moderate fluffy snow levels and high winds that have cleared some of the slopes.

 

[Atigun]

Sourdough, you mentioned high wind as one of the factors making the winter a bad one. But at least for sheep, shouldn’t the high winds be clearing the show from the mountain sides?

We’ve always been told that the wind was a good thing for high country grazers.

Are you thinking that the ice is going to negate the winds, as far as uncovering feed?

My thoughts behind wind negatively affecting Dall sheep are that actual forage areas may differ from forage areas modelled up for Dall sheep. Wind can scour slopes snow free, but these slopes may be free of forage or not be desirable areas for sheep due to predation or other factors. Areas that are not scoured to ground can be blown into a rock hard layer that sheep cannot crater into to expose feed. This is exasperated if temps hover around or above freezing while in a blow. The most recent wind event discussed was also blowing mostly in a direction that was potentially loading up aspects favored by sheep which leads to a higher risk of death by avalanche due to wind slabs. If these chutes are not triggered and ran as wind slabs they can still potentially be loaded up to run in the spring due to solar warming.

With that said it’s obviously an extremely dynamic environment and hard to call from the couch so these are just my thoughts.

 

[SLDMTN]

About time sheep hunters be one for more than two weeks in August. We can’t control the weather but we can help give ‘em a fighting chance. Keyboards don’t put/keep sheep on the mountain or we’d have loads…

*Predator hunting is rated E for Everyone.*

 

[z987k]

About time sheep hunters be one for more than two weeks in August. We can’t control the weather but we can help give ‘em a fighting chance. Keyboards don’t put/keep sheep on the mountain or we’d have loads…

*Predator hunting is rated E for Everyone.*

I don't know anyone that predator hunts up here outside plain luck/opportunity when hunting or whatever.
Do you call or set up those electronic calls?

 

[SLDMTN]

I don't know anyone that predator hunts up here outside plain luck/opportunity when hunting or whatever.
Do you call or set up those electronic calls?

I wouldn’t recommend using an off the shelf Foxpro or similar for areas close to the road. Seems like lots of guys park in pulloffs and spam the same stock audio. Dogs have gotten pretty smart on those. Mouth calls continue to be my best success.

The main wolves I hunt tend to run a one month loop, timing is everything. I found them more by chance than anything.

When I head out with my snowmachine, I’ll pick a full moon weekend and I run until I find tracks, then run them as long as possible. Once I’ve exhausted that I’ll set up my tent for the night and start calling. Wolves are insanely territorial and an immature howl can usually get them talking. It’s unfortunate that thermal isn’t legal up here but being above treeline on a clear full moon night it’s almost as good.

Coyotes have been more resident for me and I can usually call with reasonable success close to my house. Regardless I wouldn’t expect any success in driving up the Knik, sitting in the truck and calling.

 

[z987k]

I wouldn’t recommend using an off the shelf Foxpro or similar for areas close to the road. Seems like lots of guys park in pulloffs and spam the same stock audio. Dogs have gotten pretty smart on those. Mouth calls continue to be my best success.

The main wolves I hunt tend to run a one month loop, timing is everything. I found them more by chance than anything.

When I head out with my snowmachine, I’ll pick a full moon weekend and I run until I find tracks, then run them as long as possible. Once I’ve exhausted that I’ll set up my tent for the night and start calling. Wolves are insanely territorial and an immature howl can usually get them talking. It’s unfortunate that thermal isn’t legal up here but being above treeline on a clear full moon night it’s almost as good.

Coyotes have been more resident for me and I can usually call with reasonable success close to my house. Regardless I wouldn’t expect any success in driving up the Knik, sitting in the truck and calling.

Ok, that's what I figured. You actually have to put in a good bit of work for them.... which is probably why most people don't do it.

I've only heard wolves and coyotes when I'm out camping or hunting and only at night. Have never had them come anywhere near us.

 

[SLDMTN]

Spamming a few more pics to hopefully motivate people. None of these were trapped.

Stay strapped for opportunity as well. This dog was pretty well vaporized by my .300RUM at 50 yards but he traipsed through the wrong hood.

 

[Catchfish]

It’s got to be a lot of work but sure sounds like fun

 

[VernAK]

We're closing in on mid-January and the WX in DCUA has been great other than a few days of extreme cold near Xmas. Snow depth is moderate and fluffy and winds have been moving snow off the slopes. The forecast for the remainder of January looks favorable.

Delta lost 40%+ of the moose herd last winter and the bison herd suffered similar.