MANITOULIN—The milder than normal weather conditions this winter on Manitoulin Island has been very good for deer.
“Overall everyone agreed this winter has been really good for deer on Manitoulin Island,” stated Ian Anderson, a member of the Manitoulin deer management advisory group, after the group held a meeting last week to look at the status of deer and the affects the winter has had on them. “We designate the winter severity in three classes: mild, moderate and severe. There was no question this has been a mild winter and no question the deer really needed a winter like this.”
Mr. Anderson explained, “there was no one from the West End of the Island participating in the meeting but there was good representation from around the rest of Manitoulin and the North Shore,” said Mr. Anderson. “We talked about snow depths, physical condition of the deer and predators.”
“The most snow reported on the ground in any area on Manitoulin this year was 22 inches—down to as little as 12 inches, which was the case particularly on the south shore,” continued Mr. Anderson. “The North Shore generally got a lot more snow than Manitoulin.”
Mr. Anderson said going into this winter season, deer on Manitoulin were in good physical condition in terms of body fat. “The deer I saw that were harvested on Cockburn Island and Manitoulin Island by age class were heavier than ever. It was a really good summer and there were a lot of good food sources for deer.”
“Essentially we had no real winter on Manitoulin until early January,” said Mr. Anderson. “There is now enough snow in parts of Manitoulin that has led to deer returning to traditional deer yards and being more confined to trails. But we probably only have a couple of weeks or so and we are done with winter.” He said, “we probably had as much snow fall as last year but we have had at least three major thaws this winter that reduced this amount significantly.”
“This winter has been a good news story for deer on the Island this year,” said Mr. Anderson. “We anticipate we will have a really good fawn crop on Manitoulin year. The does have had a good fall.”
