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Colorado's big-game herds a resilient bunch
Animals have weathered drought, winter extremes
By Charlie Meyers, Denver Post Outdoor Editor
February 09, 2003
The winter crisis that looms over Colorado's deer and elk herds isn't quite over. But you can see the end from here.
As the season of cold and snow reaches the halfway point, Division of Wildlife biologists believe the animals have dodged a second bullet, one potentially more dangerous than anything they might have faced during last fall's hunting season.
After a summer of extreme drought, winter began with the lowest supply of forage in recent history, setting the stage for a potential disaster of winter starvation. Instead, mild temperatures and another lagging snowpack allowed animals throughout the state to survive the most perilous part of winter in generally good shape.
"I think we're over the hump," said Don Masden, veteran big-game biologist in the Gunnison area, one of the state's coldest and most susceptible to winter kill. "Even if we get heavy snow, we're close enough to melt-out and warmer temperature that it wouldn't hurt."
The consensus among game managers: Let it snow. At this juncture, with the sun rising higher in the sky and animals in satisfactory condition, the benefit of snow to fill depleted mountain aquifers and stimulate plant growth far outweighs the limited hazard of winter stress.
Not even the storm that brought extensive moisture and bitter cold to the state last week could dim the biologist's optimism.
"At this point, snow would be a blessing," Masden said.
The latest survey released late last week revealed the state's snowpack again is lagging far below normal, setting the stage for another season of drought. The statewide average is just 73 percent of the historic norm - higher than a year ago, but totally inadequate to affect any semblance of recovery from the pattern that has plagued the state's aquatic and terrestrial habitat.
Perhaps the only bright spot in the current dry condition is the break it afforded wildlife. Biologists never were terribly worried about elk, a remarkably hardy animal that seems able to withstand anything winter - or DOW's determined efforts at herd reduction - can muster.
But there once was grave concern about deer. After more than a decade of mysterious population decline, DOW had succeeded in reversing the trend over the past three years through a meticulous management plan centered on restrictive hunting practices.
Deer numbers had rebounded smartly and, by most reckonings, last autumn's hunt was the most encouraging in a long time.
With recovery in sight, game managers cringed at the prospect of a devastating reversal from winter kill. Now, with the calendar past the break point, DOW operatives can breathe a collective sigh of relief.
"Typically, the period from mid-January into the first of February is a pretty good indicator of how we stand on survival," DOW's John Ellenberger said. "Whenever we get severe cold and snow in late November and early December, you can bet we'll lose a lot of deer fawns. With their small bodies, there's a limited amount of fuel in their tanks. If they use those reserves early they're out of gas by early February."
Now, given benefit of a dry, mild conditions in December and January, the opposite has proved true.
"Temperature must drop to 5 degrees or colder before deer and elk are forced to expend extra energy to maintain body temperature," Ellenberger said. "We haven't seen many days like that."
From nearly every corner of the state, biologists have sighted no red flags of fawn mortality. Darby Finley, who shepherds the Meeker area, offers firm proof. Of 50 fawns that received radio collars as part of a survival study, only one has died. Seventy doe deer also were collared and three have died - one each from predation by mountain lions and coyotes, a third from an as-yet undetermined cause.
Another benefit of the relatively balmy winter is that terminal winter range - the low-valley territory where animals congregate in times of severe stress - has received little pressure, saving precious plants for another season.
"The snowpack has been so thin in many places that animals have left their normal winter range and moved back up slope where forage is better," said Bob Davies, acting senior biologist for the Southeast Region. "They came down early and then moved back up. We have no identifiable problems."
During a recent survey, Masden discovered elk at elevations as high as 10,000 feet, a remarkable anomaly for midwinter.
"They're spreading out over the forage," he said. "They're finding more to eat up high."
Susan Werner, area wildlife manager in DOW's Steamboat Springs office, reports most animals are using south-facing hillsides rather than typical valley haunts, a trend that has reduced game damage conflicts with ranchers.
All agree that, barring some unforeseen weather drama, Colorado's game herds will come through with flying colors.
"We forget that over time these animals have dealt with drought longer than we have recorded history," Davies said. "We lose sight of just how resilient they are."
Animals have weathered drought, winter extremes
By Charlie Meyers, Denver Post Outdoor Editor
February 09, 2003
The winter crisis that looms over Colorado's deer and elk herds isn't quite over. But you can see the end from here.
As the season of cold and snow reaches the halfway point, Division of Wildlife biologists believe the animals have dodged a second bullet, one potentially more dangerous than anything they might have faced during last fall's hunting season.
After a summer of extreme drought, winter began with the lowest supply of forage in recent history, setting the stage for a potential disaster of winter starvation. Instead, mild temperatures and another lagging snowpack allowed animals throughout the state to survive the most perilous part of winter in generally good shape.
"I think we're over the hump," said Don Masden, veteran big-game biologist in the Gunnison area, one of the state's coldest and most susceptible to winter kill. "Even if we get heavy snow, we're close enough to melt-out and warmer temperature that it wouldn't hurt."
The consensus among game managers: Let it snow. At this juncture, with the sun rising higher in the sky and animals in satisfactory condition, the benefit of snow to fill depleted mountain aquifers and stimulate plant growth far outweighs the limited hazard of winter stress.
Not even the storm that brought extensive moisture and bitter cold to the state last week could dim the biologist's optimism.
"At this point, snow would be a blessing," Masden said.
The latest survey released late last week revealed the state's snowpack again is lagging far below normal, setting the stage for another season of drought. The statewide average is just 73 percent of the historic norm - higher than a year ago, but totally inadequate to affect any semblance of recovery from the pattern that has plagued the state's aquatic and terrestrial habitat.
Perhaps the only bright spot in the current dry condition is the break it afforded wildlife. Biologists never were terribly worried about elk, a remarkably hardy animal that seems able to withstand anything winter - or DOW's determined efforts at herd reduction - can muster.
But there once was grave concern about deer. After more than a decade of mysterious population decline, DOW had succeeded in reversing the trend over the past three years through a meticulous management plan centered on restrictive hunting practices.
Deer numbers had rebounded smartly and, by most reckonings, last autumn's hunt was the most encouraging in a long time.
With recovery in sight, game managers cringed at the prospect of a devastating reversal from winter kill. Now, with the calendar past the break point, DOW operatives can breathe a collective sigh of relief.
"Typically, the period from mid-January into the first of February is a pretty good indicator of how we stand on survival," DOW's John Ellenberger said. "Whenever we get severe cold and snow in late November and early December, you can bet we'll lose a lot of deer fawns. With their small bodies, there's a limited amount of fuel in their tanks. If they use those reserves early they're out of gas by early February."
Now, given benefit of a dry, mild conditions in December and January, the opposite has proved true.
"Temperature must drop to 5 degrees or colder before deer and elk are forced to expend extra energy to maintain body temperature," Ellenberger said. "We haven't seen many days like that."
From nearly every corner of the state, biologists have sighted no red flags of fawn mortality. Darby Finley, who shepherds the Meeker area, offers firm proof. Of 50 fawns that received radio collars as part of a survival study, only one has died. Seventy doe deer also were collared and three have died - one each from predation by mountain lions and coyotes, a third from an as-yet undetermined cause.
Another benefit of the relatively balmy winter is that terminal winter range - the low-valley territory where animals congregate in times of severe stress - has received little pressure, saving precious plants for another season.
"The snowpack has been so thin in many places that animals have left their normal winter range and moved back up slope where forage is better," said Bob Davies, acting senior biologist for the Southeast Region. "They came down early and then moved back up. We have no identifiable problems."
During a recent survey, Masden discovered elk at elevations as high as 10,000 feet, a remarkable anomaly for midwinter.
"They're spreading out over the forage," he said. "They're finding more to eat up high."
Susan Werner, area wildlife manager in DOW's Steamboat Springs office, reports most animals are using south-facing hillsides rather than typical valley haunts, a trend that has reduced game damage conflicts with ranchers.
All agree that, barring some unforeseen weather drama, Colorado's game herds will come through with flying colors.
"We forget that over time these animals have dealt with drought longer than we have recorded history," Davies said. "We lose sight of just how resilient they are."
