Warm Weather Marred 2004-05 Deer Season

This story may be printed for Free in any print or on-line publication. The tagline found at the end must accompany the story when printed.

(PRWEB) January 26, 2005 -- Its one of those years when theres food everywhere," the Department of Wildlife & Fisheries Dave Moreland said. The deer dont have to beat the bushes to find something to eat." On Red River Wildlife Management Area, for example, biologists found that 90 percent of the deer they checked this season were full of acorns. Every deer checked on Jackson-Bienville, Spring Bayou and Boeuf WMAs had feasted on acorns. Theyre all eating acorns," Moreland said. Its a real good acorn crop everywhere."

That means deer are less likely to make long jaunts looking for food, and even less likely to leave the woods in search of food plots. Youre going to have to get out in the woods where theyre feeding," he said in early January. Other browse also has remained green for much longer than normal, thanks to the weather. If you go through all the weather charts from when the season started, they generally show above-average temperatures," Moreland said. October, for instance, began with a statewide average of 74-degree temperatures. The week Area 6 opened (for archery), we had a little cool snap - we went down to 60 degrees," Moreland chuckled. The Oct. 16 opening for Area 3 rifle hunting was a broiling 79 degrees. Thats 13 degrees above normal," Moreland said.

November opened with a slightly cooler average of 65 degrees, and 15 days later temperatures still averaged 64 degrees. Thats six degrees higher than normal for that time of the season. Its supposed to be in the 50s on average, and we were still in the mid 60s," Moreland said. The first freeze in North Louisiana didnt come until December. That should be starting the second peak of their rut up there," he said. Their first peak was probably dead." Of course, the mercury fell sharply for Christmas, with a statewide average that week of 42 degrees. Thats 8 degrees below normal. But the heat soon was back on, and by Jan. 1, the averages were climbing. The average for Jan. 3-9 was 59, which is 10 degrees above normal," Moreland said. Were supposed to be averaging in the 40s, and today its still a 70-degree day (in Baton Rouge)." Its that warmer-than-normal weather that allows natural browse to remain lush well into the season.

But the weather has curtailed deer activity for another reason. When deer have their winter coats, theyre just not going to move around," Moreland said. They dont have to feed to keep warm, and theyre not going to burn the energy if they dont have to. I dont think people realize how much the weather impacts deer movement."

The weather also apparently affected hunters willingness to use public property. Moreland said the number of hunters participating in the managed hunts on the wildlife management areas across the state was down this year. The results are, predictably, fewer deer kills than normal. On Sherburne WMA, for example, only 150 deer were taken by 2,945 hunters (1 deer for every 19.6 efforts). A mere 74 deer were killed on Thistlethwaite, and Pearl River WMA hunters killed only 19 deer. Hunters have complained about the abundant mosquito populations," he said. But that reflects a change in hunters that Moreland said is of concern - many hunters today simply arent willing to scout hard, pack climbing stands into the woods and sit for hours.

Our hunters are getting older, and a lot of them dont want to work hard like they did 20 years ago," Moreland said. I know I dont." The end result will be slightly fewer than the 222,700 deer killed last year, Moreland predicted. I think well have another year of about 220,000 (deer killed)," he said. Thats up from 2001, when biologists expected reduced kills because of poor reproduction, but down sharply from the 2000 season.

By Andy Crawford

For the latest in outdoor features, news and columns, subscribe to Louisiana Sportsman magazine by calling (800) 538-4355 or logging onto www.lasmag.com .

###