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Could Mild Winter be a blessing??

upstaterifle

By upstaterifle,
in General Hunting

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Doc

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I think it may be a mixed blessing. Good for some things and bad for others. I have no idea what will happen because I have never seen a winter like this before. All I know is last night I had two bugs that hit the windshield. On March 2nd, that is unheard of. Will be beeaten up by bugs this spring and summer? ..... Only time will tell. How does all this lack of snow affect the water table? ...... I guess we'll see about hat too. Will teh deer herd prosper? ..... Most likely. Will there be any affects on the turkey population? ..... We'll see. How about survival rates of pests and vermin? Am I going to be over run by mice and chipmunks? ..... I don't know.

But as the year progresses, it might be interesting to see if we can spot any changes that we theorize relates to this strange winter.

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wztirem Newbie

wztirem

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I think it may be a mixed blessing. Good for some things and bad for others. I have no idea what will happen because I have never seen a winter like this before. All I know is last night I had two bugs that hit the windshield. On March 2nd, that is unheard of. Will be beeaten up by bugs this spring and summer? ..... Only time will tell. How does all this lack of snow affect the water table? ...... I guess we'll see about hat too. Will teh deer herd prosper? ..... Most likely. Will there be any affects on the turkey population? ..... We'll see. How about survival rates of pests and vermin? Am I going to be over run by mice and chipmunks? ..... I don't know.

But as the year progresses, it might be interesting to see if we can spot any changes that we theorize relates to this strange winter.

You must be getting old, 2001/2002 wa warmer

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Doc Proficient

Doc

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On the bug thing...Is that fact? I mean it makes sense I guess. But does a warm winter really affect how many bugs are flying around in June?

I'm not sure how much of an effect it really has, but I do remember reading somewhere that prolonged low temperatures of a bitter winter has been partially responsible for stopping repeated infestations of gypsy moths because a large percentage of the egg masses where frozen for long periods of time. Winter may very well be another form of insect control. But again, I do not know that for a fact.

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WNYBuckHunter Experienced

WNYBuckHunter

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The fawn death rate should have been way down this winter, so the next couple of years at least should be good ones i would think. Antler size should be up unless we have a really bad spring, which would hamper the crops from growing. It will be interesting to look at the numbers after this season.

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cwhite Newbie

cwhite

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It's a double edged sword. A benefit to an easy winter is it allows winter yard and feed area's to regenerate. A problem is the deer that shouldn't have made the winter this year will survive and be another mouth to feed next winter. This will likely put added stress on the yards next year, providing a normal winter, leading to a larger than normal winter kill.

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G-Man Veteran

G-Man

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Well i looked up my grandfathers old planting records. for those of you in wny this proves the ice boom causes a giant refridgertion effect. before the boom was put in the 60's and the ice was allowed to vacate the lake. his average date for planting was april 12th. After the boom it was moved to may 18th over a month later. Now with this mild winter and no ice on lake erie i would say that it would push the planting dates back to pre ice boom times. so a longer growing season, warmer temps in spring and of course tha means more bugs as there will be more for them to eat and it wasnever was cold long enough to kill off some of the over wintering eggs/larve. As for animal a quicker green up and warmer temps may help the turkey nesting season as well as newly hatched poults bugging. Deer were able to get to food all winter and a quick greenup and lack of winter stress should allow for larger body weights, and horns. Bad for me as my lawn will grow sooner/ faster resulting in more $ spent on gas to keep it mowed down something i'm not looking forward to at 4.00$ plus a gallon...

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Jennifer Newbie

Jennifer

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I for one expect tick numbers to be out of control this year.

My family at the DEC says that the wildlife guys are already suggesting this very well could be the case. Tick numbers were up last year and this mild winter only means it could get worse.

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bkln Newbie

bkln

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more bugs = more disease spreading, it is truly mixed bag, good for the deer and good for the ticks, can't have mild winter and no bugs during the summer. I have also already spotted swarms of bugs baking in the setting sun this early in March, this is unheard of....I'm ready to wear my new summer cologne Off! "Deep Woods" by SC Johnson company :-)

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