# A cold winter?



## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

we have gotten 3 deer in the last 2 weeks. All 3 of the deer have more than normal fat on them. Usually hardly any at all.

does this mean a colder winter and sooner than normal.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

I expect so ... 

My deer had massive amounts of internal fat - more than I ever remember seeing and more than what my hunting partners ever remember seeing. MotherNature has a way of makin' sure her pets are taken care of!


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

NaeKid said:


> I expect so ...
> 
> My deer had massive amounts of internal fat - more than I ever remember seeing and more than what my hunting partners ever remember seeing. MotherNature has a way of makin' sure her pets are taken care of!


exactly what we are seening here


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## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

around here the squirrels are burying more than normal.


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## TheAnt (Jun 7, 2011)

I dont know if it points to a colder winter or not but I have amassed a large portion of fat myself... I do think there is a chance I will have to live off it this winter or next.


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## pmkrv12 (Mar 15, 2012)

stayingthegame said:


> around here the squirrels are burying more than normal.


the squirrels here in MD are fatter than I have ever seen them before

PMKMD


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Freyadog said:


> we have gotten 3 deer in the last 2 weeks. All 3 of the deer have more than normal fat on them. Usually hardly any at all.
> 
> does this mean a colder winter and sooner than normal.


The doe my son got was the same way and I agree with NaeKid, Mother Nature has a way of making sure her critters are taken care of.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Just yesterday a local old timer (who channels weather facts and lore) was telling me that it's going to be a cold, snowy one. Like the blizzardly winter of '77/'78 (the Ohio river froze that year and people drove their cars over it).

We shall see..... 
(and that's why we prep!)


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## mamabear2012 (Mar 8, 2012)

I find this incredibly interesting!I look forward to seeing if this proves true. I'd love a big snowy winter!


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## d_saum (Jan 17, 2012)

mamabear2012 said:


> I find this incredibly interesting!I look forward to seeing if this proves true. I'd love a big snowy winter!


Same here.. I'll have to ask my hunting buddies if they are seeing the same thing here in NC!


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## preponomics (Nov 18, 2012)

I have never judged winter in this fashion, its an interesting way to look at it. I just ate some dear meat and it was pretty lean from last year. Don't have any from this year to compare.


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

preponomics said:


> I have never judged winter in this fashion, its an interesting way to look at it. I just ate some dear meat and it was pretty lean from last year. Don't have any from this year to compare.


ours were also lean last year and we had a very mild winter.


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## RiverRunner (Feb 7, 2012)

Admittedly I look at the world very differently from most, regardless of whether talking about preppers or "normal" people, but, I have a bit different outlook on the whole "fat" issue.

As one poster stated, last winter was mild for most parts of the US. This allowed for better carryover of food into the spring, summer and fall, thus making more calories available for the animals to make fat.

I know of old rumors (wive's tales) about the amount of fur predicting the cold, and I know that physiology says it's a result of the cold the preceding winter. Why would fat be different?

The animals eat the food available. When there are fewer animals and/or more food due to mild weather, they will be fatter. When there is less food available regardless of whether it's from harsh weather or high competition, the animals will be thinner.

Just my Feoirling, for whatever it's worth to you.


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

How would a cold previous winter make an animal fatter the next winter?? if the winter was harsher then the bidy index would ne down and require more food to build it up for the next year, believe it or not wild creatures are far better in tune with nature than science would have you believe, Here in the area where Naekid took his deer, food is more plentyful due to the shrinkage of the cattle herd ,and the resulting unused pasture/ grass land, and it has been colder here for most of the fall too, summer was a lot hotter than the norm, so to balance winter will probably be quite a bit colder.


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## forluvofsmoke (Jan 27, 2012)

If you're in an area which was not effected by this year's drought conditions, it could translate to an over-abundance of highly nutritious flora for animals to fatten-up on. If feeding conditions are near perfect, and a good gene pool is in mix, you can see massive antlers on deer, elk, or moose, as well as extremely heavy body-weights.

Sounds to me like you had at least part of the equation for prime growth conditions throughout the summer months. Here, we have had the driest summer that many here can even remember. Wildlife and livestock have both suffered as a result. Grazing conditions have been terrible, and it shows in the animal's body mass. Antler sizes seem pretty normal, but I haven't seen any massive (220lb+) mule deer bucks. They haven't fattened-up here because they can't...very little to eat with high enough nutritional value to build any fat, and so they have to rely on being able to graze more heavily throughout the winter on the remaining flora, which is a bleak existence, especially if there is heavy snowfall.

Squirrels are good examples of preppers, and they have to be in order for their species to survive. They have to stock up every fall to be able to survive the harsh winter temps and/or deep snow. Maybe they are just taking advantage of prime conditions for food gathering and caching, as well as gorging themselves while it lasts.

I haven't needed my snow-blower for three winters...I'd be OK with four in a row. We'll still get snow and cold temps, sure, but it won't hurt my feelings if it's not like the spring blizzards which shut-down this whole part of the state for several days. The last three winters have been mild here, so if we go back to normal this season, so be it. I do hope it does not yield an abnormally cold and wet winter, as the wildlife and livestock will suffer a high mortality rate as a result...herds are already weakened, so a one-two punch from old man winter could take a huge toll in regards to winter-kill and predation.


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## staceyj (Feb 17, 2012)

Back in Mississippi my old gramps told me they could tell if it was going to be a cold winter or not by how the wasps acted. If they built a nest close to the eve of a structure mild winter, if the built it far under the eve cold winter. I don't know if its true, but I don't doubt my old grandpa.


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## preponomics (Nov 18, 2012)

Freyadog said:


> ours were also lean last year and we had a very mild winter.


It was very mild here too


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*I'll tell ya*

I'll tell you a secret !

Once you pass sixty, they are all cold .


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

I don't believe there's a correlation between the amount of fat an animal is carrying and the severity of the coming winter. I'm sure it's related to the amount of food they can find.

We set all time temperature records in March and November. We had highs in the 70s in March. It hit 80 once. It hit 60 yesterday. Our summer was very hot. I'm sure this winter will be warmer than normal.


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## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

lets start a thread about the different weather sayings and old wives tales. we can post what is happening in our areas and what the animals seem to be doing. :hmmm: if we are true preppers then we need to learn how nature knows when to take cover. :2thumb:


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## mdprepper (Jan 22, 2010)

For what it is worth, I received the 2013 Old Farmers Almanac today and they are forecasting a colder, dryer winter for my region (Atlantic corridor).


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

The deer and elk here in South Western Oregon that I have harvested never have had much fat in them but I've seen deer taken in the colder regions of Oregon that had amazing amounts of fat in them. I didn't hunt this year so I'll have to ask my neighbor about the deer his family harvested. Thing is that in the 30 plus years we've lived here there's only been two winters that were extremely cold, one with temps down to -5 degrees, normally it's in the 30 to 40 degree range. That's why we moved here, in my research of good places to live without extremely hot or cold weather this area ended up at the top of our list and thank God it's paid off. Very little wildlife migrates out of the area, even the geese stick around. I've been told by some of the long term residents here that an indicator of a colder winter here is if horses and deer grow longer guard hair it's going to be a colder winter. I don't doubt that deer will try to eat more to get fat energy storage because they sense a colder winter. It's only when wild animals get dumbed down by humans putting out feed for them that they often don't do well surviving weather extremes.


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## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

Freyadog said:


> we have gotten 3 deer in the last 2 weeks. All 3 of the deer have more than normal fat on them. Usually hardly any at all.
> 
> does this mean a colder winter and sooner than normal.


3 deer!! We didn't even get 1 deer..........tough hunting here anymore...must be 3 point or better for muley....rarely can get drawn for doe permit..... whitetails are hard to find....maybe next year...congrats to you though, that's great hunting!


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