Question for the bios out there.

[44hunter45]

I think I've answered my own question just seeing this post in writing, but here goes anyway.

My favorite exercise walk is a 6 mile loop from my house, around a state school section, and back. In winter I usually don' t go over there to reduce the chance of winter range stress on the deer and elk. That means walking on the County road.

We are having a particularly mild winter. Am I still stressing them if I go back to hike the school section?

 

[Rack Daniels]

I’m not a bio, but I think it’d be a no-brainer that if they are out there then yes- it would be a stress on them. If they’re not even in that area because of this moderate winter then you can’t be stressing what is not there lmao

 

[Gulf of America]

Also not a bio, but my inclination would be yes as well. Even without lots of snow, the food availability and quality is lower so expending extra energy with human pressure makes it more likely that calories in < calories out.

 

[Bonasababy]

I'd have 2 questions....

How much disturbance do they encounter from other sources and how would yours compare?

And why are they wintering there? Do they have other places they can go if disturbance encourages them to move?

 

[nrpate05]

I don't know where you are, but in this winter you likely aren't stressing them. That said, it is easier just to say it's off limits during the winter rather than pushing it. Mule deer especially have a very high fidelity to their winter range and may die before they go other places (in extreme cases) so it is better to just stay away.

 

[Griztrax]

I am a bio who studied elk/deer on their winter range back in the day. I always encourage people to avoid known winter ranges until spring green-up even during mild winters like this one. We still have a lot of winter left and if the snow/cold patterns change, we could still see weeks of brutal weather and the animals need to conserve stored energy just in case. I applaud your concern for the wildlife and wish there were more like-minded people (especially shed hunters) who would just steer clear of those critical winter ranges until spring. Here is a link to the City of Missoula, MT website where they talk about seasonal recreation closures on Mt Jumbo to protect wintering elk: https://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/206/Conservation-Lands-Closures

 

[Elktrack]

What stress would be incurred on them? There’s no deep snow. It’s not cold. There’s accessible feed everywhere. It’s not like they’re being pushed off critical winter range into some deep freeze wasteland.
I know it sounds like I’m being argumentative but I just don’t see how it would harm them. So they get bumped and move 400 yards away and lay back down? I could see it being an issue under different conditions.

 

[brymoore]

My experience with pushing deer and elk in the winter is they don’t move that much. It’d be hard to stress elk anyway.

 

[WapitiBob]

Deer walk down my street and thru my yard every day. if your Deer are used to people, they aren't being stressed. Getting chased by dogs is how they get stressed.

 

[Mussgrass]

I guess I never really gave it much thought. If I wanna go for a scouting walk I'm going.

 

[Hunting Wife]

So short answer is yes. Disturbance is disturbance, and it’s cumulative.

As @Griztrax already mentioned, winter is far from over. I assume folks here are familiar with the saying “Winter weakens, spring kills”. Again, it’s the cumulative effects through the prolonged season that does the harm. So while individual disturbances seem inconsequential, all of that compounds against their reserves. If they are altering their behavior due to your presence, that is an energy expenditure they would not otherwise be making.

Many places in the west experience their most significant snow and storms in the Feb-April timeframe. That’s often when the effects of winter kill become apparent, because they just didn’t have quite enough in the tank to get them all the way through, much less carry a fawn or calf all the way to term.

Given the dry conditions, it wouldn’t surprise me if we end up in some drought conditions like 2022 where fawn/calf production was abysmal because even into spring they didn’t get great forage to make up the deficit. Veg growth was in the toilet.

I know people don’t like to hear this, but

 

[Mustangs Rule]

I m a bio and will relate how i have dealt with a similar situation. I had a cabin near the wintering grounds for a local elk herd.

I enjoyed the area, jogged, snowshoed once snow arrived, did some target shooting and once the elk arrived, I stopped all of my activities.

Snow, no snow elk wintering grounds are sacred.

 

[Sga231]

In a mild winter like this one assuming temps are staying above single digits and there's no deep snow crust, walking your 6 mile loop through the state school section is very unlikely to cause meaningful stress to the deer or elk.

Real world take from wildlife folks and hunters

Deer and elk are most vulnerable when deep snow or extreme cold forces them to burn extra energy just to move or find food. A mild winter with open ground means they're not already stressed or yarded up.

Occasional human foot traffic on a trail even daily has minimal impact compared to snowmobiles, ATVs, dogs off leash, or hunters pushing them.