Some Big Whities For Ya...

[HighCountryBC]

Keeping it whitetail............

There's been some newcomers on the block over the last week or so. Despite his smaller set of headgear, the old boy is still the boss around here for now..

[HarryToolips]

Big tom that has been around a few years. He is fairly regular throughout November/December so plans are in the works to hopefully harvest him in a few weeks. Canyon country though which makes it tough chasing. Even with him around, deer activity remains high.

I hope you harvest him, they sure do take their toll on the deer populations...I've heard that a mature cat will take up to 50 deer a year...do you all consider that an accurate statement?

[HarryToolips]

Keeping it whitetail............

There's been some newcomers on the block over the last week or so. Despite his smaller set of headgear, the old boy is still the boss around here for now..

Great to see, thanks for posting....good to hear there's plenty of bucks in your neighbourhood, should make for a good fawn:doe ratio for next year....

[HighCountryBC]

I hope you harvest him, they sure do take their toll on the deer populations...I've heard that a mature cat will take up to 50 deer a year...do you all consider that an accurate statement?

I do know that with the recent cougar study in the Okanagan and Boundary they have gone out to over 400 kill sites. Results are showing their diet consists almost exclusively of mule deer in the winter. In the spring and summer months it is much more diverse between moose, elk and both species of deer. There is a pile of more collars going out on cats this winter which will further substantiate these findings.

Back to whitetails.

[tracker]

more blame on the cats !!
there was more cats in that area 25 years ago and the deer population was healthy.
Blame the high fences and more traffic on highways for the demise of the deer pop decline. wolfy too .
good luck on killing that tom though , he is in a tough spot..

The whitetails are starting to rut harder by the day goes on fellas ,seen a couple bucks chasing does already . .Good luck guys

[LBM]

I hope you harvest him, they sure do take their toll on the deer populations...I've heard that a mature cat will take up to 50 deer a year...do you all consider that an accurate statement?

You guys are funny, high countrys own words, even with him around deer activity remains high. His own cameras are showing bucks from year after year according to him. SSS cameras are showing deer living for years.
Cats arent a problem there

[HighCountryBC]

more blame on the cats !!
there was more cats in that area 25 years ago and the deer population was healthy.
Blame the high fences and more traffic on highways for the demise of the deer pop decline. wolfy too .
good luck on killing that tom though , he is in a tough spot..

The whitetails are starting to rut harder by the day goes on fellas ,seen a couple bucks chasing does already . .Good luck guys

No blame on the cats boss, just the numbers. There is over 20 cats collared between the Okanagan and Boundary and will be twice that many after this winter. The bios and field techs have visited more than 400 kill sites since they were collared this time last year. Their diet is almost exclusively mule deer in the winter and then diversifies in the spring through summer.

This cat in particular checks a few of the legacy scrapes and trails that I have cameras on for whitetails quite regularly. Never made much of an effort to tree him but that will likely change over coming weeks and months.

Yes, things are slowly but surely starting to pick up. Scrapes are being hit by more customers and bucks are becoming less tolerant of each other. I will probably do a camera pull early next week.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

You guys are funny, high countrys own words, even with him around deer activity remains high. His own cameras are showing bucks from year after year according to him. SSS cameras are showing deer living for years.
Cats arent a problem there

Not that much of a problem for whitetails is general but they certainly will focus on them when mule deer populations are slim.

SSS

[Sitkaspruce]

Not sure how to post the actual video like others are doing but I thought I would jump back in here with this link.

Here is a link to an education in whitetails that live near fields. I set up a camera on an old access trail to a field that is a 150 m away to the right of the camera trap. Daylight is at ~0715 and sunset is at ~1800. Note the times the deer and elk move to and from the field. Hunting fields is a common practice up here and deer are killed this way, but if you find their bedding area and set up on a trail heading from there to the feeding, you will see more deer, especially bucks, during daylight. This trail heads across an old road and into a 20 year old cut block before ending in a mixed spruce/aspen forest, their bedding area. I have a blind set up 600m from the field and will start to sit in it this weekend, I set up a couple fake scrapes along the trail to keep the bucks interested. Snow is on the ground and cooler temps are here....let the games begin!!!

https://youtu.be/VuRbhdFAfeM

Cheers

SS

[HarryToolips]

You guys are funny, high countrys own words, even with him around deer activity remains high. His own cameras are showing bucks from year after year according to him. SSS cameras are showing deer living for years.
Cats arent a problem there

No, your funny because I just asked a simple question..if cats are around they will kill deer no matter what, deer are their primary food source...what would be interesting is a whitetail study to see the varying levels of predation by different preds on them..but unfortunately that won't happen as mule deer are the concern..