I have always been told that the fat on a deer when we butcher them is an indication of how the winter will be ..... this years deer had TONS of fat on them ....sans the one with the wound .... I heard it was gonna be a mild winter ... I told my family that if the fat on a deer was any indication like farmers believe, it was gonna be a bad one .. and it has been ... thoughts???
Now that you say something about it, the 7 deer I butchered this year were borderline obese :D I'd be interested in hearing everyones opinions on this
The buck I shot this year was 230 pounds field dressed and had fat absolutely everywhere. We've had a really bad winter. I think there is definitely some type of correlation, but have no idea what it is.
I live in Texas we don't have much winter although it is about 5 with wind chill right now but that's the coldest it's web I can ever remember
I've often wondered about this too Tony. I've heard It said many times but not sure on what direction I am on It. A few of the doe's my buddy's shot this year had more fat then I've ever saw (2 to 3 Inches of fat on top of their back). The 3 bear we got this year were Insanely fat!! Never In my life have I saw such fatty bear. Even the bear we didn't shoot were very healthy looking going by trail cam pics. All 3 of the bear we shot this fall had at least 5 Inches of fat on their backs. One of the 3 had all of 6 Inches. It was nuts!! If I was to go by any animal having fat and use that as an Indication of what winter was going to be like It would be a bear as they do hibernate and need the fat more then anything else. The forecast for us this year was cold and so far their spot on.
I killed 5 ... 4 of them were loaded ...the 5th was injured and suffered extreme weight loss .... I'll take the farmers over "science" any day...
While growing up this was a conversation I had with my Dad on every deer we took. Lots of fat meant a harder winter. Not sure if its true or not.
I've heard this before too and have to say I think there is something to it. In 2009 the deer we took were very fatty and we had a very hard winter. This year I didn't think the deer were nearly as fatty and this winter has been fairly mild other than the last few days.
I personally don't buy it... I think that it has a lot more to do with the food that's available and when the cold weather actually begins. I can't speak for the entire country but I know that in both Wyoming and Oklahoma, there was zero snow or cold weather until November. Usually the first or second week of October in Wyoming is a snowy mess. My reasoning is this... deer have no way to predict what the weather is going to be like. They obviously burn progressively more calories as the temps drop, if these temperatures don't drop until later on in the year... there are a lot of calories that aren't burned to stay warm that usually would be. Those calories are stored in fat cells and burned later on when they need to be. So, for this season the temps were warmer later which, means less calories burned and more stored fat cells. Just my take. If they knew there was that bad of a winter coming, wouldn't you see them all day every day in fields and food sources?
I think it's an interesting thought, BUT I think vs previous years, we had an exceptional growing season. This leads me to believe that the reason we've seen more fat (I have as well on the 3 I shot this year) is from an abundance of food and food quality.
I hear what you guys are saying, but the deer I kill ALWAYS have plenty of food and I kill most of my deer before the first snowfall .....
The deer we've butchered have had high amounts of fat this year...but then again - so have everyone the last few years (crops have been in late for multiple straight seasons). Not to mention we had our wettest summer on record = lush browse for deer. To me the "amount of fat" is more a gauge on how well/healthy your herd is...which amazes me because our deer have never been fatter, and the deer numbers are higher than ever (what the heck are they eating right now in this 20" of fresh snow?)
Almost all the deer I shoot have a lot of fat on them. There have been a few that had a little less. This is mostly in reference to does, as bucks after the rut generally dont have much fat left. But 99% of the does I shoot are pretty fat. I'll get one now and then that isn't & you notice it, but usually that's a rarity.
I go by the Farmer's Almanac. It has been right so far. Edit: I just got this from their website: Annual Weather Summary: November 2010 to October 2011 Winter will be colder and drier than normal, on average, with below-normal snowfall in New England and above-normal snowfall elsewhere. The coldest periods will be in mid-December, January, and mid-February. The snowiest periods will be in early January and mid- and late February. April and May will be cooler and drier than normal. Summer will be drier and slightly cooler than normal, with the hottest periods in mid- and late June, early July, and early to mid-August. September and October will be much cooler and rainier than normal.
Albany Free 2-Month Weather Forecast FEBRUARY 2011: temperature 20 ° (1 ° below avg.); precipitation 3.5" (0.5" above avg. north, 1.5" above south); Feb 1-4: Sunny, mild; Feb 5-8: Rain and snow, mild; Feb 9-14: Snow showers, turning bitterly cold; Feb 15-17: Snow showers; Feb 18-21: Heavy snow; Feb 22-25: Rain, then sunny, mild; Feb 26-28: Heavy rain, mild. MARCH 2011: temperature 33 ° (2 ° above avg. north, 2 ° below south); precipitation 1" (2" below avg.); Mar 1-4: Sunny, cool; Mar 5-10: Snow, then sunny, cool; Mar 11-15: Rainy periods, mild; Mar 16-22: Rain to snow, turning cold; Mar 23-28: Snow showers, then sunny, seasonable; Mar 29-31: Sprinkles, mild.
