various kinds quickly reduces deer numbers as they get older. It must also be 

 remembered that the fawns are the deer most susceptible to malnutrition during 

 severe winters because they are smaller and less able to withstand the rigours 

 of cold weather and deep snow. This means that the normal high percentages 

 of young deer drop suddenly when there has been heavy winter mortality. 



This effect can be seen in Table 2. In western Ontario, where there have 

 been no severe winters in recent years, the percentages of yearlings and two-year- 

 old deer are high. This is the normal situation when no unusual winter mortality 

 has occurred. The percentage of yearlings is a little lower than we would expect 

 in Kenora District for reasons which are not known. Similar high percentages 

 of yearlings and two-year-old deer were reported from Manitoulin Island, Tweed 

 District and Kemptville District, and, to a lesser extent. Lake Huron District and 

 Lake Simcoe District. None of these areas reported winter snows which could be 

 classified as extreme in recent years. 



On the other hand, Sudbury, North Bay, Pembroke and Parry Sound Districts 

 all reported percentages of yearlings which were much reduced from normal. This 

 was because many fawns which were born in the spring of 1960, after the severe 

 winter of 1959-60, failed to survive. It is likely that the does were in such jxx)r 

 condition after the malnutrition of the previous winter that they were unable to 

 take proper care of the fawns. In the same districts the percentages of two-year- 

 old deer were also very low. This was because the fawns which were born in 

 1959 not only were fewer in number, because their mothers had been through 

 the severe winter of 1958-59, but they themselves had to face the deep snows of 

 the winter of 1959-60. The fact that the three-and-one-half-year-old deer appear 

 more numerous than usual in these districts indicates how severe the mortality 

 has been. It is known that these deer suffered heavy mortality as fawns during 

 the first severe winter of 1958-59. The fact that they now show up as a high 

 percentage of the deer surviving indicates that many of the deer in the younger 

 age classes failed to survive. 



The reduction in numbers of deer available to hunters because of the severe 

 winters can be seen by comparing the age class distributions for Fort Frances 

 District and North Bay District. In Fort Frances District, where no unusual 

 winter mortality has occurred in recent years, 67% of the deer shot by hunters 

 were either yearlings or two-and-one-half-year-old deer. In North Bay District, 

 which was hard hit by two severe winters, only 32.6% of the deer in the fall 

 hunt were in the yearling and two-and-one-half-year-old classes. The deer which 

 should have made up the bulk of the supply for hunters were, to a large extent, 

 missing. 



The Sault Ste. Marie District was affected by the winter of 1958-59, but 

 escaped most ot the deep snows of 1960-61. As a result the deer have had 

 one more year to recover than they have had in neighbouring districts. The 

 recovery is indicated by the high percentage of yearlings which have reappeared 

 this year, and evidence that it would continue, granted mild winters, is shown 

 by the high percentage of fawns. The high percentage of fawns found in Sudbury 

 District this year indicates that the other districts will follow the same course as 

 that shown in Sault Ste. Marie, except one year later, because of the second severe 

 winter in 1959-60. 



Since we live on the extreme northern edge of the deer range, we will have 

 to accept the fact that severe winters will continue to decimate our deer herd 

 from time to time. It appears that this may again be the case this year. As long 

 as deep snows control deer numbers very little can be done to alleviate the 

 situation. The best solution appears to be woods operations designed to improve 



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