Big game migration begins with snowstorm
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DUBOIS — I woke up last Tuesday morning with snow covering the mountains around us. The Centennial Mountains in Island Park, the Tetons east of Driggs and the Lost River ranges to the west of the Snake River Valley all had snow on them. As I traveled along State Highway 22, west of Dubois, the whiteness of the mountains northwest of Medicine Lodge was almost blinding in the bright sunlight.
I saw where several herds of elk had crossed the road, so I doubled back to Camas National Wildlife Refuge to see if the elk had arrived on the refuge. As I entered the refuge, I was greeted by a great-horned owl that was trying to protect itself from the bitter cold north wind. I did not approach it as the refuge personnel have reported having trouble with photographers “harassing” owl families this summer.
Near the unfinished observation tower, I encountered two bull elk that appeared to have migrated from the mountains north of Camas. The largest of the two was missing an antler. They continued traveling south toward Sandhole Lake, the only water available on the refuge.
On the south side of Toomey Lake, four young white-tailed bucks had been flushed by the bull elk as they traveled through the Cattail Flat. Then as I went out to visit the well drillers at Ruddy Pond, six white-tailed does and fawns were feeding in the tall sagebrush. Later as I visited with a refuge employee, I was told that the white-tailed population “has exploded” during the last week as they have been moving back onto the refuge.
As the snow in the mountains deepens, mule deer and thousands of elk will be moving down to the agricultural lands from Hamer to Dubois. I knew the deer had been moving because I saw two dead deer that had been killed on the roads. If the weatherman’s predictions for this coming week are correct, the big game will be harvesting a few more vehicles, so be careful driving in that area.
In visiting with the well drillers and refuge employees, three new wells hopefully should be finished by next spring. In the test well at Ruddy Pond, a good stream of water was found about 300 feet down — which is almost twice as deep as was planned for. The production well will not be drilled until next spring. The production well at Rays Lake, west of Sandhole Lake, is dug and should be online by the end of November. It will produce about 5,000 gallons a minute to keep water in the lake next summer.
While walking into the Rays Lake well site, I watched a flock of about 300 sandhill cranes circling high into the sky. They were soon so high that I could not see them but could still faintly hear them. With a strong, north tailwind, they headed south with smaller flocks — trying to catch up to them. They did not want the dreaded, white snow to cover their food supply before they had more food in sight. Thursday evening, while getting wood for the evening fire, I listened to flocks of sandhill cranes, snow geese and tundra swans flying high overhead. Either they had listened to the weather forecast; or they can feel it in their arthritic bones.
It is time to get your winter feeders out if you want the winter songbirds to put on a show for you. I will be putting out sunflower seeds, both full and shelled “bits and pieces;” suet cakes and nyger seed sacks. I will be watching for the trumpeter swans to gather at Deer Parks, west of the Menan Buttes, and will start my weekly travels to the ag fields east of Hamer to watch for the elk migration.
Have an enjoyable and a safe week!!
