Big game migration begins with a snowstorm

DUBOIS — I woke up last Tuesday morning to snow blanketing the mountains around us. The Centennial Mountains in Island Park, the Tetons east of Driggs, and the Lost River Ranges west of the Snake River Valley were all covered in snow. As I traveled 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 headed back to the Camas National Wildlife Refuge to see if the elk had arrived at the refuge. When I entered the shelter, I was greeted by a great horned owl trying to protect itself from the cold north wind. I didn’t reach out to him because the shelter staff said they had problems this summer with photographers “stalking” owl families.

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 a horn. They continued their journey south to Sandhole Lake, the only water available at the refuge.

On the south side of Toomey Lake, four young white-tailed deer were washed away by a moose as they traveled across the Cattail Plain. Then, when I went to visit the well drillers at Ore Pond, six white-tailed deer and fawns were grazing in the tall sagebrush. Later, when I visited with a staff member at the refuge, I was told that the whitetail population had “exploded” over the past week as they returned to the refuge.

As the snow in the mountains deepens, mule deer and thousands of elk will descend on farmland from Hamer to DuBois. I knew the deer was moving because I saw two dead deer killed on the roads. If the weatherman’s predictions for next week are correct, big game will collect several more vehicles, so be careful driving in this area.

During a visit with well drillers and refuge workers, the hope is that the three new wells should be finished by next spring. A test well at Ruddy Pond found a good flow of water at a depth of about 300 feet, nearly twice as deep as planned. The production well will not be drilled until next spring. A production well at Race Lake, west of Sandhole Lake, has been drilled and should be in operation by the end of November. It will produce about 5,000 gallons per minute to keep water in the lake next summer.

On a walk to the Rice Lake well, I watched a flock of about 300 sandhill cranes circling high in the sky. Soon they rose so high that I couldn’t see them, but I could still barely hear them. With a strong northerly tailwind, they headed south in smaller flocks trying to catch up. They didn’t want the horrible white snow to cover their food supply before they had more food. On Thursday evening, as I gathered wood for the evening fire, I listened to flocks of cranes, snow geese and tundra swans flying overhead. Or they listened to the weather forecast; or they may feel it in their arthritic bones.

Now is the time to get out the winter feeders if you want the winter songbirds to put on a show for you. I will post sunflower seeds, both whole and shelled. lard cakes and bags of niger seed. I’ll be watching Trumpeter Swans congregate at Deer Parks, west of Menan Buttes, and begin my weekly treks to the farm fields east of Homer to watch the elk migration.

Have a great and safe week!!