• Hot, dry summer hitting wildlife hard

    The beginning of August has just rolled around and most local outdoorsman are enjoying the hot sunny weather outside. When it comes to spending time outdoors, this weather seems to be ideal, but Mother Nature’s heat and lack of rainfall is throwing a curve ball to fish and wildlife alike.

    Just last week, the Owen Sound Sun Times featured a front page article about the practically non-existent precipitation and above average temperatures which have thrown local farmers into disarray. Sure we had a decent thunderstorm and some rain the other day, but my backyard is still as hard as a rock and front lawns across Grey and Bruce are starting to resemble the Sahara Desert. The Owen Sound area’s average precipitation for the month of July usually rests at around 80-90 mm. This year it only rained twice in July providing only approximately 30mm combined. What does this mean for local fish and wildlife?

    This productive Georgian Bay trout stream is nearly dry due to the lack of rainfall this summer.
    Three weeks ago, the levels in this section were 4 inches lower.

    For starters, the incredible steelhead run seen in the tributaries of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay this spring resulted in millions of eggs being deposited in spawning gravel throughout the upper stretches of river water. Based on the record early spawn this spring, the majority of these baby trout were hatched out into fry by the end of May. With the incredibly hot and dry summer we have experienced to date, there is little doubt that many of these fry perished due to low water levels and river temps that would prove to be lethal. The vast majority of wild born steelhead in the region spend more than one year in the river as juveniles though some have the tendency to leave the river during their first summer in life. Let’s hope more of these little trout took to the big water as infants this summer, otherwise the future river reunion for the class of 2012 may show poor attendance.

    I spent a couple of evenings last week with a few ardent trout fisherman. We drove around the country side east of Owen Sound in the headwater area of the Bighead River. Areas that have proven to be nursery stretches for juvenile trout were nearly completely dried up; the tiny trickle of water that we did find lacked any sign of baby trout. The scenario is the same from the Maitland in the south, up the shores of Huron to the Saugeen and Sauble rivers. The small creeks along Colpoy’s Bay were practically bone dry a couple of weeks ago which will definitely not help the trout populations in the bay, populations which are of great concern to members of the Bruce Peninsula Sportsman Association. Steelhead juveniles are not the only concern; cold water Brook Trout streams across Grey and Bruce will also be suffering from this dry summer heat.

    When it comes to wildlife, the lack of rain and hot temps will most definitely have an effect on the Whitetail deer population throughout the area. Very little rain means less standing water. Deer will need to travel further to find water sources. Total lack of drinking water is not an issue, as plenty exists, but traveling from core areas to existing water will require more food. Rainfall produces food for deer. Nursing does and their fawns require a large amount of “forbs” in late spring and summer. Forbs are types of plant growth high in nutritional value for grazing animals such as clover and other broad leafed weeds. Without rainfall local forestland food sources become limited but the protein requirements for these does and fawns remains high regardless of what the weather is doing. This hot dry spring and summer will no doubt cause some stress for the whitetail population. Thankfully we had a relatively light winter which should offset some of the burden.

    For deer hunters and wildlife stewards who have planted food plots in the area, this weather has become a massive thorn in the side. Food plot seed isn’t cheap and early spring plantings have taken a serious kicking by all of this arid heat. For those who take food plot and deer management on their property seriously, now is the time to look into the fall planting. Fall food plot planting has been a hobby of mine for nearly fifteen years. When done properly, the pastime helps the local deer herd on my hunting land and provides further opportunities for harvesting a quality buck come bow season. Fall planting of seeds such as rape, kale, turnips, clover and chicory make prime food plots once the cool fall season begins. If you wait until late August or early September it will be too late to expect adequate growth.

    Without doubt, what we really need is some more precipitation. Greenery will green, rivers will flow, and our wildlife will catch a break. Here is to hoping for some rain - all the creatures need it!

    Chantry Results

    The Chantry Chinook Classic on Lake Huron is underway right now. Large waves over the weekend didn’t appear to keep anglers off the water as plenty of salmon and trout were brought to the scales. Some big Chinooks sit atop the leader board and the number of steelhead/rainbow trout being entered is bound to break an all time Chantry record!

    Here are the up-to-date results as of Tuesday July 31st. The derby runs until August 12. For more info log onto www.chantrychinook.com

    Salmon Division
    1-David Bedford-17.47lb
    2-Sean Dalcourt- 17.32lb
    3-James Deane- 16.04lb
    4-Manuel Burca- 15.89lb
    5-Tim McCann- 14.83lb

    Trout Division
    1-Mike Stewart-18.40lb Brown Trout
    2-Tom Watson- 14.69lb Lake Trout
    3- Mark Kaufman- 12.82lb Lake trout

    Top 2 Steelhead
    1-Bob Brydges- 10.73lb
    2-Colin Crawford- 9.76lb
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