Bill Tibbetts
Associate Broker 
February 19, 2004
The Hearty Whitetail.
Barring any major snow or cold outbreak in the next several weeks, it looks like the Winter of 2003-2004 will fall into the Moderate Category. At least as far as the Whitetail Deer are concerned.
This news release from the Minnesota DNR explains that a calculation involving snow depth (currently up to 36 inches) and daily temperatures equates to a current Winter Severity Index of 58. That pales in comparison to the Winter of 1996 when the Index reached 126. The Whitetail mortality rate that Winter was estimated as high as 50 percent.
So as long as the weather remains tolerable, it looks like the deer will come through this Winter in great shape.
