Dry in the high country

H

Huntergirl

New member
I drove up in the national Forest where I do my elk hunting to do some camping, and found the area parched dry. Lots and lots of deadfall, and areas where many Aspen trees were stripped of bark from elk foraging. This was at about 8200ft, and very disconcerting. The peaks still had some snow on them, but the high meadows that sprout small creeks were barely damp, and the creeks were dribbling like it was September, not May. Its almost time for the elk to drop their calves. I didn't see or hear any sign of wolves. This was above Pinedale, Wy. However, the Lodge at the Big Sandy opening is still closed I was told, so there must still be snow up there. Never the less, fire danger will be really high this summer.
 
We've been just the opposite down here in the SW Texas Big Bend. Usually, we don't even begin getting summer rains until about this time of year. So far this year, however, we've had early snow, light rains and a few heavy storms. We'll get a dry week with some fire hazard, but the soil moisture is way up and everything is really green.

Horns and body weights both should be good, come mule deer season...

Art
 
NE Florida and SE Georgia is dry and burning. We have been WAY behind in rainfall for 2 years and counting. I hunt a WMA called 12 mile swamp and it is usually just that . . . can't get off the road without crossing a ditch filled with +/-2 feet of water, culverts full and flowing at 4 to 6 feet deep, and plenty of ponds, some big enough to call a lake (maybe 4 acres).

Last year ALL but 2 spring fed ponds were DRY as a bone. Big ponds/lakes, deep culverts, all dried up. It is bad, I have been converted by the "Bring On The Hurricane" crowd. We need water and we need it very badly.
 
A few years ago I hunted in CA and it was so dry it made the news. It was a terrible season because the hunters could not possibly move quietly anywhere in the damn state!
 
My perception is that, up here in SD, this year's rainfall is a bit higher than the last couple years. We don't really have "high country" except out in the hills, and I've not been hearing about forest fire concerns this summer. Time will tell, I guess.

I do recall that about 10 years back we had a lot more rainfall than we have recently. Lots of muskrat mounds around fields (everywhere!), swamps where there are now planted crops, and some beavers. This was a year or three before we got drought relief with Daschle's help...

What I can tell you is that it has been an inordinately cool year so far. We've only had one day go up into the nineties, and the average temperature for the last week has been around 65F. My wife has only turned on the AC once or twice (mid-80s temps), and that's unusual - she hates the heat.
 
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