I hope I’m not speaking too soon, but I believe spring will come early this year. As I look at the extended weather forecast for the next 30 days, most days are predicted to be between 40 and 60 degrees, which is well above average.
If all goes as predicted, we should expect an early spring, which I’m sure most people won’t complain about in this area. Furthermore, there are positive and negative impacts to fish and wildlife when we see early signs of spring.
March and April can be the toughest month for wildlife to survive due to depleted fat reserves. But when the weather is more spring-like, game animals are able to rebuild their bodies much sooner. For whitetails, the sooner green browse becomes available due to warm temperatures, the better they thrive. Healthy green browse sources can be a variety of grasses, forbs and green leaves that grow on low-hanging branches.
Green browse tends to begin to sprout during the latter part of April and early May, but it could very well be weeks sooner this year. Green browse offers many nutrients to whitetails, but what deer take most from it is protein. Once fat reserves have been depleted, the body starts to lose muscle. This is why green browse is so critical to a whitetail’s diet in the spring. Also, for those hoping to see an abundance of bucks with large antlers, the faster a buck can rebuild its body in the spring, the more nutrients it can put into antler growth during the summer, which generally leads to larger antler growth.
We can also expect game birds like turkeys and grouse to thrive from early spring weather. Just like whitetails, a lot of their food sources come from native plants that contain buds and seeds. Grouse and turkeys also love the tips of fresh green shoots and wildflowers. For spring turkey hunters, early spring weather can have a negative impact on hunting turkeys effectively. Hunters can expect green-up to come sooner, which makes it much harder to see in the woods and at times can also make it difficult to get a clear shot. But, green-up can allow hunters to set up their calling locations closer to turkeys, which sometimes can increase the odds of luring a tom into range. Secondly, hunters will likely have to deal with an increase of ticks and bugs. Dealing with swarms of gnats while trying to sit still and call in a gobbler is downright frustrating. And let’s not leave out the increased odds of running into rattlesnakes due to warm temperatures. Also, many turkey hunters believe that an early spring can lead to early breeding, which can lessen the amount of mating done during hunting season. Although hen stimulation is triggered by increased daylight, the amount of gobbling and responding to calls from toms sometimes ends earlier than normal after an early spring.
An early spring can also have a negative effect on food sources for the upcoming fall. Warmer than average temperatures can trigger mast producing trees like oaks and apples to bloom much sooner than normal. The danger of an early bloom is spring frost. The earlier the bloom, the more likely the flower will have to deal with frost. Most often, a heavy frost kills the flower which leads to no mast production. This is exactly what I saw happen last spring for a lot of our oak and apple trees. The majority of mast producing trees that were in lower elevations did not produce due to frost.
Most fishermen love an early spring. It’s not uncommon to see trout streams packed with anglers on those warmer-than-average days in April. I’ve also seen fishermen launch their boats on the Allegheny Reservoir in March and April if the weather is right. However, fish tend to shift more often when water temperatures are abnormally on the rise. The slightest increase in water temperature can cause fish to move out in a hurry. The key is to find the pockets of warming water. That’s where the fish will be. You might also see earlier than normal spawning for walleyes. This can impact post-spawn fishing tactics that will be used in early May when walleye season opens.
Overall, I believe early spring weather is more beneficial to fish and wildlife than a typical Pennsylvania spring arrival. Spring has always been the sign of life and new beginnings. After months of dealing with cold weather, spring allows everything to come back to life. Most people, fish and wildlife are always anxious for spring to come.
