Deer and other big game are doing their best to cope with a difficult winter.

Many parts of Manitoba have experienced more snowfall this year than in the previous few years. "We have weather severity stations across the province monitoring snow amounts and temperature," said Ken Rebizant Manitoba Sustainable Development's Big Game Manager.

"The Turtle Mountain region is the hardest hit when it comes to snow cover, which has dropped over the past few weeks due to the recent warm spell."

He adds right now the deer are doing okay but these conditions do cause them to yard up.

"If the snow is more than 45 centimeters it gets difficult for the deer to dig for food, but because of this year's snow cover arriving before the freeze up once they get through the snow there's lots of food below."

Rebizant says right now things are okay but if more snow hits or we have a prolonged winter then the deer could be in trouble. “I'd say we need to see how things look in another three or four weeks.

As for other animals like moose and elk Rebizant says they are much better at handling the winter weather. “I hope the winter doesn't get any worse because the deer population was just starting to rebound after a couple of severe winters too a toll on the deer population” said Rebizant.