UpperTully
Well-Known Member
I didn't want to hijack the Quota Hunt thread by providing a little input on comments being made on Presidents Island not flooding. So I'll touch on it here.
The Mississippi River floods every year and so does Presidents Island. It's just a matter of how bad it floods the Island. The key to these floods are timing, river stage and duration. Due to the elevations of the island, when the river hit's 37-38' that's when it starts posing a real issue as there is minimal ground for deer to shelter on.
This year the river crested at 30.76' Although the river crested 3ft below flood stage don't be fooled by thinking there wasn't any flooding. The river put 5-15' of water on a lot of the island but there were dry areas deer could seek refuge on without leaving the island.
Some may or may not know, but you can utilize a topo map to get an idea of what will be under water with a little math. The Memphis River Gauge is set to an elevation of 183.91' above sea level. Add 183.91 plus the current river stage and it will give you an estimate of what elevations are under water when you reference a topo map. President's Island WMA ranges from 200' to 231' in elevation.
With all of that said. I was curious to see the relation between the harvest data vs the river stages. So I created this graph using 22 years of river stage history and went as far back with the harvest data as I could. You all may find it interesting
Things to consider when looking at the data:
Spring 2011 Flood - 2nd highest crest at Memphis
July 2015 Flood crested at 32' and lasted up to August.
Winter 2015/2016 Flood began in November and crested in January at 39.47' with subfreezing temps.
Spring 2019 Flood - 4th highest crest at Memphis
IMHO I don't think the flooding is all to blame for the decline in the population. 104 does killed in 6 years leading up to the 2015/2016 didn't help matters at all. In my experience, It's bad juju on lower density herds.
Good luck to all of those drawn this year!
The Mississippi River floods every year and so does Presidents Island. It's just a matter of how bad it floods the Island. The key to these floods are timing, river stage and duration. Due to the elevations of the island, when the river hit's 37-38' that's when it starts posing a real issue as there is minimal ground for deer to shelter on.
This year the river crested at 30.76' Although the river crested 3ft below flood stage don't be fooled by thinking there wasn't any flooding. The river put 5-15' of water on a lot of the island but there were dry areas deer could seek refuge on without leaving the island.
Some may or may not know, but you can utilize a topo map to get an idea of what will be under water with a little math. The Memphis River Gauge is set to an elevation of 183.91' above sea level. Add 183.91 plus the current river stage and it will give you an estimate of what elevations are under water when you reference a topo map. President's Island WMA ranges from 200' to 231' in elevation.
With all of that said. I was curious to see the relation between the harvest data vs the river stages. So I created this graph using 22 years of river stage history and went as far back with the harvest data as I could. You all may find it interesting
Things to consider when looking at the data:
Spring 2011 Flood - 2nd highest crest at Memphis
July 2015 Flood crested at 32' and lasted up to August.
Winter 2015/2016 Flood began in November and crested in January at 39.47' with subfreezing temps.
Spring 2019 Flood - 4th highest crest at Memphis
IMHO I don't think the flooding is all to blame for the decline in the population. 104 does killed in 6 years leading up to the 2015/2016 didn't help matters at all. In my experience, It's bad juju on lower density herds.
Good luck to all of those drawn this year!
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