Iowa is in a good location regarding the effects of winter on its deer population. Further north, above the Canadian border, winters are sufficiently long and severe to occasionally kill part of the herd. 

Northern states tend to have most of their hunting seasons in autumn. One of the reasons is that winter mortality is greater than in other seasons, especially due to starvation and freezing. 

A few years ago, I offered several notes about native coralberry and how this small shrub is useful to birds and pollinators. Its other common name is buckbrush, and this winter it is especially earning this title. 

When we moved into our rural homestead in 1977, there was a misshapen oak tree growing through a wire fence. Previous owners had cut the tree off at least several times above the upper strand of barbed wire.