Up here the big die offs are usually in heavy snow fall years. The deer yard up in good forage areas and have a network of trails to access the food sources. Some years there is a cold snap that increases the herd's need for food. Sometimes good conditions in previous years led to over crowding. The food sources run out and they need to find new sources. I don't know if you're ever tried to walk in waist deep snow in the bush, but it is darn near impossible and burns huge amounts of calories. Deer aren't tall. Between waiting until they're starving and the snow covering the low brush that gives them most of their food they don't have a chance when they're forced out. Easy targets for coyotes and wolves too. Walking through a deer yard area in the spring after a bad year will just make you feel sick. One year when I lived in northern Alberta I had 48 deer that would come out of the bush and feed in my field every night. We had a terrible winter and in spring there were hardly any left.
A quick google shows the snow belt area of your state gets around 125" of snow. A bad year and a cold snap, especially late in winter, would be brutal on the deer numbers.
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