North Dakota Game and Fish wardens started hearing of dozens of whitetail deer stranded in wheat fields around the tiny town of Zahl in late January. The western prairies had been shellacked by one winter storm after the other, with snow drifted 6 to 8 feet deep in places and wind chills in the -50 degree range. Then, on Feb. 10, western North Dakota was blasted by more than a foot of snow pushed by winds that whipped to 50mph. The deer started tipping over.