Western Wyoming mule deer in bad shape

[Guy Miner]

Quoted from Guy Eastman, of Eastmans' Hunting Journal:

"Northern Rocky Mountain mule deer herd is in a tailspin keeps piling up. The deer herds in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana have had a very rough go at it as of the past few years, however the winter of 2010-2011 seems to have put many of the mule deer herds in this region over the cliff. After a 150-mile, seven-day horseback ride in the historic Region H of western Wyoming, I only turned up 15-20 bucks and less than 100 deer total. I tend to agree with the western Wyoming state mule deer biologists when they said last winter was the hardest winter in over 20 years on the western Wyoming mule deer herd..."

A hunting buddy and I are sitting on a couple of preference points for Wyoming mule deer, but if this assessment is on the money, I don't think we'll be heading to Wyoming for mulies in the near future.

There's more info at Eastmans' web site.

http://www.eastmans.com/

 

[DrMike]

Mule deer populations are down farther north. The herds up here have never fully recovered from the deep snows and crusted cover of 2005-06. Whereas I routinely saw herds of 200+ yarded prior to that winter, now the numbers are more like 20 to 30. There are still some big bucks, but it will take some time to recover.

 

[wildgene]

...mule deer populations seem to be fairly stable around here, personally I think the lack of "trophy deer" in the area is more of a reflection of WYG&F seasons & policies than the weather. Most of the bigger bucks are shot outright or go into hiding before the rut, & a lot of the does end up bred by smaller, inferior bucks...

 

[DrMike]

Good point, Gene. The Ministry of the Environment attempted to manage the mule deer population for trophy deer, disregarding the advice of locals who cautioned that this far north we do experience severe winters on a regular basis. Rather than managing the population for trophies, the MOE would have been better advised to manage for sustaining the herd. Of course, a severe winter managed to put the matter into perspective for the brilliant academics living in Victoria. Unfortunately, they appear to have swung to a polar extreme.

 

[Mountain Goat]

Eastern Oregon herds have faced similar circumstances. A change in hunting regulations years back allowing "visible antler" bucks to be shot, a few bad winters and a considerable increase in cougar populations have really taken their toll. I'm not sure some units can or should have a hunted population, but that's just not popular thinking.

The Land Owner Preference tags are creating an almost "game ranch" environment out here, and studies have not been conducted in such a manner in determining any illeffects of "x amount of acres = y amount of tags" regardless of geographical location.

 

[BeeTee]

Mule deer populations are down farther north. The herds up here have never fully recovered from the deep snows and crusted cover of 2005-06. Whereas I routinely saw herds of 200+ yarded prior to that winter, now the numbers are more like 20 to 30. There are still some big bucks, but it will take some time to recover.

What was it like before global warming? :wink: Tongue in cheek...

Aside from the more recent phenomenon of mule deer moving into the valley floor (urban environments) in large numbers, mule deer here in western Montana have always gone through booms and busts on about a 10-20 year cycle, depending on the winters and other influences. Mule deer doe/buck ratios have always been directly related to hunting, and I was encouraged in the later 1990s when the Montana FWP moved toward more limited drawings for buck permits instead of an either sex open season. There was a time (late 1980s to mid 90s) in SW Montana where for every 150 head of mule deer does/fawns spotted over a weekend, you might see just one forkie.

I had a lengthy conversation with an FWP biologist in the early 1990s about the poor buck/doe and bull/cow ratios, and argued for more limited - permit drawing only- hunts for mature bucks and bulls. Let the little guys grow up, I argued. He came right back with "it doesn't work, due to higher mortality rates for young males." He continued, "It's better to provide more opportunity for harvesting a young buck/bull than to let them go to waste." I couldn't help thinking to myself, yes - it's really more about license sales.

On the upside, only a couple years later FWP adopted pretty much what I argued for, and it was a huge success in producing many-many more mature bucks/bulls in the years that followed - till the introduction of the wolf changed everything.

Jim

 

[wildgene]

...oh come on, BeeTee...

...everyone knows woofs only eat the old & crippled, they can't pull down a healthy deer...

:roll: :lol: :mrgreen:

 

[Guy Miner]

I know the wolf isn't the only reason the deer & elk herds are down, but I sure want a wolf hide tacked up on the wall...

 

[SJB358]

I know the wolf isn't the only reason the deer & elk herds are down, but I sure want a wolf hide tacked up on the wall...

Same here! Scotty

 

[Oldtrader3]

People have been building their trophy home ranchettes on sensitive mule deer winter range (benches) in all of the Rocky Mountain states ever since I can remember. There is no sustained winter range of any substance left now! In most states it has been converted and developed into either suburbs or ranchettes and people who shoot any deer that has a winter appetite on thier land.

Mule deer have been spiralling from this effect for the past 35 years and everyone ignored it because money for developers always trumps common sense. The only deer who survive are those that migrate to public land and are fed each winter like domestic cattle.

I have been reading articles for years about the delicacy of balance to maintain a healthy herd of mule deer in most mountain states and everyone ignored it until the deer are gone! We did it to ourselves! But fear not, Whitetail can live with us and will take over in most areas, where they have not already.

 

[Guy Miner]

I think you're right in many aspects - habitat destruction is huge. I'm just a hunter, not a wildlife biologist, but... My city is built on the elk and mule deer wintering grounds, as are others. The deer still try to come down into town to survive the winter. It works, sort of. A lot get killed by collisions with cars & trucks, stuck in fences, chased to death by dogs...

Where's the bitterbrush that used to be here? Under pavement. Likely under my home.

I think the mule deer will survive, but doubt we'll ever see the numbers of the past.

Guy

 

[Kodiak]

As Guy has stated, we are hunters. The mule deer we hunt need wild places to occupy,travel thru and live.

The last few years I have noticed many multi $$$$ homes built in areas where it was once very good late season mule deer hunting. Local ranchers that have resided there all their lives say once the new homes were there, the deer and elk weren't. And $ is alot of it. Acres that were homesteaded many, many years back or bought for $0.05/acre, now brings $1000s/acre, with the "new" residents thinking it will be a grand place to hunt ... oops! One of the new land-owners has even built a 1/8th mile 4-wheeler race-track on his property. That'l bring a different sound to places where the buffalo once roamed ..... WOW !!!!!!!!!

But it's a free country, right? Well, for a while yet, I guess.

Pardon my rant,

Jim