hardcore
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I felt the need to share some information in response to Rob Wiley's article Mule Deer crisis in Western Wyoming since he won't post my comments on his website! I would love to know where he is coming up with his 10/100 buck to doe ratio? I just finished reviewing the G&F counts from last month and we are currently at 29/100 not 10/100 that Rob is claiming. I seriously doubt he did an aerial survey to come up with his number. While the overall ratio is lower than it has been for several years I think most of us expected that it would be after this last winter. One of the main reasons why the number is lower is because of the loss of the majority of our fawns last winter. I was told on counts after an average winter that you can expect to count 10 yearling bucks per 100 does, this year they counted 4/100 which hurts the overall buck to doe ratio. Just to give everyone an idea where the ratio was before this last winter, in 2016 it was 36/100, in 2015 it was 39/100. The winter of 2011-2012 was another tough winter and the counts in 2012 revealed a 30/100 ratio which was close to what they counted this year. The following years after that they seen some of the highest buck to doe ratios that we have seen in a while in the low 40's/100. The deer herd rebounded and came back and they will come back again from this last bad winter. Will the herd ever reach their original numbers from the glory days and the answer is no and going to limited quota won't even allow that to happen. There has been way to much winter range lost here in the last 30 years among other factors to ever return this herd to what it used to be. We can't control Mother Nature and there will continue to be big die offs in the years to come. From talking with G&Fand going to the meetings the deer herd has been stable for a while now, excluding these bad winters. I know some of you don't like a buck/doe ratio to determine how the deer herd is doing. The G&F will be conducting another count this year in February in attempt to try and grid the majority of the winter ranges to get a better idea on what the overall population is at now. This is the first time they have done this type of count and I was told it was going to require 140 hrs of flight time and around $140,000 in cost. While it's impossible to count every deer out there I think it will give them a better idea if the models they use now are accurately representing the overall population of this herd.
The hunt was tough last year and I think most of us expected that after last winter. When your deer herd drops from 40,000 to 20,000 animals in a year we are going to definitely notice that. I don't think because of this we should jump on the limited quota train that Rob would like everyone to get on, the deer herd will come back to what it's been the last 10 or more years. After looking at the bucks Non-Typical Outfitters harvested last year it became apparent to me that there is no way Rob can continue to charge $7,400.00 for a 5 day deer hunt and produce those kind of results. I am not saying they didn't take some good bucks, it was just no where close to what they normally harvest. I know of several bucks that were taken by resident hunters that NTO was after, one of them being a 230+ slug. Bottom line with his entire motive of writing this article...he wants less of the hardcore deer hunters pursuing "his bucks". At one point in his article he mentions how everyone is asking him why he is willing to jeopardize his business to do this. Give me a freaking break, residents going to a limited quota will not affect his business at all. He is booked right now 3 years out and I guarantee you the majority of those hunters are non-resident. He wants less competition from resident hunters so he can have it all to himself keeping him in the spotlight for one of the top Mule deer guides in the nation. I also think now that he can't fly his plane after August 1st locating all these big bucks that are still in the red is also affecting his ability to locate enough big bucks for all of his clients and for that I would like to thank our G&F commission for making that happen!
I think the G&F and other groups are doing a lot of good things right now and gathering a lot of data that will help in managing this deer herd in the future and as long as it continues to be stable I am totally against going to a limited quota. I want my kids to have the same opportunity's that I have had, we go to a limited quota and with point creep before long they might get a deer tag every 5 years or maybe more. With that being said I know at some point we will need to eventually go to a limited quota with the human population continuing to grow. Wyoming's population however has actually gone down here recently. I think we will all know when the time to go to a limited quota will be and I think it should happen when it's a general consensus with the majority, not when an outfitter and a few out of staters want to do it. I just finished typing my letter up to send to our commissioners and I hope everyone takes some time to do the same.
The hunt was tough last year and I think most of us expected that after last winter. When your deer herd drops from 40,000 to 20,000 animals in a year we are going to definitely notice that. I don't think because of this we should jump on the limited quota train that Rob would like everyone to get on, the deer herd will come back to what it's been the last 10 or more years. After looking at the bucks Non-Typical Outfitters harvested last year it became apparent to me that there is no way Rob can continue to charge $7,400.00 for a 5 day deer hunt and produce those kind of results. I am not saying they didn't take some good bucks, it was just no where close to what they normally harvest. I know of several bucks that were taken by resident hunters that NTO was after, one of them being a 230+ slug. Bottom line with his entire motive of writing this article...he wants less of the hardcore deer hunters pursuing "his bucks". At one point in his article he mentions how everyone is asking him why he is willing to jeopardize his business to do this. Give me a freaking break, residents going to a limited quota will not affect his business at all. He is booked right now 3 years out and I guarantee you the majority of those hunters are non-resident. He wants less competition from resident hunters so he can have it all to himself keeping him in the spotlight for one of the top Mule deer guides in the nation. I also think now that he can't fly his plane after August 1st locating all these big bucks that are still in the red is also affecting his ability to locate enough big bucks for all of his clients and for that I would like to thank our G&F commission for making that happen!
I think the G&F and other groups are doing a lot of good things right now and gathering a lot of data that will help in managing this deer herd in the future and as long as it continues to be stable I am totally against going to a limited quota. I want my kids to have the same opportunity's that I have had, we go to a limited quota and with point creep before long they might get a deer tag every 5 years or maybe more. With that being said I know at some point we will need to eventually go to a limited quota with the human population continuing to grow. Wyoming's population however has actually gone down here recently. I think we will all know when the time to go to a limited quota will be and I think it should happen when it's a general consensus with the majority, not when an outfitter and a few out of staters want to do it. I just finished typing my letter up to send to our commissioners and I hope everyone takes some time to do the same.
