western wyoming winter conditions

fullthrottle · Feb 22, 2016

Just curious how the deer herd was looking in the western part of the state this winter. Seems like a month ago it was all doom and gloom, but the weather during February seemed fairly reasonable. I was beginning to get concerned like everyone else that last week of January here in Northern Utah, But the conditions have really improved and I would be surprised if in the end the deer herd around here doesn't come out of winter in decent shape. Maybe slightly more winter kill then average, but nothing catastrophic. Hope for the best.

mightyhunter · Feb 22, 2016

A very mild winter so far in NW Wyoming.

kilowatt · Feb 22, 2016

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http://www.wyoroad.info/highway/webcameras/webcameras.html

Brian
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RoadlessHunter · Feb 22, 2016

The herd that winters between Evanston and Kemmerer has been pushed to the breaking point. The south facing slopes never melted until just recently and we had deep snow most of the winter. But the deer were in good condition to start the winter. I hear the rest of the Southwestern Wyoming area has had a mild winter.

nontypical · Feb 23, 2016

Winter range conditions have been very mild for most of the Wyoming Range herd that I keep track of. South of I-80, I know snow conditions have been worse, but I think the recent warm spell has really helped a bunch. 90% of the deer I surveyed over the winter looked to be in prime condition; including fawns.

WGFD just released their quarterly newsletter, and biologist are claiming a favorable outlook; barring any unforeseen huge blizzards or sub-zero temps. Winter seems to have loosened her icy grip here in sw Wyoming.

I also know that conditions between Kemmerer and Evanston were much worse than the country I hang out in; as RoadlessHunter states. Hopefully this warming trend gives the deer a much needed break from winter.

Of course, there will be mortality; there always is. I don't look for it to be excessive this year, though.

gasman · Feb 23, 2016

I spoke to a biologist over the weekend, she said the Wyoming Range herd is doing great. The herd at Little Mountain near Rock Springs isn't doing real hot, they went into winter in bad shape. From what Ive seen the ones between Kemmerer and Evanston don't look too bad, like RoadlessHunter said, there is finally some bare ground on the hills by 189.

elks96 · Feb 25, 2016

I know that the snow is much deeper just south into Colorado. The areas I hit were in January and the Rawlins to Baggs area seemed to be less snow than years past. The deer seemed healthy and the snow was good. Just south in CO the snow was much deeper, and the crust was way worse. I have not heard anyone in the oil and gas fields thinking that the winter was hard in the areas around Rocksprings etc.

ss13 · Mar 31, 2016

Figured I'd bring this to the top again.

How are the deer and the wintering areas looking?

nontypical · Apr 1, 2016

We've had 3 straight days of sometimes heavy snowfall here in Rock Springs. Most of the state got hit pretty hard. Not snowing today and supposed to warm up over the next 10 days. Never did get super cold and wind wasn't bad during that storm, but still the type of storm that could cause some mortality. I haven't been to the winter range for over a month, so I don't know what happened there.

Although we probably got 8-10"(?) over the 3 days, it'll be gone in a couple days.

About the post above that mentioned how badly the Little Mtn deer are doing: I attended the G&F meeting in Green River on March 21, and the regional biologist claimed that the does in 102 weighed roughly 60 lbs less than a Wyoming Range doe weighed. That data comes from the collaring project going on in both areas, so it's factual data. That's a very significant difference. There's some serious grocery issues down there right now.