Winter report from Wyo Game & Fish Dept

[jm77]

Many have asked and here it is:

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/News/Cold-temperatures-and-deep-snow-taking-a-toll-on-W

 

[quest]

Look like above average winter kill so far won't really know until spring not good news so far.

 

[mulecreek]

Elk are bunching up along the north side of I 80 between Rock Springs and Point of Rocks. Leaving work on Thursday was quite a sight. Hundreds of elk spread out from Point of Rocks to the Superior exit in 4 or 5 main herds. Over the weekend they started wandering onto the Interstate. Noticed a few roadkills Monday morning. On the south side of I80 the elk are bunching up on the mine. The reclaim areas went into the winter in great shape and the elk are living about as good as could be expected with the amount of snow we have this year.

 

[Zeke]

Thanks Jeff,

Many western States are experiencing serious weather problems and the wildlife will, no doubt, be negatively impacted.

In this modern world, Mother Nature is still in charge and we can only hope for the best under these tough conditions.

We're 200% of normal snowfall in my area and the game will suffer.

Zeke

 

[elkantlers]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-31-17 AT 12:03PM (MST)[p]Those south facings can't melt fast enough.

 

[BPKHunter]

Pretty much the same here in Idaho. We've had a lot of fires destroy the wintering grounds here so I can't imaging the toll on the deer without a serious warm up soon.

That said we have had 3-4 very mild back to back winters so maybe for carrying capacity purposes this is a necessary evil.

I am curious to ask just how bad winter would need to be, to truly impact elk? Have seen sad stories of elk falling through ice, eating poisonous weeds, train collisions, etc., but not much actual winterkill in my limited 13 winters here in Idaho.

 

[fullthrottle]

Carrying capacity, huh that's a joke right? The majority of Idaho is nowhere near carrying capacity. Just a tough winter, that does happen once in awhile you know.

 

[mmwb]

Perhaps he was referring to the carrying capacity of the current winter range. I know fires did some damage.

 

[HalfAce]

Thanks for posting that JM77. Sounds like its brutal across most of the state. From the sounds of it, it looks like Wyoming doesn't try to feed the game in a tough winter. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there is a warm up and break in snow for a while. Feelin pretty bad for the animals, they are stuck in those conditions 24-7, meanwhile we get to sit in our heated homes out of the wind... I was planning on hunting Wyoming in 2017, but I'm likely going to give the critters over there a break next year.