Wyoming die off opinion/count

bucklover · Apr 30, 2011

Those of you that are planning on spending time shed hunting in western Wyoming, how about we keep a rough count and share opinions on how tough the winter was on the deer/elk/antelope populations. Just post approximately how many dead critters you saw each time you go. Don't give up location, but at least indicate general portion of the state, (ex. southwest corner, middle part of western Wy. etc.) It would give us all a decent idea of population loss. Thanks.

nontypical · Apr 30, 2011

According to Gary Fralick(big game biologist),and I quote"It's looking like the Wyoming Range mule deer herd will experience substantial overwinter mortality this year on all of the big winter ranges from Evanston to Cokeville in the south,and from Kemmerer to LaBarge and Daniel in the north.Deep,persistent snows arrived in November and developed into hard crust which made foraging and movement very difficult for mule deer.These conditions,coupled with extended periods of below zero temperatures and poor shrub conditions on winter ranges,resulted in a rapid depletion of of mule deer energy reserves by midwinter.Conditions have not relented much with cooler temperatures and lingering snow slowing the annual green-up of spring grasses and forbs.Similar conditions occurred on winter ranges associated with the Uinta mule deer herd,especially the large winter complex near Leroy.Fawns will typically make up the majority of the winter losses,but in a year like this year we will see losses to the older age classes of the population as well.These are the type of winters that impact all age classes of deer in the population."If deer are present where you are shed hunting,do everyone a favor and move away from them to minimize disturbance.G&F will be doing thier mortality counts May 7 and May 14 in these areas.They encourage public participation.

dwalton · Apr 30, 2011

Die off is going to be higher than normal. I drive from Evanston to Opal for work. Once the snow melted, deer carcasses were seen lying on the hills, in haystack enclosures, and fields (several dozen just between Opal and Kemmerer - 13 miles of road). I would estimate I saw a 30% drop in the number of deer over the course of the winter.

A friend from work keeps his horses out by Sage Jct. He walked one canyon behind the horse corral and found 11 dead dear.

tailchasers · Apr 30, 2011

That's 4 states now with a major winter kill within the past 3-5yrs. Boy this is getting tough. From what I have witnessed it take numerous years to recover too. We still see the herds struggling here in the NW Colorado area.

"Courage is being scared to death but saddling
up anyway."

kilowatt · Apr 30, 2011

Dav,

What in the world are you doing in Opal???? You not teaching anymore? All that is out there is drilling rigs last time I was thru there in '08.

Brian
http://i25.tinypic.com/fxbjgy.jpg[/IMG]

greysriver · Apr 30, 2011

The west is notorious for cyclical winters. I can remember the early 80's and all the dead deer everywhere, they were hanging in fences, sage brush piles, haystacks etc.etc., and my dad saying its going to be a few years before we start seeing big bucks again. Then by the early 90's, we had some of the best deer herds and quality since the 70's (paunsagunt, carabou national forest, G/H in wyoming etc.) all had great quality and quantity. We are going to have to wait it out, but if the winters do run in 5 year cycles, we should start seeing more mild winters pretty soon.

piper · Apr 30, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Apr-30-11 AT 08:31PM (MST)[p]5 year cycles? thats pretty funny, Im afraid its a little more complicated than that. Also I believe deer numbers in Wyoming regions G and H were basicly higher in the 80s than either the 70s or 90s,. well actually they peaked in 1992 and after the 92-93 winter, they never have been the same.

dwalton · May 1, 2011

LAST EDITED ON May-01-11 AT 10:08AM (MST)[p]That winter of 92-93 was a deal changer for so many areas in the West. The Independence Range in Elko County was deer nirvana the fall of 92. It has never been the same.

Kilo,

It's my wife who is the teacher. I work at the gas plant 1 mile west of Opal. The original part of the plant has been there since 1958. It's hard to see from hwy 30, though.

huntnrich · May 2, 2011

What happened to Global warming? How are the Antelope doing from Evanston to Rock Springs?

liecabucks · May 2, 2011

Dead deer EVERYWHERE in SW Wyoming. Had a buddy yesterday see a coyote latch onto a doe and bring her down!! The herd is in shambles from what I seen sunday.

Sit tall in the saddle, hold your head up high, keep your eyes fixed to where the trail meets the sky...

chewyman55 · May 2, 2011

LAST EDITED ON May-02-11 AT 06:26PM (MST)[p]Went out today for a few hours, SW Wyoming. Saw 12 dead from this year, 10 of which were fawns. Those on the hoof looked pretty worn out.

bucklover · May 2, 2011

LAST EDITED ON May-02-11 AT 09:35PM (MST)[p]Thanks guys for keeping this going. I think its giving all of us a better idea of just how tough this winter was. A friend and I took a drive north of Evanston after work today. We took a couple short walks away from where the deer were hanging. We found 4 or 5 dead ones. What bothered me more were the boot tracks, one motor cycle track, one four wheeler track, and in a draw that still held snow even a snowmoble track. All the tracks were at least a week or two old and older. They were way off the 2 tracks, just out in the brush and along and in the tree line. We do live with idiots.

huntinco · May 2, 2011

They radio collared 25 mule deer does I'n SW Wyo near Evanston. 24 are still beeping!!!

Justin Richins
R&K Hunting Company Inc.
www.thehuntingcompany.com

Founder · May 2, 2011

I was in the SW on the 1st and saw lots of carcasses. None were bucks that I noticed. Many appeared to be fawns of course. I didn't think it was a huge number considering how many deer we saw. My buddy and I talked about this same stuff. There's always going to be some winter kill and of course, some also have to die of natural causes. They can't live forever.
I couldn't say whether this year was any worse or better than previous.

Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com

Longun · May 2, 2011

I think its as bad as the 2003-04 die-off.......

nontypical · May 3, 2011

The point is....Leave them alone until they are safely through the winter!Don't be the cause of those that are on the brink of death to die!That is the whole reason G&F made this shed hunting season!

Ticks N Tines · May 4, 2011

I just spent the last Three days in SW Wyoming. I hiked every day, all day long. I covered tons of country. I would say that the winter kill wasn't too bad where I was. I probably saw 20-30 dead deer (mostly fawns). I also saw about 7-10 dead antelope.

The third week in April I visited the East Canyon area near morgan and in 4 hours of hiking I saw at least 75 dead deer. Several of those were adult deer and many of them were bucks that had shed. I found 4 bucks laying next to each other in one canyon (no foul play).

Northern Utah had it much worse in my opinion.

Hope this helps.