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Quote from: bearpaw on November 16, 2017, 07:46:59 AMBefore the winter kill herds were building, a couple years ago deer herds were looking pretty good, I honestly think that preventing winter kill is the single biggest factor for maintaining abundant herds without severe fluctuation. The deer need something to eat in the winter, subdivisions have eaten up too much winter range.Personally I haven't seen the herds in the Methow coming back for several years now, actually each year we see less and this year looks terrible. According to WDFW biologist, predation is included in the winter kill. Here in the Methow etc. there seems to be plenty of deer feed for the amount of deer we have. I think predation will end the deer migration, and the deer that will be left will be the ones that get protection from towns and rural homes.
Before the winter kill herds were building, a couple years ago deer herds were looking pretty good, I honestly think that preventing winter kill is the single biggest factor for maintaining abundant herds without severe fluctuation. The deer need something to eat in the winter, subdivisions have eaten up too much winter range.
I grew up in Minnesota a state that has more wolfs then Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming... COMBINED... and trust me there is still plenty of Deer there. The wolves changed the patterns of the animals but the animals still found ways to survive. Yes predators have an impact but its not what we think it is.
Whats you definition of over populate? 1
The decline in Moose population in Minnesota had more to do with an expanding deer population taking away habitat and their habitat changing due to milder winters. They moved farther North in to Canada. I have killed wolfs on our family land in Northern MN and my family still shoots big bucks every year. YES wolfs kill, but taking away an animals habitat does much more damage to a herd. Wolf Populationshttps://www.fws.gov/midwest/wolf/aboutwolves/wolfpopus.htm
I want to encourage more people to read what those "liberal biologists" actually are saying and read their reports and not just blame a single bad hunting season on something like predators or bad winters. Just accept the fact WDFW cant control the weather! Read in depth the herd management plans, the one thing that sticks out to me is the lack of quality habitat. Not one person has mentioned yet that the habitat our animals use is suffering and disappearing. Instead we want to blame wolves, coyotes, cougars and bears. Our national forests are getting so old and overgrown that they can't support the herds like they used to. Listen to what RMEF and Backcountry Hunters Association and biologists are saying, our largest problem is that the habitat is lacking in quality and quantity. We need to find a way to benefit our animals while appeasing the conservation of the national forests. The management of these lands is quickly creating barren landscapes as they allow Wilderness areas to burn and to just let the timber lay there creating fuel for the next fire while scorching the land again and again. The animals are abandoning wilderness areas due to lack of livable habitat, just look at Idaho's wilderness areas to see how the elk populations have dropped off drastically.IMO, hunters need to bind together to find ways to improve their habitat. Not worry so much about predators but find ways to expand wintering areas and not expand farming areas. Every year in the blue mountains I see more and more trees getting cut down to expand grazing land for cattle. Quickly destroying the habitat the elk and deer need. Blaming wolves and predators is taking the easy way out. We need to find ways to improve their habitat and that's not easy. We need to find better strategies for managing our national forests and grasslands and any habitat that is used by our herds. Our current situation where animals come out of the national forest to private land where hunting regulations are much more liberal and not to mention if they do "damage" by eating something they are even more quickly slaughtered while the average joe chases them around complaining the population is going down and blames the WDFW. I know what youre thinking, I am a wolf lover... well im not. I know they are affecting our animals and herds and wolfs completely change habits and movements of our animals and this change is what is affecting our hunting. The wolfs push the herds out of wilderness areas and much closer to human populations where the wolfs are scared to go. This is an incredibly challenging issue, that won't be solved by boycotting or complaining but will be solved with real discussion and finding new ways to manage our animals population and the habitat they reside upon.I am a member of multiple conservation organizations and donate very frequently to them. Us hunters need to band together to find new solutions, we need a Washington Hunters Association or something along these lines to give us a unified voice. RANT OVER! thank you for your time and reading this, I love civil discourse and discussions and this has been my favorite thread EVER and my longest post EVER. I would love to work with a biologist and help them in any ways I could. Remember you get more flys with Honey then vinegar so be nice to those WDFW guys before they close hunting off to us for good.
