Western Wyoming Mule Deer in Crisis

[opdinkslayer]

Eliminate the use of livestock and any motorized vehicles and that will cut the interest in hunting & guiding there in half. There is far more to the health and survival of this amazing migratory deer herd than just hunting pressure tho. I don't disagree with alot of what Robb says but I also think his motives are self serving. Anybody thats been there and hunted falls in love with it's beauty and the resiliency of these deer. I think we all want what's best for the deer herd in the long run. 

[ipkus]

By far the #1 problem with G and H is unlimited resident hunting.  Residents flock there from all over the state for the first two weeks of the season before returning to their home grounds Oct. 1.  Limit the currently unlimited or you are not going to solve the problem.

Secondly, I don’t know this outfitter from Adam but honestly don’t care what any outfitter in Wyoming has to say until they come out in opposition of the wilderness rule.  I am locked out of public ground solely because of a law pushed for and heavily supported by the outfitting industry.  If your way of living can’t sustain itself without a government subsidy that also hurts other citizens, to hell with ya.

[meatwhack]

if The goal is to increase the number of mature bucks then hunting pressure and success need to be reduced. There’s several ways this could be accomplished.

[walleye1]

Hopefully they accomplish something because that country is GODS gift to mule deer hunters.

[2MANY]

The unlimited resident hunting access is a joke for sure.

[Hot Lunch]

Wyoming has the most self serving entitled management of any western state. The only reason their management has worked for so long is the amount of acres they manage to the population of resident hunters. The times are catching up to them with their everything is Mary Poppins as long as your are a resident management scheme. 

[Bigshooter]

The only thing that's gonna help is a bunch of mild winters.

[Indian Summer]

Ipkus is spot on. Non resident tags are already limited and take 5 or 6 years worth of points to draw. Meanwhile residents who have much more time to scout and hunt it can buy a tag every year. No doubt that is the area that needs changed if you want to see an impact right NOW.

[Ghost Hunter]

Careful what you wish for.  If I was a resident, I'd be upset if I wasnt able to get an annual deer and elk tag.  Take away the plus side and doesn't leave many taking care of the state.  Not many want that in WA but good for WY?      

[Indian Summer]

They can always get tags. It’s very common for residents to have to draw certain units. Montana’s Bitterroot is all draw for deer as is the Breaks for elk. Colorado is like that all over the place. Let’s not forget who pays the bills. Non residents! Compare the costs of licenses and see how that stacks up. Fish and game departments would be bankrupt if they had to live on resident license money. Besides the bottom line is it’s a management of a declining herd. Unlimited resident tags is definitely an issue. Like I said a non res hunter only hunts G one week every 6 years.

[2MANY]

If their hard up for a spot that is.

[Branden]

If the post hunt buck doe ratio is over 30/100 then what’s the problem with unlimited resident hunters hunting bucks? If they are killing does that’s a different story. But I don’t believe they are.

Also I see a few comments saying resident hunters need to be limited. Problem with that is then those hunters will go crowd another unit until that unit needs to be draw only and it’s a domino affect. How many are for turning Washington’s best general season units to draw only?

Again Robb is only looking out for his bottom line. If he wanted to help the herd he would push for opening day to be on October 1st. Or cut the season down to one week.

[Bwana Bob]

I hunted region F this past season, late Oct to Nov 6. I drew this tag as a second choice tag. I had some info on the area from a few hunters that had hunted it in the past but I wasn't ready for all the people and pressure. It rivaled opening weekend here in WA. I've hunted deer before in WY but mostly limited draw areas or other regions that did not have a close to the rut season. I had better hunts in those areas even if I didn't shoot a buck. Way less people and the ability to get away from them. The area biologist did warn me that F had a hard winter and some winter kill. I talked to two resident brothers that I met in the Sunlight basin and they said it was the lowest amount of deer and especially fawns they seen in the last 15 years of hunting there.

Its been talked about limiting the residents to only one region to hunt but its not my business as a non res to tell them whats good for them. WA has a lot bigger problem with its deer herd and to many hunters. One thing I noticed is all the small basket racked bucks many non residents shot. That can't help either but tough to fix. I would like to think reducing the amount of tags even further would help but from what side that should come from is hard to say. 

Would I hunt F again, probably not but you could kill a decent buck there if you got lucky.  Hoping to burn my 6 deer points there and hunt a limited draw area before I get too old.

[whacker1]

following along.  lots of discussion about winterkill, population in general, and hunting pressure.  if they limit tags to a quota, won't the same apply to non-resident tags at a percentage of said quota?  won't it take longer for Robb's returning customers to draw tags from out of state?

I would agree that the tools they have to work with are to utilize a resident draw quota and change season dates, as the most significant impactful solutions, but curious to see where this conversation goes if anywhere.

[dscubame]

"The only strategy that is sustainable long term is a resident and nonresident draw, or a “Limited Quota System.” In my opinion, we need to reduce harvest by a minimum of 50%, have mandatory harvest reports, keep our seasons at the traditional length (Sept 15th to October 14th) to spread hunters out, keep the 3 point or better regulation in order to save the young bucks, and develop an unlimited management tag for our youth. The youth tag could be for the many, 3-point mature bucks in the herd. These mature 3x3s and 2x3s are competing with the rest of the herd on the winter grounds and need to be harvested. Most of these big 3x3s and 2x3s are dying of old age. Our winter grounds are full of them. These bucks would keep our youth in the field as well as aid in the herd’s winter ground survival. This strategy would require that a resident preference point system be developed for deer and elk."

I tend to agree with this part of the article and specifically some sort of resident preference point system.