Bad news for South Central Wyoming

[ipkus]

It's been a brutal winter across the rockies.  Really sucks, it will be interesting to see how quickly the game comes back but its going to be a few years before things get back to normal.  Even then I'm afraid it will be a "new normal" with lower herd numbers. 

At least here in WA we have been spared of as harsh of a winter.

Here in Washington we are already working with “new normal” herd sizes, and they’ll keep getting worse…

[Widgeondeke]

Anyone else get the email today showing the "significant adjustments" made by WGFD? They reduced antelope & deer tags by the thousands. Totally cancelled many seasons. Also shortened many seasons
                                             

[zwickeyman]

I have a feeling Idaho will do the same thing and they should

[vandeman17]

Anyone else get the email today showing the "significant adjustments" made by WGFD? They reduced antelope & deer tags by the thousands. Totally cancelled many seasons. Also shortened many seasons
                                             

Just got it and happy they are being proactive. Hopefully hunters understand

[baldopepper]

I have a feeling Idaho will do the same thing and they should

  I'm not familiar with idaho.regs, but haven't they already sold all their non resident tags?  Would they actually have to contract non resident hunters and rescind their tags?  I'm sure the residents wouldn't want to see restrictions hitting them but not effecting non residents.  Son in law and his group all have antlerless elk tags for one of the southeast units, wondering if they'll let those hunts go on.

[Farmer72]

Anyone else get the email today showing the "significant adjustments" made by WGFD? They reduced antelope & deer tags by the thousands. Totally cancelled many seasons. Also shortened many seasons
                                             

Just got it and happy they are being proactive. Hopefully hunters understand

It sucks since I had points to get drawn but totally the right thing to do. What I like is they did it the year it happened and not waiting 3 years to cut tags like they do here.

[time2hunt]

Here’s the proposals

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Get-Involved/Public-Meetings


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[zwickeyman]

I have a feeling Idaho will do the same thing and they should

  I'm not familiar with idaho.regs, but haven't they already sold all their non resident tags?  Would they actually have to contract non resident hunters and rescind their tags?  I'm sure the residents wouldn't want to see restrictions hitting them but not effecting non residents.  Son in law and his group all have antlerless elk tags for one of the southeast units, wondering if they'll let those hunts go on.

Thats a good point. Im not sure how they would handle it

[vandeman17]

I have a feeling Idaho will do the same thing and they should

  I'm not familiar with idaho.regs, but haven't they already sold all their non resident tags?  Would they actually have to contract non resident hunters and rescind their tags?  I'm sure the residents wouldn't want to see restrictions hitting them but not effecting non residents.  Son in law and his group all have antlerless elk tags for one of the southeast units, wondering if they'll let those hunts go on.

Thats a good point. Im not sure how they would handle it

If they recalled a tag that I had draw I would be disappointed but would understand. Not sure others would be but we need to focus on the long game

[Mtnwalker]

So what am I not seeing here? Looks like tag cuts in the area we applied for but the Snotel is looking fairly average. I understand they’ve had a big winter, especially in the south. Is there different data I can look at that is a better representation of the actual conditions than snowtel snowpack?

[WAcoueshunter]

I have a feeling Idaho will do the same thing and they should

  I'm not familiar with idaho.regs, but haven't they already sold all their non resident tags?  Would they actually have to contract non resident hunters and rescind their tags?  I'm sure the residents wouldn't want to see restrictions hitting them but not effecting non residents.  Son in law and his group all have antlerless elk tags for one of the southeast units, wondering if they'll let those hunts go on.

Thats a good point. Im not sure how they would handle it

If they recalled a tag that I had draw I would be disappointed but would understand. Not sure others would be but we need to focus on the long game

People would lose their minds.  I've never understood why a State with a high risk of winterkill wouldn't wait to see how the winter turns out every year before they set tag numbers and seasons.

[WAcoueshunter]

It's been a brutal winter across the rockies.  Really sucks, it will be interesting to see how quickly the game comes back but its going to be a few years before things get back to normal.  Even then I'm afraid it will be a "new normal" with lower herd numbers. 

Nature is resilient...it will take a few years, but things will bounce back.  The year I hunted H, I think 2011 or so (?), Guy Eastman was also in there and proclaimed it to be the worst winterkill in the history of the planet.  Like 90% winterkill.  Similar impact on the neighboring antelope herds.  Pretty much what he's saying now for 2023.  H and G turned around okay in between.   

[Buckjunkie]

It's been a brutal winter across the rockies.  Really sucks, it will be interesting to see how quickly the game comes back but its going to be a few years before things get back to normal.  Even then I'm afraid it will be a "new normal" with lower herd numbers. 

Nature is resilient...it will take a few years, but things will bounce back.  The year I hunted H, I think 2011 or so (?), Guy Eastman was also in there and proclaimed it to be the worst winterkill in the history of the planet.  Like 90% winterkill.  Similar impact on the neighboring antelope herds.  Pretty much what he's saying now for 2023.  H and G turned around okay in between.   

Been hunting H since 1994. I don’t pay much attention to the Eastmans. Biologists will tell you that deer in G & H recover faster than other herds. After a bad die off, does will throw two or three fawns. That said, it takes a while until the quality comes back. It was already bad already. A resident friend that usually kills 200” deer every year had a hard time finding a 180” buck last season. This doesn’t help.

While G & H are impacted, the news is saying South Central Wyoming is hit the hardest.

[bobcat]

So what am I not seeing here? Looks like tag cuts in the area we applied for but the Snotel is looking fairly average. I understand they’ve had a big winter, especially in the south. Is there different data I can look at that is a better representation of the actual conditions than snowtel snowpack?

The thing thing that you can't tell from the snotel data is that the snow was deep and never went away on all the lower elevation winter range. That's not normal. The Snotel is just high elevation which isn't really that relevant for winter survival.

[baldopepper]

I have a feeling Idaho will do the same thing and they should

  I'm not familiar with idaho.regs, but haven't they already sold all their non resident tags?  Would they actually have to contract non resident hunters and rescind their tags?  I'm sure the residents wouldn't want to see restrictions hitting them but not effecting non residents.  Son in law and his group all have antlerless elk tags for one of the southeast units, wondering if they'll let those hunts go on.

Thats a good point. Im not sure how they would handle it

If they recalled a tag that I had draw I would be disappointed but would understand. Not sure others would be but we need to focus on the long game

People would lose their minds.  I've never understood why a State with a high risk of winterkill wouldn't wait to see how the winter turns out every year before they set tag numbers and seasons.

I think it's a money thing. Not that many put in for multiple tags, so the first to issue tags gets more applicants than states that start later and only get those who haven't been successful in the earlier state.  Not sure that still matters as most sell out anyway. I ve wondered that same thing for a long time and it's about the only reason I can come up with. Certainly could be a problem for a state like Idaho this year, but, hate to say it, I'll be surprised if Idaho makes any changes for this year. Too much money involved.