Let a deer walk

[boneaddict]

I saw this on FB.   Interesting….  (Wyoming)

How To Enter!  Place your phone number on the back of your carcass coupon on your general or limited quota deer license and mail it to P.O. Box 147, La Barge, WY 83123.  Your name and phone number will then be entered into a random lottery raffle for a chance to win one of the below-mentioned prizes, valuing over $100,000!!! 

It’s no secret, the 2022/2023 winter was extremely challenging for our wildlife.  The design of this program is to take some pressure off the icon of Wyoming and #LetADeerWalk!  This a statewide initiative!

This program is not meant to discourage hunting, please get outdoors, go deer hunting, buy an elk tag or two, get a black bear tag, spend time with family and friends outdoors.  If you’re on the fence this year, then please participate in this raffle!

Licenses are due to the above address by August 1st, 2023

Drawing will be held August 15th, 2023

All tags will be entered and tracked to prevent duplicate license re-prints.

A parent or guardian is required if a youth under 18 years of age is drawn.

Headline Sponsor – SOS Well Services, LLC.
 
Prize List:
2024 Commissioner License

A Whole Beef - Cut - Wrapped – Frozen - 307 Meat Company

Custom Truck Build - Truck King

Custom Rifle, chambered in a 6.5 PRC - Red Desert Rifles/ Blue Mountain Precision/ Straight Jack Armory / Twisted Barrels / Hawkins Precision

Sportsman 450 Four-Wheeler – BaseCamp & Schmid Development

Deer Hunters Optics Package – includes a Maven Spotting Scope and Binoculars - Maven & Joe Erwin

$5,000 - Nielsen Furniture and Appliance Gift Card - Mike & Pam Schmid

$3,000 - Rocky Mountain Discount Sports Gift Card - SOS Well Service

2023/2024 WY Guided Mountain Lion Hunt – One hunter, one guide - Tri-Spoke Outfitters

2023/2024 WY Fall YOUTH Black Bear Hunt – One hunter & one non-hunter - Greys River Outfitters

2024/2025 WY Spring or Fall Black Bear Hunt – One hunter, one guide - Trophy Mountain Outfitters

Eight Day Wolf Hunt - Alberta, Canada - One hunter, one guide - Timber King Outfitting 

$2,000 in Kuiu Gift Cards - Full Circle Wealth Strategies

Mule Deer Shoulder Mount - Dewey Wildlife Studio

$1,000 - Gift Card towards Taxidermy work of persons choice - Roundy Taxidermy 

Redneck Survival Kit – includes an Electric Chainsaw, Rock Island Arms 12 gauge Shot Gun and a Yeti Cooler - Mountainland Supply / Woody Studt / Cody Thompson

Deer Hunters Camo Package - Kryptek

Photo credit - JoelnHeather Luzmoor
Photo edit - Aleeshia Hickenbotham

[Deadeyety]

Epic outdoors is doing something similar as well with a bunch of giveaways. It’s called Muleys Matter on instagram

[grundy53]

I like it!

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[bigmacc]

Interesting, I can’t say it’s a bad idea.👍

We used to put in and burn doe tags when we drew back in the day but there sure weren’t those kind of prizes involved in our camp🤣

[Mtnwalker]

Is this officially sponsored by WGFD? I get the sentiment and agree the deer could use a break this year, but I do find it a little funny that they would sell tags and then incentivize you not to fill them instead of just doing tag cuts

[bobcat]

Is this officially sponsored by WGFD?

No

[Mtnwalker]

Is this officially sponsored by WGFD?

No

That makes more sense then. 

[dvolmer]

It's def a resident thing.  Nobody is going to burn their non-res preference points to buy a $400-$650 license so they can enter the drawing.  But it will reduce some hunting pressure.  Not to sure it will reduce the number of animals (bucks and bulls) getting shot by hunters.  The deer they don't shoot by entering the drawing will probably be shot by the next guy over the following ridge. A few deer (bucks and bulls) will be saved but not the mass numbers they are hoping to save.  The real way to make a dent in the problem is for the residents of Wyoming to do this raffle with all of their doe mule deer, doe antelope, and cow elk tags.  Now that could make a dent in the problem possibly.

[Alan K]

Without WGFD's involvement how would they be able to confirm there are no license reprints?

I appreciate the sentiment.  Game departments generally hug the line of what's sustainable a little too closely IMO.  Then you have winters like this, predators thrown on top, and next thing you know the populations are a shell of what they once were.

[Meow]

It's def a resident thing.  Nobody is going to burn their non-res preference points to buy a $400-$650 license so they can enter the drawing.  But it will reduce some hunting pressure.  Not to sure it will reduce the number of animals (bucks and bulls) getting shot by hunters.  The deer they don't shoot by entering the drawing will probably be shot by the next guy over the following ridge. A few deer (bucks and bulls) will be saved but not the mass numbers they are hoping to save.  The real way to make a dent in the problem is for the residents of Wyoming to do this raffle with all of their doe mule deer, doe antelope, and cow elk tags.  Now that could make a dent in the problem possibly.

If I draw a cow elk tag I might send it in. I already am considering not going even without this chance to recoup the money. I agree that killing female animals at this point is inappropriate. I'm moving to Wyoming in the near future and want populations to thrive.

Killing some mature bucks or bulls won't have much impact on the overall numbers long term, but I was dismayed to see how small the cuts to doe and cow tags were for this season.

[andrew_in_idaho]

I love how you have to turn in your tag by August 1 but they say go deer or elk hunting still


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[bobcat]

This is only for deer.
That's why it's called "Let a deer walk"

[idaho guy]

It’s a a good idea in my opinion. Can’t hurt. I definitely wouldn’t participate with a non resident tag! If I was a resident I would consider it for sure. Still lots to hunt as a resident in Wyoming lion,bear,wolf,elk and antelope. Giving mule deer a year off wouldn’t keep a resident from doing a lot of hunting

[dvolmer]

The big flaw in all of this is that a bunch of residents and a few non-residents will turn in their tag to enter the drawing by the August 1st deadline and try to win a prize.  Then a week before the season they will stop off at their neighborhood sporting good store and get a duplicate tag for a few bucks and go deer hunting.  Tons of loop-holes in this "Save the Day" scheme.  Don't get me wrong, I think the deer need all the breaks they can get but this idea has some major flaws in it.  There is no way they can monitor Fish and Game's duplicate (lost tag) system that will print another tag for just a few bucks.  Three years ago we hunted Wyoming and my buddy forgot his tag here in Washington.  We stopped by the sporting goods store and they printed him up a new one for somewhere around $10.  Easiest way to really impact the herd is to shut down ALL doe hunts.  I know they have done some of that but it needs to be absolutely no doe tags at all.

[Stein]

It's on the honor system.  There will be fewer deer shot than if they didn't do it.  That's more of an impact than I am making, so I can't be all that critical of a bunch of people donating stuff to make a difference.