Why Game And Fish Should Have Fed Deer This Winter

[ducks4days]

Less than 3800 deer survived out of a herd of 28,000? 

elksnout

That's the estimated impact based on collared animals.


https://wyofile.com/whats-in-store-for-the-devastated-wyoming-range-deer-herd/

That number seems to track with the supplemental info in the article

By the time UW professor Kevin Monteith, who leads the lab, briefed WyoFile in early June, roughly 70% of the herd’s collared does and 60% of collared bucks had been lost to winter. Every single collared fawn born in 2022 was gone. A single yearling had been hanging on, he said, but it too died on May 15, the opening day of the delayed shed antler hunting season.

[kodiak10]

It is crazy to me that so many people can easily be convinced that supplemental deer feeding kills them. It is like they have never been in farmland where deer are hanging out in hay / alfalfa.

Even though I do not know wyoming, I bet the  effects of this year's snowpack will last a long time. Must be terrible for local communities that rely on hunting tourism / out of state tags to help their small communities.

[Special T]

Here is a great article on the subject.

https://www.fieldandstream.com/story/hunting/do-bait-bans-really-help-fight-against-cwd/


THIS commission has tried to push for a baiting ban state wide with a couple of instances of CWD. NO reason exists to ban it state wide because we have 2 natural passage divisions. 1 the Columbia river. 2 the cascade mountains. have no doubt that CWD is a problem. We as sportsmen need to avoid Deer urine, Make sure to de bone  and skull cap our takes out of state. I have read studies that show  small bait sights like what we are currently limited to have less affect than apple orchards or hay fields. Why? They do not draw from larger geographic areas in which we see deer migrate to. CWD is a real threat! WE have to do our part.

It is obvious to many here that most of the commission are anti hunters, and will use every convenient opportunity to chip away at hunting. Perhaps a lack of winter feeding had some influence by the commission, perhaps not. WDFW IS feeling pressure from the Commission and it is one of the reasons Im a supporter of the WWC lawsuit against the Governor.

[Special T]

"Should chronic wasting disease been a factor in deciding whether or not to feed?  Chronic wasting disease can be considered a “wild card” in this situation.  The disease is 100 percent fatal with deer and kills them at a relatively young age. It has had detrimental effects on deer herds.  Presumably it would be spread more rapidly if deer are in close contact with each other.  This could be the situation if the deer were fed in a manner that put them in close contact with each other.  However, given the terrain of much of the deer winter range, deer could be fed in a manner where they are scattered, perhaps even greater than when feeding normally on winter ranges. 

The bottom line is the disease is working its way across Wyoming and will be here, if not already in the Wyoming Range deer herd. Given, I am not a disease expert and can only use a layman’s approach to assessing the situation.

Using the most recent information as presented in Cowboy State Daily, less than 3,800 survived last winter from the 28,000 head that entered the winter.  CWD will likely be present and will affect the herd’s ability to recover its former numbers.  It seems to me that had feeding begun early enough to save most lives, the herd would have had a better chance to recover.  Given the buck/doe ratio as presented in the 2021 Annual Report and the reported adult survival rate for last winter, less than 2,700 does are left to rebuild the herd.  This deer herd may never recover given the presence of predators, the potential effects of CWD, and the possibility of more harsh winters."

Given the amount of predators we have we can only assume the same... and that some folks would like to have a much smaller herd... reducing hunter numbers. We have heard that some Commissioners fee we have no need for Recruitment Retention and Reactivation (R3) and their motives should bee easily seen through.