What has happened to the Mule Deer
Mule Deer
IN the last several weeks I have had many people ask what has happened to the Mule Deer herds in the west. So here is an example of one area in eastern Nevada. This was up until several years ago one of last great bow hunting areas. The Ruby Mountains . This year the state issued the following deer tags. Starting in Aug Bow tags,915. Sept Muzzleloader 353, Oct Rifle 1,531, 2nd rifle 1,343, 3d hunt 318, a youth hunt for bucks or does 350, Then a real piece of wild life management a doe hunt with 1,000 tags. then another bow hunt with 235 tags. This is what happens when state wildlife departments are listening to biologist with no practical experience. There only experience is working for other Government agencies. I do not believe there is a State Deer biologist in Nevada , that could ever get a job in private Wild life management. In the real world ,no one believes in fairy tails only results!
That is a hell of a lot of tags for one year
I believe Arizona G&F is collaborating with Nevada!
I believe it is all about $$$$$
Same thing in Montana. HUNT
What is the herd population? Is the overall population increasing/declinging? What is the hunting success rate? How many tags were given in years/decades past?
Numbers like you have posted mean nothing without some context.
Too many tags, too much poaching and shooting in velvet, to many days hunting pressure. Too much pandering to special weapons lobby. The list goes on.
What are the overall success rates for each catagory of tags, master guide?
It's one thing to issue over 2800 rifle tags, but quite another if the success rate is only 20% or so.
You see my point, I'm sure.
Amoebus, the numbers I have posted mean nothing without context you say. Ill try to explain. What is the herd population, Who would know ? they work off of a computer model. Is the herd increasing/declining well it must be increasing because of the huge increases in tags. What is the hunting success, who would know. When the state game department was audited by the game commission they refused to release the real results. See were I am going ,the truth is Mule Deer herds are crashing in the west from over hunting and low fawn survival, (about 10 %)due to coyotes. Antelope numbers are even lower. If the hunters do not stand together and stop the nonsense with these state game departments mule deer hunting will be a thing of the past.
Extended drought, too much hunting pressure, competition from elk and whitetail deer, loss of habitat, predators, disease. They have a tough gig for sure!
Mule deer numbers in Arizona during my lifetime have plummeted. Elk numbers are slightly below their peak of a few years ago. Whitetail numbers continue to climb. Habitat continues to decline. The drought seems to have no end in sight. Pressure from predators can be managed in some areas. I believe a big thing we can do is be more conservative with our seasons but that is tough thing to do when this species has been the cash cow of our departments for far too long.
Off my soapbox now.
Nick
Sometimes success rates are low because there's no animals (or mature animals) though.
I agree, there's too many tags given out in the Rubies. I'd love to hunt there and have almost pulled the trigger - hell, there were left over archery tags a while back. But I'm not going to haul myself that far back into that rough of terrain only to get stepped on by a bunch of other guys racing to 130-150 inch deer. The tags need to be cut across the board.
Old Sarge, wished I could give you some real numbers not distorted facts . In Nevada Hunters must return, a Hunt report card. I meet with the people who were hired to do the audit, both PHDs from California. They told me they were Denied access to the hunt report cards by the game dept there. This just gets better and better. So the real Success is not for the public to see.
Eastern Oregon white tails are on the move into Mule deer country. Not helping at all. Throw in thousands of feral horses in there doesn't help.
I'm a pilot and today I overflew approximately 50,000 acres near Tucson. Saw one deer. 20 yrs. ago I would have seen dozens...
In Nebraska the answer is simply overhunting. With the extreme whitetail die-off and little adjustment in the numbers of tags, what do you think took the hardest hit? If it were not for the large amounts of private land that control hunter numbers, you would hardly find any decent numbers of mule deer in NE. All of the state g&f commissions need to take a serious look at doing what is best for the deer and not their pocketbooks.
Same way in Kansas. I use to get video or trail cam pics of upto 15 bachelor bucks in a group this year I got 1 yep only 1 mule deer pic or any video and I have 64 square miles of access with no roads all private, perfect Mule deer Habitat.
This is exactly why I have changed my focus the past few years to taking a big mulies with my bow before its impossible. Not sure why states can't figure this out...seems like poor management to me.
master guide -
I would find out what the Nevada data practices regulations are regarding private and public data. Many states have updated their regs to specifically define what data is private and what is public. In MN public data MUST be made available upon request.
MN is struggling with deer numbers and license allotments also...although we don't have mule deer darn it! Minnesota Bowhunters Inc (MBI), and other organizations, have been pushing DNR for a more open and scientific process for allocating deer licenses. Yes it takes some pushing but we hunters must stand up and demand adequate and equal representation in these discussions.
My posted link is to the MBI website. Take a look at the 'Brooks Blog' pages. Our President, Brooks Johnson has been pushing hard to ensure DNR makes some changes and progress is being made. It now appears a DNR audit of the program will be proposed at next years legislative session. Take a look at some of the MBI actions and challenges presented there.
Good luck and don't just stand by and let it happen. Demand a voice in where things are going.
Dwayne
Lions are more plentiful now too. If elk and deer have to compete for forage during winter the elk win. More elk now than there was 20+ years ago except where the wolves are.
