Winterkill Update: Utah, Idaho, Wyoming

[mtnwrunner]

Another 12 inches today. Unreal.

They really do need a break. Its coming this weekend!!

Randy

 

[CorbLand]

6-8 more inches last night.

 

[CM]

When you talk to the old timers they all talk about the winter of 92/93 as the end of the good deer hunting. I really hope we don't look back at this winter as the end of the mediocre deer hunting. Hopefully there's enough survivors for the herds to bounce back.

 

[Laramie]

I just talked to the Bio regarding Region G deer and he said they are expecting 30% winter kill on 1+ year olds and total loss of the fawns.

Sad thing is this is just a guess. I have a good friend with the State of Wyoming who I talk with regularly. He said they do have estimates but the reality is they won't know the true impacts until the snow melts. He is saying 80%-100% kill for antelope and 50-75% for deer in a lot of areas isn't a stretch. He said there are internal battles going on regarding tag reductions but isn't sure how it will shake out in the end since nobody has seen this level of winter kill in the past.

 

[MuleyFever]

Sad thing is this is just a guess. I have a good friend with the State of Wyoming who I talk with regularly. He said they do have estimates but the reality is they won't know the true impacts until the snow melts. He is saying 80%-100% kill for antelope and 50-75% for deer in a lot of areas isn't a stretch. He said there are internal battles going on regarding tag reductions but isn't sure how it will shake out in the end since nobody has seen this level of winter kill in the past.

I talked to another Bio about tag reactions this morning and he said they already finalized everything. I wonder if they are talking about revising those numbers. Hopefully someone is pushing for the state to take another look. This winter is pretty serious in terms of impacts to the wildlife. It will be interesting to see if the state takes it seriously.

 

[Laramie]

I talked to another Bio about tag reactions this morning and he said they already finalized everything. I wonder if they are talking about revising those numbers. Hopefully someone is pushing for the state to take another look. This winter is pretty serious in terms of impacts to the wildlife. It will be interesting to see if the state takes it seriously.

I believe he is misinformed as far as the entire state is concerned. This latest storm will really take out a lot of animals that were already weakened. It looks like a significant weather change for the better coming next week so hopefully they will finally be able to truly evaluate where the herds stand.

Here is just one location from yesterday-


Just the above storm alone, coming at this time of year, will take out many that would have otherwise survived.

 

[S.Clancy]

If I am remembering correctly we had >80% antelope morality in portions of NE MT in 2010/2011. Several hundred fell through the ice on Fort Peck and between 500-1000 were hit by trains as the tracks were the only places they could walk. They came back, but it took awhile. MT FWP cut tags by a ton, I would have to look back at numbers, but I wanna say 80% or so

 

[PVHunter]

And 60 degrees on easter at 6800' ... going to have a Tulare Lake situation in my basement.

 

[Plainsman79]

The biologist I’ve been talking to in South Central Wyoming was expecting a minimum of 30% mortality on adult deer and almost 100% loss on fawns. For this particular herd, fawns make up 1/3 of the total population. This was 10 days ago and he expects the adult mortality to rise with this current storm.

The good news is that in years past after a hard winter, the herd tends to respond fairly quickly. It’s just going to take a few years for mature bucks to come back.

He also told me recommendations are tabled for a reduction in non-resident tags along with trimming a few days off the end of the season.

 

[CorbLand]

She ain’t throwing the towel in yet.

 

[fngTony]

She ain’t throwing the towel in yet.View attachment 542366

Is that from today? I’d be moving,

 

[CorbLand]

Is that from today? I’d be moving,

7:49 this morning. Snowed about 2 inches today. It’s mostly gone now.

 

[dirtytough]

I’ve followed along and seen the different numbers for mortality between adults and fawns. Sometimes I see the breakdown between does and bucks.

When it comes to adult aged deer what are the worst hit age classes? I’m assuming that 2-3 year olds have the highest survival. But after seeing different studies maybe it’s the complete opposite and 2-3 year olds have the highest mortality rate besides fawns?

Is there any data out there on age class of adult survival?

 

[ProStaffSteve]

Found about 20 dead elk & 20 dead deer out shed hunting. Not a single antler to be found. Coyotes must have run off with them before restrictions lifted or during the week! Couple guys were carrying out nice sheds. Might be a tough year to hunt Utah…. I did see a silver lining baby deer in an urban setting, they might have faired better. Lots of dead, very stinky, I’m bad at shed hunting

 

[CorbLand]

Found about 20 dead elk & 20 dead deer out shed hunting. Not a single antler to be found. Coyotes must have run off with them before restrictions lifted or during the week! Couple guys were carrying out nice sheds. Might be a tough year to hunt Utah…. I did see a silver lining baby deer in an urban setting, they might have faired better. Lots of dead, very stinky, I’m bad at shed hunting

Did a 3 mile loop on Tuesday and found 37 dead deer.

 

[ProStaffSteve]

Did a 3 mile loop on Tuesday and found 37 dead deer.

Checks out. Really sad. Any antlers?

 

[CorbLand]

Checks out. Really sad. Any antlers?

Nope but I was more looking for dead deer than antlers. I did see a decent dead head about 30 yards onto private. He had been there for a while though.

 

[MuleyFever]

I noticed yesterday that they are cutting deer tags in the Northern region by 30%. Sad deal all around.

 

[tankgijohn72]

Anybody know deer fared around Pocatello? Toponce canyon area?