Wy Lope rebound?

[wytx]

@wytx also, did you not even read my reply?

Sorry man, saw that after I posted.
I always wonder why folks question locals when they state something but hey that is my issue.
Again sorry .

So far good rains but still need more and not all in about an hour.
Hope you all over in Cheyenne don't get the bad stuff.
Spouse said west part of town here got several inches of hail while we got rain.

The antelope don't need a big hail storm either.
Fawns we have look healthy right now but the range was looking pretty sad until this rain came.
Hoping to see better conditions out on the plains Sunday morning.

 

[wytx]

Why do you guys think that the antelope are in such a decline. They reproduce quickly they keep declining. I dont see a lot of development in WY so loss of habitat doesnt appear to be a factor.

That chart above is missing the last 10 years and I cant find anything more recent. Anyone have a more recent population chart?

Habitat right now. Drought is brutal on the population, and winterkill.

 

[Coveyleader]

The I-80 corridor is in shambles. It’s a ghost town from what it was. Not even a fraction of antelope in those areas.


The Saratoga line down bad as well. There are a few pockets here and there that have numbers, but overall, it is a far cry from what WY used to be.

 

[huntsd]

I think this is more of an accurate statement.

Going off what I've personally seen across the landscape since 2010, it's less and less every year. I travel all over the state, it's only continued to decline every single year.
Over and over again I've voiced my concerns to stop killing does, period, in person at the game and fish meetings and in submissions. Every single time I get told killing some does will not effect the population...
My family applies for doe licenses every year, then we shred them.

This!!!!

 

[go_deep]

In 2010 the one hunt area I like to antelope hunt in had 1,750 buck licenses and 500 doe licenses, for one hunt area! Numerous hunt area all over the state had over 1,000's antelope licenses. Now a few hundred per hunt area or in many cases we'll under a hundred license per hunt area... That's a 80-90% reduction in licenses. The populations have been destroyed, many winter areas I use to see hundreds of thousands of antelope, now many of those areas have zero, literally I will never see an antelope all winter in some of these 10 mile square winter ranges where there use to be thousands.

 

[wytx]

Lets not forget to add in a few thousand feral horses eating forage on the Western half of the state.
I should have stopped and taken a pic of the BLM section along the highway that has a feral horse refuge on it.
The difference between it and the land right across the highway not grazed by horses was extreme.

 

[farmermail]

Quite a few variables impacting pronghorn in WY:

• 2019, 2021, 2023 winterkill. Harsh winters too close together.
• Mycoplasma bovis, a strain of pneumonia native to bovines that began jumping to pronghorn in 2019. Some herds have lost 50% due to this disease. Unknown if this was always present, but not noticed, or if this is a new impact.
• Range condition
  • In some areas, drought/invasive species significantly impacting available browse, thus limiting population potential
  • In other areas, maturing landscape where trees are increasing is reducing preferred habitat. Pronghorn once roamed and now do not use it due to altering landscape
  • Similar to mule deer, pronghorn do not have the necessary gut biome to process large quantities of alfalfa/hay, thus limiting effectiveness of supplemental feeding programs during harsh winters.
• Migration corridors being impacted due to development
• Development of areas for gas/oil
  • Not the same as housing of course, but the initial impact of road building, traffic, and disturbance of vegetation will negatively impact habitat use for quite some time.

Alone or in combination, these variables will certainly have long term implications for populations, especially at local levels. Biologists across the state have been alarmed at the lack of population bounce back, in many different areas. In 2006, population was around 500k. 2023 estimate is around 285k, with some populations 90% lower vs. 10 year average (Wyoming Range).

 

[manitou1]

Numbers are in the tank from what I’ve seen and as said above not many fawns.

Same for our area.

I don't know why people expect a rebound 1.5 years after the worst winter in history, preceeded by severe drought and disease.

It takes a few years guys!

If the state keeps allowing does to be slaughtered and continues to over sell tags we will never see a real "rebound".

Pronghorn have been on a steady decline for twenty years now.

 

[manitou1]

Quite a few variables impacting pronghorn in WY:

• 2019, 2021, 2023 winterkill. Harsh winters too close together.
• Mycoplasma bovis, a strain of pneumonia native to bovines that began jumping to pronghorn in 2019. Some herds have lost 50% due to this disease. Unknown if this was always present, but not noticed, or if this is a new impact.
• Range condition
  • In some areas, drought/invasive species significantly impacting available browse, thus limiting population potential
  • In other areas, maturing landscape where trees are increasing is reducing preferred habitat. Pronghorn once roamed and now do not use it due to altering landscape
  • Similar to mule deer, pronghorn do not have the necessary gut biome to process large quantities of alfalfa/hay, thus limiting effectiveness of supplemental feeding programs during harsh winters.
• Migration corridors being impacted due to development
• Development of areas for gas/oil
  • Not the same as housing of course, but the initial impact of road building, traffic, and disturbance of vegetation will negatively impact habitat use for quite some time.

Alone or in combination, these variables will certainly have long term implications for populations, especially at local levels. Biologists across the state have been alarmed at the lack of population bounce back, in many different areas. In 2006, population was around 500k. 2023 estimate is around 285k, with some populations 90% lower vs. 10 year average (Wyoming Range).

Agree with all the above but you forgot: " Over selling tags".

 

[wapitibob]

Agree with all the above but you forgot: " Over selling tags".

2,325 Pronghorn Doe tags in 2024, way too many in my opinion. They give the damn things away so it's not like they need the money.

 

[BKIdaho]

Wow, not what I wanted to hear in many ways but appreciate the responses.

Could sure use some help from Mother Nature in back to back years, but that feels unlikely.

So much of our best SW Idaho wintering grounds are burning right now so the news continues to disappoint.

 

[go_deep]

Wow, not what I wanted to hear in many ways but appreciate the responses.

Could sure use some help from Mother Nature in back to back years, but that feels unlikely.

So much of our best SW Idaho wintering grounds are burning right now so the news continues to disappoint.

Back to back years will do very little.
The real honest to God truth is antelope need almost a decade of good weather to fully recover.

 

[CobraChicken]

I think it depends where you live in wyo. I've seen tons of healthy does and fawns around central wyo. The ones closer to town seemed to fair so much better.

West would be different. Not like it was a few years ago. Hoping it gets better faster. Our golf course supports a healthy herd

 

[Archer86]

2,325 Pronghorn Doe tags in 2024, way too many in my opinion. They give the damn things away so it's not like they need the money.

I dont think 2,325 doe tags have much effect on a population over 300,000 antelope most of those tags are in areas where biologist determined they need does harvested.

Seen good numbers in central wyoming this year Where we have buck tags

 

[manitou1]

I dont think 2,325 doe tags have much effect on a population over 300,000 antelope most of those tags are in areas where biologist determined they need does harvested.

Seen good numbers in central wyoming this year Where we have buck tags

There are no good numbers compared to just ten years ago.

 

[Archer86]

There are no good numbers compared to just ten years ago.

Nothings like it was 10 years ago.

 

[go_deep]

I dont think 2,325 doe tags have much effect on a population over 300,000 antelope most of those tags are in areas where biologist determined they need does harvested.

Seen good numbers in central wyoming this year Where we have buck tags

This number over 10 years is based on the survival rate of .5 doe fawns per the initial 2325 does. 10 years of not killing 2325 does gets you about 134,000 Antelope.
Lots of variables to this, weather the primary one, but it's a realistic number to start the conversation.