Wyoming Region B 2022 saw very very few deer...any feed back from others? It was BAD

[StuckInTheEast]

Just looking for feedback from anyone who hit Wyoming Region B for deer recently.
After 2 days scouting and 3.5 hunting hard and trying all the tricks we were so disappointed we cut the trip short.
I'm not one to give up easy, but the scarcity of deer in general in Region B, much less on public land, was just utterly sickening.
We saw NO deer where deer should be and only a handful overall.
Everyone ww talked to out there said the same. I would say it's bad luck, but my hunting partner and I have both hunted Wyoming before and never seen so few animals. The pronghorn were thin as well but much more of them to be seen than deer.
The general consensus from numerous local sources(NOT the state biologists we spoke too pre trip) is that the last 2 winters and then EHD decimated the deer in the region. A local taxidermist said his intake of animals was down so much last year and this year he advised fish and wildlife they should consider calling the season and not opening it next year.
I'd love some feedback from others on
Wyoming Region B.

 

[wvbowman912]

I hunted opening weekend and I had the same experience. No deer on public land. Found a few groups of does (mulie and whitetail) on private and saw one pretty nice buck in the dark (unit 10 though). Covered a lot of miles on my feet and in the truck. Quite disheartening

 

[Fatcamp]

B is hurting. Antelope numbers are way down compared to just a few years ago, and mule deer are worse off yet.

Not sure why. Poaching? Overgrazing? Disease? Winter?

Right across the border in SD the deer and antelope are doing well. Bit of a mystery.

 

[2rocky]

I hunted B in 2003. Even then I thought it was slim pickings. I recall one shootable buck I bumped with my rifle in one hand and spotting scope in the other. Never got a shot and it was the only buck I saw. Saw 2 hunters with dead bucks in the 5 days we were there, and the best bucks were inside the fence on coal mines.

Did you see any Elk around there?

 

[StuckInTheEast]

I'd say hurting is putting it lightly from what we saw and heard first hand. I doubt poaching is making a significant impact. It seems to me the problem is known, but it seems any steps towards a solution are not in play yet.
It honestly feels like a money grap by the state...they know numbers are dangerously low, yet it's one of the easiest regions to draw in the state. It's misleading/unfair to sportsmen and more exploitation than conservation in my humble opinion. when locals who's business depend on animal harvest are saying stop the season...the state is not doing its job.
I'm a bit bitter at the expense and time spent to eat tag soup, but thats hunting.
Im more irritated at how wyoming is handling the situation...or more not handling it.

 

[StuckInTheEast]

saw no elk. We did stumble on a bit if fresh sign and tracks from lone animals. My hunting buddy thought he heard a bugle one day up in the elk mountains(avoid that place...never seen so many people trying to hunt one place) I found free set if tracks and droppings from lone animal Northwest of Newcastle...but never saw any, and we did alot of hiking and even more driving

 

[rperham]

I will mirror what was said in previous posts. 2022 was my third year in a row going there and it has progressively gotten worse each year. 2020 was my first year mule deer hunting and I took my late 70s neighbor who had hunted out there in the 80s and 90s. We both got extremely lucky and killed two nice bucks the first and second day of season after 4 days of dark to dawn scouting. Fast forward to the next year 5 days of scouting killed a nice goat and on the fourth day of season shot a small forkhorn (now knowing the state of the deer heard feel guilty for doing that) which was the only antlered deer bigger then a spike we saw on public ground our entire trip of 12 days. I was determined to not go back but the neighbor wanted one last trip so I went back in 2022. 4 days of scouting 6 days of hunting I ended up getting extremely lucky and found a decent buck (for the area) which was the only non spike I saw on public once again in 10ish days. My neighbor is 80 this year and talked me into going again his health has deteriated and I have little expectation of filling a tag but taking him to see the country one last time is all that I need. I don’t want anyone to be mislead thinking we killed 4 bucks(1 dink) in 3 trips and expect that. In those three trips we hunted/scouted 28 days total I put on 10 plus miles every single day and only saw 4 bucks bigger then a spike we just got EXTREMELY lucky to harvest the ones we did. If anyone else is hunting the 23’ season and wants to compare notes feel free to message me. Sorry for the long post

 

[G&D920]

I hunted the second weekend/Week in 2022 in Region B and my buddy and I both tagged out on public land. Saw deer ever time out (morning and evenings), but had a hard time locating bucks. Lots of does.

We ended up shooting a nice body 2x2 and a 3x3. Not 100% what we were looking for, but we hunted hard for a week to fill the tags. I will add we saw one really nice 160-170 class buck on Public, but it was getting to late to put a stalk on (Never relocated it the next morning).

Update from this year 2023 (Buddy of mine): they hunted a full week (including opening weekend) and they did NOT fill there tags hunting the same areas we had success last year. only saw two small bucks the entire week. (spikes)

 

[eaglemountainman]

I had hunted general area B for three years, for antelope and deer. I shot a nice pronghorn in 2019, a very nice muley in 2020 and settled for a good whitetail in 2021 because the mulies were just nonexistent. Because of progressively fewer sightings and quality of bucks, I decided to give that area a rest in 2022. I went and hunted blacktails in Oregon. Now with this past devastating winter, it doesn't look too promising for at least a few years... and that's assuming very favorable conditions.

 

[rcook10]

Never shot a deer sitting on my computer at home… Going home early sure won’t get you far.

 

[KHNC]

Any whitetail left in area 10?

 

[WCB]

Try going to Region A....especially the area around the Bear Lodge MTNs. I was there for a week hunting elk and on Natl Forest in 3.5 days saw a total of maybe 15 deer. While actively hunting and covering about 12 miles a day we saw 2 deer that we jumped. We used to deer hunt there and by accident you would see 50-60 deer a day in the forest. Ditches normally covered with deer on the ranch roads....2 days we saw zero driving out before sunrise and going back to where we were staying at night. Private ranch my dad ended up killing his bull on normally has Hundreds of deer on it. Honestly saw 50 deer in 2.5 days if that.

Whitetails in that country who cares IMO...3 or 4 years they'll be like fleas again. Mule Deer though it does not look good....But guys will still shoot as many MD does as possible because "the game and fish set that number of tags so it is ok"

 

[wapitibob]

Game and Fish spelled it out pretty well..

"Mule deer densities here are generally low, and the majority of mule deer reside on private lands. Limited mule deer harvest comes off public land. Hunters should consider securing permission to hunt private lands before planning a hunt here. This area is not managed for trophy mule deer, but rather for recreation. Hunter success is typically fair on private land but low on public land, with crowding on publically accessible lands being an issue at times. White-tailed deer hunting opportunities are limited and found almost exclusively on private lands in riparian corridors."

 

[eaglemountainman]

Even with the most favorable of conditions, (i.e. less severe winters, less severe drought, less severe disease and the issuance of zero doe tags, for a sustained period), its going to take years for these numbers to bounce back.

Unfortunately, WGFD only has control over one of those variables, and they choose to make more money, instead.

 

[Jaden Bales]

Even with the most favorable of conditions, (i.e. less severe winters, less severe drought, less severe disease and the issuance of zero doe tags, for a sustained period), its going to take years for these numbers to bounce back.

Unfortunately, WGFD only has control over one of those variables, and they choose to make more money, instead.

Why do you say that? WGFD eliminated all mule deer doe tags there this year...as well as the youth "any" deer opportunity.

 

[Jaden Bales]

Try going to Region A....especially the area around the Bear Lodge MTNs. I was there for a week hunting elk and on Natl Forest in 3.5 days saw a total of maybe 15 deer. While actively hunting and covering about 12 miles a day we saw 2 deer that we jumped. We used to deer hunt there and by accident you would see 50-60 deer a day in the forest. Ditches normally covered with deer on the ranch roads....2 days we saw zero driving out before sunrise and going back to where we were staying at night. Private ranch my dad ended up killing his bull on normally has Hundreds of deer on it. Honestly saw 50 deer in 2.5 days if that.

Whitetails in that country who cares IMO...3 or 4 years they'll be like fleas again. Mule Deer though it does not look good....But guys will still shoot as many MD does as possible because "the game and fish set that number of tags so it is ok"

Just tryin' to update folks...WGFD eliminated all mule deer doe hunting in these areas this year based on public feedback and low population numbers...

 

[eaglemountainman]

Just tryin' to update folks...WGFD eliminated all mule deer doe hunting in these areas this year based on public feedback and low population numbers...

Did they do this back in June during the draw, or more recently?
Did they do the same for whitetails and antelope?

 

[manitou1]

B is hurting. Antelope numbers are way down compared to just a few years ago, and mule deer are worse off yet.

Not sure why. Poaching? Overgrazing? Disease? Winter?

Right across the border in SD the deer and antelope are doing well. Bit of a mystery.

Probably indicative of over hunting/ over issue of tags.

 

[manitou1]

Game and Fish spelled it out pretty well..

"Mule deer densities here are generally low, and the majority of mule deer reside on private lands. Limited mule deer harvest comes off public land. Hunters should consider securing permission to hunt private lands before planning a hunt here. This area is not managed for trophy mule deer, but rather for recreation. Hunter success is typically fair on private land but low on public land, with crowding on publically accessible lands being an issue at times. White-tailed deer hunting opportunities are limited and found almost exclusively on private lands in riparian corridors."

Nearly impossible to "secure permission on private land" without $4-10k to spare.
Outfitters have taken care of that and cauldling by state entities isn't helping.

 

[Jaden Bales]

Did they do this back in June during the draw, or more recently?
Did they do the same for whitetails and antelope?

They did it in the April Commission meeting. And not the same with whitetails since the public, generally speaking, is good with keeping their numbers down, but they did eliminate all pronghorn doe tags in most areas. They certainly did in my pronghorn area, which also overlapped with a Region B deer area.

I was looking for whitetail bucks after filling my buck pronghorn and mule deer tags (I have the extra type 3 there) and saw a handful of whitetail does and small bucks. Saw 30-50 mule deer on public every morning, granted it was hotter than Hades during that week I was there. Pretty cool to see one little bend in the river had a herd of 26 does and fawns and little bucks altogether in one place. Looked like a good fawn ratio for the future.