Gunnison area pictures

BeanMan

Long Time Member
Messages
6,890
I had my nephew to entertain for the day so i decided to go for a cruise up around Blue Mesa Reservoir. The Deer I saw on the Cerro Summit towards Montrose looked to be in pretty good shape. That soon changed as we drove further east. Around the Blue Mesa Dam we could see small groups of deer here and there. There had been some melting in the last few days and there were some patches of bare ground but i'm betting they were picked over pretty good. We could see snow machine tracks going in and out of areas and I am assuming that they were involved in feeding operations. The telling thing is that I saw no bucks and no fawns. I hope they were hiding but I'm afraid they were under the snow. I didn't go east of the Dam but I know that area gets more snow.

here is a picture of a group of does via 18X optical zoom, the younger one on the right had it's ears haging down and i'd bet it won't last long.
Gunnisonmathew08008.jpg


We also saw Antelope where i wouldn't ex[ect to see them.

Gunnisonmathew08009.jpg


Pretty dismal,

beanman
 
Thanks for sharing Fred.
I am seeing the same thing myself. Not good.
Worse yet every ATV in these parts is already chasing them all over. Leave it to the idiots to add to the Kaos.
Talk at ya later.
Jerry

44f4e09309b4a917.jpg
 
Thanks for the pics. I drove to Denver on Monday across I70 and the amount of snow from Gypsum clear to Georgetown was AMAZING. Didn't think to take the camera. Some of the snow piles in Eagle through Vail looked like little mountain ranges.
 
Is it possible that some of the does that you saw were actually bucks who have shed their antlers?
I'll bet you saw some bucks and didnt know it, I've been fooled before.
The 2 deer on the right look like bucks to me, especially the white faced one in the far back right.
Jeff
 
Those deer look fine to me. I was just in Eagle, Craig, Rangely area and I saw butt loads more deer than that. Only saw one the looked haggered. Not saying the winter wasn't rough but stop with all the whining. Ground is opening up and new growth is only a few weeks away. Saw elk at 9,000 feet in deep snow and they are doing fine...they could even come lower if they wanted to but they apparently don't.

Ya know, it never snowed back in the 1950's and 1960's did it? You remember, when the deer harvest was like 100,000 in Colorado. Think they were feeding them then? Hmmmmmm?

Ever think that now with the internet and media, these problems get blown a little out of proportion?
Good Lord....
 
>Thanks for sharing Fred.
>I am seeing the same thing
>myself. Not good.
>Worse yet every ATV in these
>parts is already chasing them
>all over. Leave it to
>the idiots to add to
>the Kaos.
>Talk at ya later.
>Jerry
>
>
44f4e09309b4a917.jpg


And see Knack, that's OK...that's the local shed antler collectors who are out collecting the sheds before the season closes March 15th. That way the regulation protects the locals and their monetary concerns while keeping out the rest of the world. That's Gunnison for ya. Watch who gets cited for wildlife harassment right now...nobody, ATV or not, especially if they are buddies with the local DOW guys who are antler collectors themselves.
 
There was significantly more critical winter range back then for deer and not as many people chasing them and/or recreating in the winter ranges that remain. Predators like coyotes and lions were poisened in a lot of areas, making for less pressure on winter ranges. What's left of many ranges is lower quality feed for deer. Elk, on the other hand, are hardy animals, I've seen bulls winter at 11,500 ft. I don't think it's whining to say that substantially more deer, especially older bucks and fawns, will not make it through the winter because of the snow and cold we recieved are critical times, especially in areas like Gunnison.
 
I disagree on the winter range argument. Granted, houses have encroached on winter range but the deer could care less. They are all over in yards and parks and everywhere else in winter range towns and VERY protected there. Now maybe the BLM land is poorly managed and over-grazed now...much more than in the past but deer still graze shrubs in the winter and those remain.

Older bucks and fawns die why? Because that's natures way. Trust me...the DOW is feeding mostly becuase of public outcry and whining by the locals. I have many bucks on my wall from the 1990's...all found dead in NW Colorado...did they feed then? No.

Gunnison is setting new standards for how to gain control of an agency that the rest of of pay for and literally get their way on everything. Go to the county web site...http://www.gunnisoncounty.org/ These people are mostly greenies and they have the full support of the local DOW and the Wildlife Commission...especially now since Ritter appointed greenies to the vacant spots on the WC. One of the Sportsman Representative spots is now a GREENIE who is an expert on the ESA!!!

If the Gunnison folks get their way, NO ONE will be able to do anything there except watch wildlife between June 15 and August 15 each year. Except, of course, the local ranchers who graze and lease their land for hunting...geezuz
 
In the case of the Gunnison area, I guess I'm just taking the cold hard facts into consideration. Namely that it snowed excessively, then got a bit warm, then got really cold, etc....Deer and antelope typically do not do well once the majority of their diet is under hard crusty snow pack. I don't know squat about how the politics sway down there, only the weather conditions suggest that deer mortality this year will be higher than it has been for a while.....I agree with you that there are a lot of folks on the WC that are screwing things up for hunters.
 
>toughshed,
>
>is it your opinion that no
>feeding should take place in
>the Gunnison Basin?

It WAS my opinion that they should feed as evidenced by my donation but since then as I have learned more I am not in favor of feeding, mainly due to the attitudes in Gunnison and where they are headed.
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-04-08 AT 09:07AM (MST)[p]As a Gunnison resident I feel I need to pipe in here.

No doubt this has been a hard winter. 70+ inches of snow so far and it isn't melting much. There is at least 24" of snow still on the ground in town. March is a snowy month and more snow is coming today. We had brutal temps in January, hitting -30 or below several days in a row. Coldest temp was -38. Imagine a fawn trying to survive in those conditions. Without the DOW feeding program the mortality would be 40-50%. With an estimated 21,000 deer in the basin that would amount to a lot of carcasses.

Big game hunting pumps a huge amount of revenue into the local economy. Most folks here understand how important this is. That's why 350 people showed up to volunteer with the feeding effort. There are over 100 feeding sites being visited daily by these volunteers. That's quite a commitment. I'd venture to say that most of these folks are hunters too.

The budget for the Colorado DOW dwarfs those of the surrounding States. This is a sore spot with me, I think they should be able to operate on much less. That being said, they have the resources to pay for the feeding program. Because their funding comes from license sales, it's in their best interest to keep the herds strong and keep the tag numbers up. I think they're also using this as a good PR campaign. The feeding program has been all over the news. The gov was even here for a few hours and of course had his picture taken at one of the feeding sites.

This community is largely comprised of folks who are into the outdoors. Regular folks who hunt and fish, mountain bike, snowmobile, hike, etc. There is a small but strong faction of greenies who are pushing sage grouse protection, prairie dog protection, etc. They are a tenacious bunch and use the law to promote their agenda. They have been successful in getting land use restrictions in place. Understand that most of the community wants to protect our wildlife, but not to an extreme.

I understand the argument for letting nature take its course, but I'm glad the feeding program was implemented. Someday I'll have enough points to draw a tag here and I hope to shoot a nice buck. Hopefully some of you will be able to hunt here too and enjoy this beautiful piece of Colorado.
 
thx for the excellent information, Waygoner. Good luck down there; seems like just a few months ago all I could hear about was the drought in SW CO.
 
That's all well and good Waygoner. Tell me why the locals in Gunnison don't stand up against the greenies? They close your roads and public access and you and the locals don't care?

I don't think you can say what the mortality WOULD have been without feeding. That's your opinion but not based on any science. Let's do the math based on facts. DOW stated they would try to feed 8,000 not the 21,000 that you state. Why? Cause the majority (13,000)of the deer were scattered. Those 13,000 are subject to natures way.

If we use your mortality estimate for the 8,000 being fed...without DOW 4,000 would be lost. With feeding, a certain mortality will still occur, let's say 1,000. So 3,000 deer were saved and that's using your un-scientific number. So 14% of the deer were saved to the tune of $500,000.00. Was it worth it? Not to me.

I also disagree that they need to keep herd numbers up. DOW is in the business of selling hunting tags...but they could care less if you are successful. Aren't most buck tags in the basin limited? Therefore, numbers don't really factor into the equation, especially short-term...and winter kill is short-term.

DOW now advertises on TV that they have protected Colorado's wildlife for 80? years without a single State tax dollar. Do they say where that money comes from...ever...in any of the ads? Nope. Never say that the wildlife is preserved for all through proceeds from Hunters and fishermen. Never. That's arrogance at it's finest.

Do you work for DOW Waygoner?
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-04-08 AT 03:27PM (MST)[p]I don't work for the DOW and in fact I disagree with a lot of what they do. I do agree with a lot of your points though. Hunters fund the DOW and get no credit. Money is their #1 priority and I've heard the term "cost neutral" mentioned, meaning that whatever the decision is it can't result in a loss of revenue for the DOW. Hunters support a bunch of non-hunting programs, like studying prairie dogs, wildlife education, etc. Hell even fishing licenses only amount to a small percentage of the DOW's budget.

The feeding program is costly for sure and I agree that it's only helping some of the herd. Is it worth the cost? For me it is because I can finally see some of my license fees being directly spent on something that contributes to my hunting opportunities. I'm biased of course because this is happening in my backyard, but I'd rather have that money spent to save some deer than fund a study of some endangered lizard.

One trend that I find alarming is the kind of worker being hired at the DOW and USFS. We're getting environmental tree-hugger types that have their own agenda. It used to be that these agencies attracted rural kids that liked to hunt and fish. I worry about what this means for future generations of outdoorsman.
 
All good points and I respect your opinion. I'm afraid my grandkids (if I have ever have any)won't have to love and appreciation I have for the outdoors due to this regulation trend. Their opportunities certainly won't as abundant as mine that's for sure. The DOW and other organizations better figure it out quick. Giving out a few youth bull tags to hook those kids on hunting isn't enough. They better figure out that Dad needs a place to take the kid and it needs to be focused on the age group of men and women that have children and want to teach them about hunting and the outdoors. Right now, it guys like me who at 50+ are looking at the once-in-a-lifetime hunt before they hang up hunting as a diversion. What's that do for kids. Not squat.

I could go on and on but I won't...
 
I think we see eye to eye on a lot of things Toughshed. Outdoor recreation is going to be a lot different for future generations. It's going to get so costly and restrictive that folks are just going to say "no thanks". Especially kids these days who are more interested in cell phones and video games than picking up a fly rod or rifle. Get out there and enjoy it while you can.
 
toughshed- Your right on the "money" with your comment. I agree.

Most bucks have dropped and the circus has arrived local and way more Utah guys than I have seen and not only in Gunnison. Looks like there will be few sheds to find by us guys that actually wait till they start to head back to higher ground....Saw three guys in an area I have been glassing think they were incognito in there sage camo try and act like trees the other day in an area where there is no shed restrictions.
Nice new red Dodge Colorado plates.
Guess I am more jealous about the truck than the sheds they may have found.LOL
They broke no laws but I know the deer are still in the area...I guess it's just how you view things on pushing deer or not.
I rather wait even if it means no sheds for me.
Best,
Jerry
44f4e09309b4a917.jpg
 
Yes, I considered that some of them might be bucks that had dropped. They were pretty far off and using the 18x optical zoom doesn't bring them in that close. I sure wasn't going to hike over to them and get closer.

These pictures were taken right by the Blue Mesa Reservoir dam. They were on south facing slopes. If you go further north you will see much deeper snow and that would probably mean leaner looking deer. There was a great difference in the shape of the deer in the photo and the deer we saw just 15 miles west on Cerro Summit where there was less snow.

How many of you drove through that area in the spring of 1984? There were stacks of dead deer all along Blue Mesa and any effort to prevent that is a good dead done.

beanman
 
Waygoner, you hit the nail on the head!!!!
YOU mentioned the new generation of CDOW employees and for that manner other natural resource agencies.
I was a wildlife biology student at COlorado State University
a few years ago and I was definately the minority when it came to students in the natural resource department that hunted. I could see a shift in a few short years even in our little student chapter of the Wildlife Society of mostly people that hunted to people that hadnt even pulled the trigger of a gun little lone hunted.
In classes in amazed me how little people knew about hunting the role it plays in conservation. So many of these folks have preservationist attitudes which spooked me.
Its a shame about the politics and money that dictate wildlife conservation these days, heck, that can be said about the country and world too.

Find any sheds yet, Jon?
Jeff
 

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos
Back
Top Bottom