What do you all think?

Hntn4em · Mar 31, 2008

What does everyone think conditions are going to be like?

Just went on a Spring Break trip to Moab from Pocatello Idaho, and on the way to Utah my wife and I saw about 300 head from Pocatello through and just past Malad, and they all looked pretty rough.

But, when they were compared to the 200+ deer coming north from Helper, UT to Price they looked pretty good.

Even worse, after visiting relatives in Geneva, and counting all of the dead fawns, does off of the highway, and remembering all of the roadkill from Utah, we started to be curious what everyone thought about this winter and how the deer held up.

So what does everyone think. How are the herds?

slamdunk · Mar 31, 2008

I think it all looked worse than it's actually going to end up.
The fat tests on the roadkills were still pretty high which means the animals were fat going into this winter.
The road kills seemed to be worse this year, i think mostly due to all the road salt they like to lick up off the sides of the roads.

Thank God it didn't get into sub zero weather for very long.
A hard thick crust on all the snow would have made for some big time trouble.

Personally, i think they are going to be ok.

Skull Krazy
"No Bones About It"

Gator · Mar 31, 2008

I believe that the herd's made it thru for the most part, some area's got hammered other didn't get hit as hard at all, Northern Utah got a big hit so did parts of Co. up to 60-70% on some places, But the southern parts didn't of those two states didn't get hit as hard, States Like Az NM are going be ok.

Hntn4em · Apr 7, 2008

So what does everyone think about Idaho's Deer herds?

3bigelkid · Apr 7, 2008

I think those deer you are talking about in Idaho are looking rough because they are about to lose there winter coats. They always look like this during the spring. A better indicator would be to count the number of fawn/1 year old deer in those big heards. I have looked at all the deer you are talking about and there is good news when you look at overall fawn numbers. Cross your fingures it looks to me to be an average year for mortality.

tageater · Apr 7, 2008

LAST EDITED ON Apr-07-08 AT 03:57PM (MST)[p]I was fishing( in utah, along the 84 between ogden and where it connects with 80) along a golf course. It was the saddest day i've ever had fishing. Just along my walk to the river from the parking area we counted 10 young of the year, dead. Once on the river the news didn't get any better, we found 7 more and 6 full grown elk. ( i know i'm only talking about a chunk of area about 1/2 mile long, but i thought it was an awful lot of young dead ones)

Then there were the ones we saw on the side of the road, the dead ones on the sides of the hills.....that area just got hit hard with winter/road kill.

I hope that this was vey isolated area, my personal feelings are that the northern third of utah will show an above average loss of yearlings. I sure hope i'm wrong.

smokepolejohnson · Apr 8, 2008

Tag, ive spent some time in that area and it got pounded in a day of lion hunting saw well over a 150 dead deer as well as nearly a dozen elk and 2 yearling moose. Very depressing. The lack of winter range and highway 84 killed alot of animals this year.