The Ecology Of Fear

BCBOY

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Was reading Dr. Charles E Kay's article, Predation And The Ecology Of Fear in the latest Muley Crazy. A very interesting read. It makes me think that is what I'm experiencing this year in my area. All I know is I can't find a deer if my life depended on it. I've been trying to get my daughter her first buck and thus far we've hunted 10 days over the last month and have only seen 10 deer. Only one buck, a little forky that was about 200 yards away with less than 5 mins of light left. With iron sights, not a shot she was comfortable with, so we let it walk. I scouted every weekend all summer long and all I saw for my efforts was a small 4 point, a forky and a handful of does. Lots of sign though. Everywhere I have gone, I've got tracks, big and small. But everywhere I've gone there has been wolf tracks too. We have hit the high elevation, low elevation and everywhere in between. We are hitting areas that historically have always held deer for me. This year, nothing up moving during daylight. It seems they are in an extreme noctural pattern. Anyone else ever experience anything like this? This is a first for me. Last season was tuff, but when hunting big bucks, I expect that. I heard lots of rumours of locals that couldn't tag out on meat bucks. The talk was the wolves ate them all. I figured I'd wait to see what the spring turned up before I jumped to that call. With a very very mild winter, the spring ground was plugged full of deer. I saw more deer during the spring bear hunt then I ever have. But then July came in and I lost them competetly. They are sticking tight to the heavy timber. We've always had wolves to deal with, but in recent years they really have gotten thick. Do you think I might be experiencing the ecology of fear that Dr. Kay was talking about? If so, what do you think will trigger them to break this pattern? Will they start acting normal if we get a good serious dump of winter like they are predicting? I would appreciate any thoughts that you serious muley nuts could throw at me.
 
I thought a lot of the article was biased. It is true that fear of predators does affect wildlife, but they have ways of getting around it. It is called the Optimal Foraging Theory in the wildlife biology world. I like that they are putting these articles in the magazine, but I wish it was more original studies by the author with reference to other studies rather than a cluster of information that is highly biased. Just my opinion.
 
I really liked some of the other articles associated with Dr. Kays on Tom Remington's website. I had never heard of Tom Remington and glad you posted it. The trophy hunting articles made for good reading. Dr. Kays article did make sense to me also.
 
didnt you say to the guys down here that wolves aren't that big a deal?


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There are no big bucks in Utah! LOL
 
so BCBOY, what's your best guess? Wolves? Has the population dwindled or are they just in hiding?
 
I'm confident that the deer are just hiding. Why? That is what has me baffled. Normally the summer is the best time to see them. They are fat and sassy and they spend a lot of time feeding, therefore they are pretty easy to spot. Not this year. And early season, typically it's pretty easy to find few young bucks for the kids, but we've hunted our asses off and have came up with nothing but ditch chickens. Good thing it is a strong year for grouse, gives the kids some action during the day.
Judging from what has been posted up on a BC hunting site, the early season has been really good in other areas of the province. Interesting to note that the bulk of the success has been from a Region that has very few wolves.
Are wolves the cause of the noctural pattern where I live? I don't know. I just found the article in MC interesting and may be the reason for what I'm experiencing. It isn't just deer either. I've seen very very few moose this year as well. Heck the last 2 weeks I've been working in a very remote area in what I consider a great moose unit. In the past, it wasn't uncommon to see 5+ moose a day while traveling to and from work. Numerous ones that just trot down the road in front of ya. Beautiful meadow complexs along the river where they stand out like sore thumbs. All we've seen the last 2 weeks is one cow and one bull. And this is the peak of the rut. Been working is some gawd aweful thick and steep ground and there are a ton of moose tracks in the forest canopy. Have yet to hear a peep from them though. Normally they are quite vocal this time of year. A buddy of mine was working in the same unit this summer and said they saw wolves almost daily. Is there a connection? Possibly.
My hope is we get some good hard weather to start the muley migration before the end of the month so my daughter can get her first buck. November is 4 point or better season and busting through the timber and counting points isn't really the best way to hunt with a kid.
 
LAST EDITED ON Oct-08-10 AT 10:38AM (MST)[p]Swbuckmaster,
Nope, you must be mistaken. Although, I'm sure I've poked the stick at the "shoot, shovel and shut up" guys who think poaching a stinkin' dog is worth going to jail or loosing their hunting privileges for life. ;)
I know full well that they need to be managed. Hunting and trapping helps, but I believe sometimes they need to be managed more intensely with aerial shoots. In this day and age, this is very unpolitically correct, so managers in this province have their hands tied due to nothing else but politics.

I do enjoy hunting these dogs. We've had a little success but can tell ya there have been a ton of misses over the years.
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BC,
It's sure comforting to know that an accomplished hunter such as yourself gets stood-up once in a while. After years of reading your post and seeing your pic. I figured you for one of the best on here.

Winter conditions will soon reveal the truth about your deer.

Deer leave tracks so I've always figure where there's tracks there's deer, no tracks, no deer.

Have you had unusually heavy and more often than normal this year? Around our dry country, rainy summers seem to keep the deer, especially the bucks, back in the pines. Some say hard rain on hot velvet is annoying and they stay under cover more. ???? Some say!!!

In arid areas in Utah, continual hot weather makes the critters hold cover until the last ray and pull into heavy cover well before first light. No secret to that bit of profound knowledge however.

Deer, like other critters seem to be trendy. I hate to make assumptions based on a single year of observation. If you get two or three years back to back, with all seasons of the year supporting the change, you can draw a more accurate conclusion.

Regardless, I'm betting, if your not finding them, no one else is either.

DC
 
>
>Regardless, I'm betting, if your not
>finding them, no one else
>is either.
>
>DC


+1!!!
 
BCBoy;

I too enjoy the articles of Dr. Kay.

Many times, his findings, blow the doors off the tried and practiced speaches, the different agency folks are required to make, to keep their jobs.

I especially like the MC magazine article , where he, Dr. Kay exposed all the lieing PhD's for writing articles and putting their research up for proof, only later, he proved they lied only to back a certain faction of the outdoor world.

Bought and paid for --- sound familiar ?

He who provides the grant money , gets the answer and results they expect and paid for.

When was the last time , you heard of a research project, that when finished, was put into practice to improve wildlife, or their habitat.

Steve
 
LAST EDITED ON Oct-09-10 AT 08:39AM (MST)[p]Here in Idaho i had an excellent Elk hunting area, always lots of Elk for many years.
Then there were Wolves released in the area, it was still pretty good hunting the first 5 years or so..
But the wolves took up residence in the drainage i hunted most, also another pack moved in the next drainage over..
All of a sudden the Elk hunting went to hell for the next 5 years. There were still some Elk in there but very few, and the
ones that were left went totally nocturnal and the rut was very quite, plus the Elk were constantly on the move, never stayed anywhere for more than a day.
The wolves were way thick though, constant howling and wolf tracks everywhere you looked.
It really tore me up cuz i had been hunting that area for close to 25 years, i never imagined that the hunting could get so bad so fast.
Well last year we killed a couple of Wolves out of the pack that was in our favorite drainage, then F&G came in and killed off the rest of the pack.
Now this year i think every Elk in the unit was in my favorite drainage !!!WHERE THE WOLVES WERE WIPED OUT!!! it was just like the old days again Elk bugling and hanging out in the same spot for days, i seen more calves this year than all the last 5 years combined. I never heard a wolf or seen a single track in about 20 days of hunting..
The Elk numbers are still very low in this area, but i think pretty much all the Elk in the unit found this little safe haven and stuck around and started acting like Elk again.
So to answer your question YES i think it's the wolves screwing up your Deer area, i think when wolves move in lots of animals get ate, and whats left over completely change their habits..I wish we had an open season and no limit on Wolves i would spend every spare moment i have hunting them..
I have always liked hearing them and watching them, and i don't mind a few around, but things are getting way out of hand here and the number of Wolves need to be brought down,,WAY DOWN....
Good luck to you and your daughter, i think yer gonn'a need it.
 
One more thing i thought of is that the past few years i have been seeing way more Elk in towns and the locals yards, than i have in my hunting area.
I have heard from several other hunters, and locals that live in the areas with Elk that they are seeing more animals in and around the urban areas..Some locals claim they can't shoo the elk out of their yards no matter what they do, short of shooting at them.
The theory is that the Elk feel safer around urban areas where the wolves won't go, than they do out on the mountain sides..
 

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