29 units gives liberty to hunters

[brutus]

Fishon had a great point on a previous post that I think gives 29 units the liberty to have different management practices for different units. Wich allows for more diversity to accomidate more hunters. Why do we have to manage every unit the same? If the DWR explores different management practices throughout different units they then could use those cause and effect studys to pin point what impacts the herd the most down to the least.

Why does every unit have to have 18-25/100 buck to doe ratio? Why not some 20-30/100 and some 10-15/100 and some 15-20/100,even try a couple 3 point or better units and so on? If we have 29 or so units and are basically starting over cant we build to suit?

Personally I think this would stop most of the bickering back and forth between hunters alike and ultimately will benefit all hunters.

Fishon, again great,great idea. Hope it takes flight.

 

[Muley_73]

Brutus,
+1, I agree that all of these are options that we could try. I truely believe the 29 units gives the DWR the tool to do this at the very best of their ability. Now the question is will they?

fishon,
Is spot on, on some of his points!!!!!!! Tony, I agree with you that if they only go 29 units and it ends with that, then we are no better off! Including tag cuts! If that is what the data shows will help, then so be it. If the data shows options that give more tags, I'll back that also. But I still believe 29 units that manages the one thing that we have the most control of (hunters)is the first step. In any business you address the issues you have the most control of first. I see that as hunters in this problem. That does not mean cut tags, it means make sure you have control of them before you move forward.

I think the sled took off 25 years ago! Time to get control of that baby!

 

[TheElitehornhunter]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-15-10 AT 04:14PM (MST)[p]These type of units already exist, LE unit and Premium LE units. 3 point or better has already been proven to be a failure. Why try things that have already been proven to fail?

One thing you need to remember.....General Season units are managed for quantity and not quality.

 

[Muley_73]

All herds should be managed for a health herd! Regardless of their classification.

I think the sled took off 25 years ago! Time to get control of that baby!

 

[Founder]

I agree that the UDWR should take this opportunity to try a few things. Maybe close 25% of the roads in a couple units, do 3-point or better in a couple more, maybe offer mostly primitive weapon hunts in some units with few rifle, maybe even shuffle hunt dates and see what all works best.
The problem is going to be that everything that biologists will want to do in a particular unit will be met with resistance from someone, cause there's always someone who thinks there ideas are best. So, in the end, I'm afraid that we will get just exactly what option 2 said. They'll cut the overall tags, break the state into 29 units, try to manage for 18 bucks per 100 does and that's it.

It's just like right here, some of us would like to see the 3-point or better tried again, but it's immediately met with resistance. That'll be the same with whatever any biologist wants to try, and in the end, the UDWR will do as they always have and just leave things as they are. I hope that doesn't happen though. Sure would like to see them offer some different options.

Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com

 

[brutus]

This is why I love this kind of solution because we basically have the opurtunity to try different stratagies in different areas and determine wich most possitively affects the deer herd. People will have to comprimise and sacrifice some and be willing to think outside their own little box to find out for sure what works and what doesnt on a biggger scale.

Primative weapon only areas for guys that want that.

Take out the predators as much as possible on certain units and see if the results are worth the expence and effort.

Make habitat on other units the primary objective and see if the results are worth it and so on.

This is a golden oppertunity to explore all aspects and then make decisions from results not biological theories.

Elite what harm does it do to explore all ideas with these units? Just try and make some kind of comprimise.

 

[hornkiller]

"One thing you need to remember.....General Season units are managed for quantity and not quality."

No shite and look where that got us no deer!
Now whats your plan smart one?

 

[TheElitehornhunter]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-15-10 AT 06:32PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Dec-15-10 AT 06:29?PM (MST)

Yeah no deer....the aliens got them all. I seem to still find deer, but the mature bucks aren't close to the roads like the Option 2 lovers would like them. Option 2 supporters get spoiled when they draw a tag like the Bookcliff where they can see 60 plus bucks a day with the cheeks spread over a 4 wheeler all day. You will be amazed on how many deer you can spot if you just take the time to glass down in the canyons.

The problem is we had a good plan but we never followed it. Every year we keep changing things

We need to do the following:

1. Put a bounty on coyotes which we can pay for if we add 3 dollars on each license sold.

2. Habitat work and give farmers incentives to keep deer on their property instead of having doe hunts.

3. Change the season dates. We seem to hammer a lot of bucks close to the rut.

4. Mandatory harvest

5. Issue more elk tags

6. Minimize road kills

7. More archery and ML tags

8. Stricter punishments on poaching

Strategies:
a. Review individual herd unit management plans and revise where necessary to provide
consistency with this plan.
b. Support all habitat objectives and strategies in this plan to protect and improve mule
deer habitat including energy development mitigation in crucial mule deer habitat.
c. Manage predators on all units that are chronically below objective, and habitat is not
limiting, according to current predator management policy.
d. Investigate and manage disease outbreaks that threaten mule deer populations. Adopt
a specific management plan for chronic wasting disease (CWD).
e. Work with Federal and state land management agencies to adopt seasonal closures or
travel restrictions to minimize human disturbance of wintering mule deer.
f. Use antlerless harvest as the primary tool to manage deer populations in specific areas
where range concerns or depredation problems exist.
g. Continue to monitor all mule deer populations annually to evaluate fawn production,
herd composition, and habitat use.
h. Implement a method to collect annual adult doe and fawn mortality estimates on
representative units statewide.
i. Use standardized, reliable population models to evaluate herd size and population
trends over time.
j. Work with UDOT, Universities, local conservation groups, and landowners to
minimize highway mortality by identifying locations of high deer-vehicle collisions
and erecting sufficient wildlife crossing structures in those locations. Evaluate the
effectiveness of the crossing structures over time and implement new technologies to
improve future wildlife crossing structures.
k. Implement research studies on specific herd units that are chronically below
population objective to identify problems and recommend solutions.
l. Support incentive programs for landowners that will encourage deer populations on
private lands such as the CWMU, landowner permit, and the Walk-In Access
programs.
m. Address all depredation problems in a timely and efficient manner to increase
landowner tolerance of migratory deer populations.
n. Work with municipalities to promote zoning that benefits mule deer on winter ranges
that have the potential to be developed.
o. Support law enforcement efforts to educate the public concerning poaching and reduce
illegal taking of deer.
p. Implement emergency feeding when needed in accordance with DWR feeding policy

 

[goofyelk]

I couldn't agree more, I love the way Nevada, Arizona, Colorado,
All offer different types and time frames for hunts.....
Late archery and Muzzy tags,,Maybe even some early rifle
tags on a high country unit..
And I would love to see a few units 3 point or better, there
are a lot of folks that say antler restrics don't work....
But I'll bet my last dollar, a couple years into it,they
would be mighty dam popular units..

 

[brutus]

Elite i'm guess'n if they would explore this they would leave some units just the way they are now and continue doing the same thing and you could have your cake and eat it too. I'll bet the draw odds would great for that unit as well.

 

[oakbrush]

Elite wrote..

"2. Habitat work and give farmers incentives to keep deer on their property instead of having doe hunts."


Then further down wrote...
"f. Use antlerless harvest as the primary tool to manage deer populations in specific areas
where range concerns or depredation problems exist."


Huh???? WTF?

So which one do you want again???

 

[DaBigBucks]

>I couldn't agree more, I love
>the way Nevada, Arizona, Colorado,
>
>All offer different types and time
>frames for hunts.....
>Late archery and Muzzy tags,,Maybe even
>some early rifle
>tags on a high country unit..
>
>And I would love to see
>a few units 3 point
>or better, there
>are a lot of folks that
>say antler restrics don't work....
>
>But I'll bet my last dollar,
>a couple years into it,they
>
>would be mighty dam popular units..
>
>
>

My thoughts exactly. With the 29 units, doing this would be make most people happy, and not hurt the herd. I wish the dwr would listen........