Mule Deer - Fawns - Jack Rabbiits

[cannonball]

We were out on Fishlake and Parker Mountain in Utah a couple of days ago. I have not seen as many fawns and twin fawns or even as many jack rabbits. Do you suppose there is a correlation?

The job is not done yet, as we heard a pack of coyotes, a couple of miles from the highway when we were loading the RZR.

 

[justr_86]

I've actually seen a report that the fawn mortality rate from predators goes down while the rabbit population is on a rise.

I'll look around and see if I can find it.

 

[mnmthunting]

That's true, coyote populations boom with the rodents boom especially rabbits and hares.
Problem is over and over rodent populations boom and bust. Coyotes are still in their boom and hungry after the rodents thin out.
At this time the Yotes are devastating on game populations, livestock predation among the young calves and sheep is extreme.

Coyote populations gradually decrease, rodents go into another boom cycle coyotes get well fed and litter size increases along with survival and the situation starts all over again.

 

[LOWCOUNTRY]

Mnmthunting I think you nailed that one totally agree.

 

[cannonball]

Cyclical or not, if you want a deer herd we need make a double effort to exterminate more predators OR hunt deer less. We do have choices right now.

 

[justr_86]

Fencing highways would work better than dumping all this money into the coyote bounty... Lots of people already hunt coyotes, and kill them every chance they get....

 

[muzzhunter]

I agree about the highway fencing. I've also read somewhere that coyotes breed under stress, so the more hunters are out after them the more they breed. Don't know if it's true or not, just something I read.

 

[elkfromabove]

>Cyclical or not, if you want
>a deer herd we need
>make a double effort to
>exterminate more predators OR hunt
>deer less. We do
>have choices right now.

This is not an "OR" choice! Killing predators may have an effect on the deer herd numbers if done at the right time of year since they mostly kill fawns and does, but killing fewer bucks does nothing since they don't have fawns! In fact, killing fewer bucks tends to reduce the herd numbers because of the competition the additional bucks pose to the does and fawns on the winter range.

 

[ridgetops]

Good hell elk, you keep using this example over and over about bucks not having fawns. If our winter ranges are in that bad of shape that your worried about bucks killing off the fawns. Then we shouldn't even worry about the fawns being eaten by the coyotes. Better to have a few more bucks around than does too old to have fawns.
BTW, I have seen more fawns this year than I have in many, many years. Lets just hope they can survive the winter.


There's always next year

 

[cannonball]

Seems like someone has to put a smokescreen up every time something like this comes up. I really believe the emphasis on coyotes is really helping, but the pressure must be sustained to do any good.

 

[elkun]

dead predators eat no game, so shoot shoot shoot.

 

[elkfromabove]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-24-12 AT 00:07AM (MST)[p]>dead predators eat no game, so
>shoot shoot shoot.

Right! And dead bucks eat no winter forage, so shoot them as well. (But only one per year per hunter.)

 

[cannonball]

>LAST EDITED ON Sep-24-12
>AT 00:07?AM (MST)
>
>>dead predators eat no game, so
>>shoot shoot shoot.
>
>Right! And dead bucks eat no
>winter forage, so shoot them
>as well. (But only one
>per year per hunter.)


Wish we had a few more of them around - BUCK THAT IS! The browse is getting so old and overgrown there is no nutrients left in it.