LAST EDITED ON Jun-27-17 AT 09:52AM (MST)[p]The fawn loss for the Sublette Herd (mostly Region H & northern parts of G) is going to be recorded at that 90% level. Maybe its a couple pts better than that. That is directly from the biologist here in Sublette County. ALL age classes seen some losses. 6+ year old bucks and does probably had the next highest losses. My buddies and I found several dead mature bucks this year. Most had already dropped their antlers before dying. Some of those 2-5 year old bucks that ran themselves ragged during the rut took it hard. Those that were more reserved did better. Obviously those bucks and does in their prime that found a spot with decent feed made it through. The biologist told me there were 'critical' winter ranges that were void of deer. They had to leave. Hell, there were deer migrating 15-30 miles or more away from their "winter ranges" to find a spot this past winter. Those that toughed it out in their wintering spot looked really rough if they survived. Just how it was this past year.
So, yeah, there's going to be a good gap in age classes. And you can bet, on average, about every 5-6 years Region G & H has an above average winterkill, just how it is in our extreme Wyoming environment. This probably doesn't answer your question, but what I expect to find is pockets with bucks and then swaths of country that usually hold more deer than what I'll find.
