I have a good buddy that grew up in Wyoming but is now a Montana resident but applies every year, even if just buying a point, and tries to hunt Wyoming realistically about once every three years or so. As a non-resident he has wrote to wyoming game and fish headquarters probably more times than I have to express his frustrations, and believe it or not when something good gets done to congratulate them on a job well done.
Booner76, what you have expressed with your department of natural resources seems to be identical to what I have seen from the Wyoming game and fish.... they are very aware of the mule deer situation but seem to ignore the guys that do write and complain, and for what....an all mighty dollar!
The non-resident hunters that like coming to wyoming in my humble opinion should be at the top of the list to want to see some improvements, or at least see something being done to help our deer herds. Wyoming caters to the non-resident! I am o.k. with this as I too like to apply for the surrounding states as a non-resident and I too see the business end of it for the non-resident. Here is my thoughts, understand they are just my thoughts; true a non-resident tag is very expensive even if it is still not the highest price compared to other states, if I were a non-resident paying the dollars to the wyoming game and fish I would like to at the very least see some respectable deer. Who wants to pay several hundred dollars to see a couple does and fawns, not me! Also, the non-resident is the only ones that get a prefrence point in the deer,elk, and antelope draws, making it statistically possible to draw any tag in the state at some point. Which is not the case for residents. Wyoming is also generous in the number of tags given to non-residents, look at area 82 type 1 tags, granted only one tag was issued to the prefrence point pool but there are only 10 tags issued in this drawing. However, in on the general hunt in region w it was a 100% odds with 1 or more points. Region W is the same tag as a late season 82 tag for the most part.
So I guess what I am getting at is in my opinion the non-resident has at least equal reason to want to do something for the deer population.
One of my biggest beefs with the wyoming game and fish, forest service, blm is that something has got to be done about all the man made roads and abuse of our public lands. I believe this will be and is our biggest crutch when it comes to helping our deer populations, to me even more so than the season lengths, the season openers, the number of tags being issued! This past season in my neck of the woods the gross abuse of the utvs, the four wheelers, the motorcycles was enough to make you sick to your stomach. I remember a day when a guy had to get out of his truck and put some miles on the old boots to find the deer and elk, anymore he can get a utv anywhere he wants to get, never even has to leave the machine. There are man made two trackers every direction you look. It is sad how lazy people have gotten these days. Now to be fair the forest service did come in at the middle of the season and white arrow a bunch of the country I was hunting, only to have some guys drive right over the signs, when there are no consequences for your actions nothing will change. I blame this soley on the guys being paid to make sure guys are following the rules. I guess on the flip side of it if we as sportsmen can not police ourselves why should we pay anyone to do it either. We are only hurting ourselves at the end of the day. It never ceases to amaze me to find a wheeler in the bottom of a canyon that only five short years ago you rarely ever even saw anyone due to the ruggedness of the country, and then to have the dude have the nerve to ask me why there are no deer in the area? Its disgusting!!!!!