Good point hookncook. Just perhaps, just maybe this is a natural cycle. Something similar to rabbits? Don't think other animal species don't go through similar swings in life cyles. Look at the whitetail deer herds of North Dakota/eastern Montana. Its just this species happens to have a large amount of followers interested in their success. Me one of them.
Go back and look at tag numbers, harvest info, and herd counts from 2006-2007 and you'll see a difference. Throughout western Colorado what similarities have happened since then compared to today.
07-08 winter with major amounts of snow covering significant protions of the western rockies and western colorado.
08 summer seemed normal for the most part but run off was longer and more than normal and there was a significant amount of snow in the typical fawning grounds and up into the higher country making fawning grounds less than optimal. Large amounts of snow never even melted. Many of the does were in such poor condition they aborted, adsorbed, or stilled borned the fawns in the spring.
08-09 winter similar as 07-08 with significant snow fall again across large expanses of the western rockies but also coupled with an extended cold spell in december to february.
spring into summer of 09 cooler than normal with above average rainfall in the fawning grounds and the normal summer range food source was poor forcing bears to feed at lower elevations. The tough winter one again put the does into such poor condition they aborted, adsorbed, or stilled borned the fawns.
09-10 winter not near as much snow as previous years in colorado but this time the states north of colorado get hammered again wiht big snow from wyoming to nevada and from utah to Alberta.
10 Spring/summer was wet in Colorado and deer north and west of Colorado went through a tough winter yielding poor fawning and fawn survival again.
10-11 winter, not near as much snow but bitter bitter cold here in Colorado. Again Wyoming and utah get hit again with good amounts of snow along with bitter cold leading to more winter kill.
Spring and summer of 2011 one of the wettest periods on record. Cold and wet spring makes fawn survival tough again but fawn survival was the best it has been in recent years in western colorado but wyoming, idaho, portions of montana, north dakota, utah don't fair as well with poor fawn survival again.
11-12 winter one of the driest winters on record with minimal snow fall
and here we are today with the spring of 2012 drier than a popcorn fart looking at a drought. Don't have a report on fawn survival but I am speculating it is better than 2011
Not only during this time were there several mulie die offs but also antelope and elk die offs too. The elk and antelope just seem to be able to recover a bit quicker and are just a tad tougher then the mule deer not being affected as severely.
Their numbers will return we just need to be patient these cmpounding issues are tough on the wildlife.
Thats my 2 cents...
"Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway."