area 158 wy ormsby rd

cmiddleton

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we have taken 4 does out of ormsby rd and all are in extreemly poor body condition.
last year there was alot of them that didn't make the winter but the deer look worse now then they did last febuary.i think they are headed for a big die off this winter.
the range condition is the worst i have ever seen. the ranch is being split up and they built roads all over it.
the rabbit population is contributing to the lack of grass there is a cotten tail for every sage brush and a jack rabbit for every three
UW did a study and found 3 jack rabbits eat the same as one sheep in one day. out at ormsby its like grazing 1000 sheep per section. the forage is gone even the horses look in poor condition.
 
I just got back from unit 164 on fri.... not many deer....like you said there is a rabbit behind every piece of sage.... coyotes everywhere..... no wonder there are no deer.... We did see several large does & one of them I swear at 100 yds you could count her ribs..... not good at all!
 
couldn't agree more casey. my wife and I were antelope hunting up there this last weekend and we saw a total of 5 antelope 2 of which we killed. the range looked to be very parched. even the rabbits looked unhealthy
 
We hunted up around Wright opening weekend and saw amazingly similar things. We hunt on a very closely managed buffalo ranch that does things right. However, the jackrabbits appeared to be eating them out of house and home. Antelope were ok, but much smaller horns than last year. Mulie and whitetail does looked to be in pathetic condition though.

The jackrabbit infestation was amazing. I'd always heard stories from grandparents down here about how whole communities would get together and kill jackrabbits by the thousands with clubs back during the depression. I couldn't picture it until I saw how many there up there this year. One of my friends has hunted this ranch for 20 years and hasn't seen anything like it before.

We tried to do our part with .22s and .17 HMRs though.

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