Do sheep=more deer?

[gznokes]

With all this discussion about mule deer populations I'm reminded of some stuff I read about mule deer populations in the the 50's & 60's. I seems the researcher attributed a sharp increase in deer numbers to ideal range conditions with lots of browse for mule deer. the idea was that the sheep mowed down a lot of stuff and browse came and grew in its place.

Is there any validity to that idea?

 

[iliveinthewoods]

Sheep and Deer are both browse species and actually compete for the same forage...

 

[elkun]

sheepmen' killed the pred.tors

 

[gznokes]

iliveinthewoods, thanks for that comment.

maybe the point of the research was actually that the deer were able to come booming back once sheep overgrazing was put under control. I can't remember where I was reading about that.

 

[Ihuntthereforeiam]

Having sheep on the mountain sucks but there are some good things about it. IF and i repeat IF the sheep are managed correctly and they are moved around and not left in one place for to long the regrowth a few years down the road is actually better. The problem is that most sheep herders leave the sheep in one place for to long and they eat everything down to the roots. My opinion; get all the sheep off the mountain and lets get some bighorns going in more places.

Shoot em till their dead

 

[LuckyHntr]

Yes, in the 50s and 60s deer populations were huge and there were a lot of sheep outfits. There were 5/6 in a certain area in Colorado where there aren't any outfits left. There was never a problem with forage even thought both species eat the same feed.

But the sheep outfits fought the coyote populations with poisons and government trappers. The predators were controlled, unlike today, since for the most part the predators are out of control. Most people don't realize the impact predators are having! You need to talk to people who have spent there lives out on the range to know the truth. If I am looking for a place to hunt and there is a sheep outfit running sheep nearby that is where I go.

Actually sheep will help improve the range for cows as the brush will get eaten back and not start to take over, allowing more grasses to grow.

Our vast ranges today could support a much larger deer herd, but it will not happen in todays political culture.