BIGHORNtracks
Active Member
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- 104
I was out photographing deer on Friday.
The snow flew most of the day and there was no one out there but my friend and I.
We had parked the vehicle and hiked out to a draw that normally holds many deer.
We had been there for a couple hours, filming deer from across the draw, half a mile away.
At the end of the day, we heard snow mobiles.
That was odd since this area of Wyoming is closed to ATV and snowmobiles.
Every year you see guys shed hunting on ATVs even though the area is closed, and I had seen snow mobile tracks in years past, but never actually seen anyone on sleds in there.
The sad thing was, there were two guys on snowmobiles, who looked to be older than I am, and I am over 40, they were chasing deer on their snow mobiles!
I couldn't believe it. I even watched one guy stop, glass with his binoculars, and then pursue deer!
Why?
It was pretty shocking to watch folks who seemed to be interested in deer, doing this.
I believe that most of us try to give deer as much space as we can, and still enjoy them.
We try not to even let them know we are there.
There was one particular group of deer that had about 60 - 70 deer in it.
It had a handful of nice bucks mixed in there. I was particularly disgusted when these folks ran these deer 1.7 miles, ( I looked it up on google earth) through the snow before the chase ended only because one of the sleds broke down.
There is no cell service, and the time it took me to walk back to the vehicle, and drive out to a road was long enough that the snowmobiles would be long gone by the time a fish cop arrived on scene.
So, I felt as though I could do nothing.
Through the spotter I tried to find some identifying markings on the sleds. Some registration numbers, state decals, but none were to be found from the distance away that I was.
I just had to watch these two "men" drive the deer through the snow.
The aftermath was terrible.
I digiscoped this little deer who had lost its mother in the mass confusion.
Warning, the video is pretty upsetting to watch. Watching this deer franticly look in circles for its mother, now all alone on the range.
https://youtu.be/wmKLKdlS30M
I have never seen a deer do that. I actually began filming this behavior after it had gone on for about 10 minutes. It continued after I had stopped filming it.
On my way out, I went past the area where the snowmobilers had chased the deer.
I found handfuls of deer scattered across the area, and came across a site that was concerning.
This is that site.
One of the bucks that I had just spent a couple hours watching. Was he dead? I have watched many deer sleep on the winter range. None like that. We sat there and watched through the spotting scopes for a long time, waiting to see if the snowmobilers had run him to death.
Waiting to see if he moved, or showed signs of life.
After a while, an ear twitched. He was alive. Luckily.
Once we got back to the road and wet headed out, we looked for a parked truck with an empty snow mobile trailer, in order to get a plate number. Nothing.
Never found any trucks at all.
The behavior is terrible, add to that the area is closed to ATV and OHV traffic, and these folks clearly have no regard for the wildlife.
Typical snowmobilers don't have binoculars strapped around the neck and ride in areas that are open to snowmobiles. They ride in areas with deep snow, where the machines won't be damaged by rock and brush. These folks seemed to be there because of the deer. They seemed to be prepared for looking at deer.
I hope I never see then again, but if I do, I will be filming them. I will be turning the film over to the Wyoming game warden.
Too bad there is not much else I can do.
The snow flew most of the day and there was no one out there but my friend and I.
We had parked the vehicle and hiked out to a draw that normally holds many deer.
We had been there for a couple hours, filming deer from across the draw, half a mile away.
At the end of the day, we heard snow mobiles.
That was odd since this area of Wyoming is closed to ATV and snowmobiles.
Every year you see guys shed hunting on ATVs even though the area is closed, and I had seen snow mobile tracks in years past, but never actually seen anyone on sleds in there.
The sad thing was, there were two guys on snowmobiles, who looked to be older than I am, and I am over 40, they were chasing deer on their snow mobiles!
I couldn't believe it. I even watched one guy stop, glass with his binoculars, and then pursue deer!
Why?
It was pretty shocking to watch folks who seemed to be interested in deer, doing this.
I believe that most of us try to give deer as much space as we can, and still enjoy them.
We try not to even let them know we are there.
There was one particular group of deer that had about 60 - 70 deer in it.
It had a handful of nice bucks mixed in there. I was particularly disgusted when these folks ran these deer 1.7 miles, ( I looked it up on google earth) through the snow before the chase ended only because one of the sleds broke down.
There is no cell service, and the time it took me to walk back to the vehicle, and drive out to a road was long enough that the snowmobiles would be long gone by the time a fish cop arrived on scene.
So, I felt as though I could do nothing.
Through the spotter I tried to find some identifying markings on the sleds. Some registration numbers, state decals, but none were to be found from the distance away that I was.
I just had to watch these two "men" drive the deer through the snow.
The aftermath was terrible.
I digiscoped this little deer who had lost its mother in the mass confusion.
Warning, the video is pretty upsetting to watch. Watching this deer franticly look in circles for its mother, now all alone on the range.
https://youtu.be/wmKLKdlS30M
I have never seen a deer do that. I actually began filming this behavior after it had gone on for about 10 minutes. It continued after I had stopped filming it.
On my way out, I went past the area where the snowmobilers had chased the deer.
I found handfuls of deer scattered across the area, and came across a site that was concerning.
This is that site.
One of the bucks that I had just spent a couple hours watching. Was he dead? I have watched many deer sleep on the winter range. None like that. We sat there and watched through the spotting scopes for a long time, waiting to see if the snowmobilers had run him to death.
Waiting to see if he moved, or showed signs of life.
After a while, an ear twitched. He was alive. Luckily.
Once we got back to the road and wet headed out, we looked for a parked truck with an empty snow mobile trailer, in order to get a plate number. Nothing.
Never found any trucks at all.
The behavior is terrible, add to that the area is closed to ATV and OHV traffic, and these folks clearly have no regard for the wildlife.
Typical snowmobilers don't have binoculars strapped around the neck and ride in areas that are open to snowmobiles. They ride in areas with deep snow, where the machines won't be damaged by rock and brush. These folks seemed to be there because of the deer. They seemed to be prepared for looking at deer.
I hope I never see then again, but if I do, I will be filming them. I will be turning the film over to the Wyoming game warden.
Too bad there is not much else I can do.
