>Negative Buckmaster. No deer ever
>starved to death on the
>Pauns. Good old fashioned lead
>poisning is the likely problem.
>
The biologist ive talked to or heard speak all say the drought for the last 10+ years is the problem. They all say there are too many deer down there on the winter range. They all say the winter feed has been eaten to the point its damaged.
Its not the summer feed that is the problem!
One wet spring will not correct 10+ years of damage from over grazing on the winter range.
This is why they implemented the management tags. They did not implement the management tags for revenue. although they helped.
They did not implement the management tags to help the genetics out. cause you cannot control the genetics on a free ranging herd. unless you know exactly what buck bread which doe and you can cull the crap does. This is a proven fact.
They implemented the management tags to get rid of some of the bucks people don't want that are taking up space on the winter range so it can make room for more fawns/does/left over bucks to make it through the winter easier. Allowing the left over fawn/does/bucks to have a head start on the growing season. If an animal has pretty much lost most of his body weight over the winter it will replace the weight first and horns second.
I was at the meeting with the deer comity when the division present the facts. The deer comity all thought the management tags were needed. I was not on the comity I was just an observer.
you always run into problems when the deer herds are either at or exceeding caring capacity. You will start to see this in the elk if the elk are allowed to continue to grow out of control.
carrying capacity isn't always what the division says it is either. when you have a problem like we are having all over Utah with the deer numbers staying stagnant the deer are saying what the carrying capacity is.
I think your not seeing the buck numbers like you should because of all the private property down there. They have their hunts on different dates then the general public. They entice the deer to stay on their land with food crops, water, ect. A lot concentrate on those properties and they get first crack at the largest animals. We all get sloppy seconds and thirds.
again just my thoughts.
There are no big bucks in Utah! LOL