Here you go fullthrottle

[notrace]

Thriving elk, struggling deer: Coincidence? New research suggests not - WyoFile

Scientific investigation at Wyoming’s Little Mountain area puts solid data to a previously just suspected correlation: the closer deer live to elk, the skinnier they get.

wyofile.com

 

[one_dryboot]

Seems some of us were saying that exact thing in the “Private property is to blame” thread. ?

 

[fullthrottle]

Thanks for sharing. I’m all for it! I’ll take muleys over elk any day.

 

[notrace]

I just know there is a lot of elk and those elk sure can fund the private property fast.

Too many Elk = Less MuleDeer.

 

[nontypical]

In EVERY instance that I'm familiar with, wherever elk populations rise, deer numbers drop. Been going on forever.

 

[eelgrass]

I thought this was interesting.

"They also set out to understand how mule deer interface with wild horses, though that effort was shut down by federal officials.

“Politically, [collaring horses] became an impossibility,” Monteith said.

 

[notrace]

I thought this was interesting.

"They also set out to understand how mule deer interface with wild horses, though that effort was shut down by federal officials.

“Politically, [collaring horses] became an impossibility,” Monteith said.

Yaa what's up with that??


I can't figure why they wouldn't want to have all the info possible..

Government is really good at screwing up anything.

 

[mevertsen]

I thought this was interesting.

"They also set out to understand how mule deer interface with wild horses, though that effort was shut down by federal officials.

“Politically, [collaring horses] became an impossibility,” Monteith said.

Horses are a significant problem for the mule deer here in Nevada.

 

[yoteduster]

Wild horses are a problem for deer wherever they exist.. I don't know why our deer have to compete with them..wild horses are not native to north America so they shouldn't even be here..

 

[ICMDEER]

These things have been obvious to people who spend time out in the country for decades. Good thing scientists are now finding out what is intuitively obvious. But seriously, I'm glad they acknowledge the problem.

Maybe in another 50 years Wyo G&F will also understand this problem. More than likely they'll keep blaming CWD and want to kill all the older age class bucks in November, as they are trying to do right now.

And heaven forbid we would mention that predators could have an adverse impact on mule deer.

 

[tracker12]

Nothing new here. I hunted an area in the early 80's with a. ice population of deer and enough of elk for a decent hunt. Today it's hard pressed to find a 150' deer but the area is loaded with elk. I know of other areas that have experienced the same thing.

 

[littlebighorn]

Pretty much the decline of my favorite deer hunting grounds started when I saw my first herd of elk there. Coincidence? Maybe but it sure doesn't seem like it. Now lots of elk and few deer.

 

[jims]

We have a property that in years past was off limits to hunting. The elk population increased from only a handful to over 300+ in only a few years. Obviously, the elk knew they were safe so camped out on the property. The native forb and shrub browse that the mule deer prefer slowly but surely deteriorated. The CPW also was paying the immediately adjacent farmer approximately $70,000 in crop damages.

A few years ago we started a cow elk hunt that runs from September through January. We also sprayed the cheatgrass on over 1,000 acres that helped the recovery of browse species. There currently are few elk that spend time on the property, minimum farmer crop damages, and I got game camera photos last spring of several does with healthy twin fawns on the property. The deer are definitely taking advantage of the new, healthy browse with fewer elk.

I've had game cameras set up the past 2 years and am monitoring the deer, elk, and other critters response to fewer elk plus the control of cheatgrass. It's been exciting seeing the changes on this property!

From what we have seen so far, the desirable forbs and shrubs important for healthy mule deer still wouldn't recover even with few to 0 elk. Dense cheatgrass stands rob late winter and early spring moisture from browse species.

 

[jims]

Here's a couple examples of what the property looked like prior to the cheatgrass application with lots of elk in the area. What do you think of the grubbed mountain mahogany with few native forbs and sub-shrubs? Do you think the booming elk population impacted this area and mule deer?

We got excellent moisture this winter. Although it likely will take time to recover, we already are seeing great response to the mountain mahogany and other browse species since the elk population is in check and the cheatgrass is gone.

 

[jims]

Here's a couple closeup photos taken about a week ago showing the recovery of the mountain mahogany where cheatgrass was controlled. This is after being browsed all winter and only the first spring after cheatgrass treatment. This should look amazing in a few months!

These are a couple photos of the immediately adjacent area taken the same day where cheatgrass wasn't controlled. These shrubs likely won't have much fresh growth even though there are few elk present (due to cheatgrass competition). The little fresh growth that existed last summer has been browsed to the bone!