WYO G&F presentation on Wyoming Range Mule Deer Research 5/15/2020

[Teepee]

Just FYI for those interested: (hope this all comes through)

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=540345039986833

When: May 15, 2020, 7:30PM
Where: WGFD Facebook Page
Subject: Wyoming Range Mule Deer Herd Research

All

Please join Dr. Kevin Monteith (Univ. of Wyoming), Mr. Josh Coursey (Muley Fanatic Foundation) and myself for a discussion on the Wyoming Range mule deer research. Find us on Wyoming Game and Fish Department Facebook at the following link -- the video. The "screenshot" below describes tomorrow's discussion.

It will play on Facebook and you don't need a Facebook account in order to watch it. Just go to the link about 7:28pm. It'll have a countdown clock that counts down to 7:30 and then it should start playing automatically. While you're waiting for the video to start, please have a close read of the attached information.

Hope to see you there, and thanks for your interest and support of Wyoming's wildlife!

Gary
-
Gary L. Fralick
Wildlife Biologist
Thayne/Big Piney-LaBarge
Wyoming Game and Fish Dept.
P.O. Box 1022
Thayne, WY. 83127

 

[DoubleDropMuley]

I’ll check it out, glad ya can still watch without having a FB account, I find the current research being done very interesting!! Thanks for the heads up

 

[highfastflyer]

Here is the Facebook link. https://www.facebook.com/WyoGFD/videos/vb.183159408374642/283921069307456/?type=2&theater

 

[highfastflyer]

Very Interesting but baffling how they still don’t have good data on the male buck deer populations after 30+ years of intense study. They know the doe mortality and most of that is linked to bad weather. Would be interesting to see how many of those collared bucks actually survive. As Gary Fralick said we may not want to know the answer to that one. I am sure it’s quite high but if 75% of those male fawns don’t survive to their 4th or 5th year we may be severely over hunting them. Time will tell as they gain more data but interesting they didn’t have a good feel for that data already.

 

[Cheater]

Lots of repetitive stuff and I skipped forward a couple of times, but overall worth watching.

Gary mentioned that the non-resident hunters have been reduced from 3000 to 400 over time, but also eluded to resident hunters having been reduced too. When or what was the resident reduction? It's still OTC, so was it a 2nd tag type thing?

 

[Chesterwyo]

Lots of repetitive stuff and I skipped forward a couple of times, but overall worth watching.

Gary mentioned that the non-resident hunters have been reduced from 3000 to 400 over time, but also eluded to resident hunters having been reduced too. When or what was the resident reduction? It's still OTC, so was it a 2nd tag type thing?

That’s correct. If memory serves, up until 1993 you used to be able to kill two bucks, and an unlimited number of does. I remember in the fall of 1992 there was 44 doe mule deer killed in on the dry farm behind my grandparents house. And it was still crawling with deer after the season closed. And it’s only about 200 acres. The winter of 1992/1993 was brutal. The winter conditions coupled with the large number of deer being killed the previous fall didn’t leave many deer on the landscape to replenish what was lost. And it hasn’t been the same since.

 

[highfastflyer]

Lots of repetitive stuff and I skipped forward a couple of times, but overall worth watching.

Gary mentioned that the non-resident hunters have been reduced from 3000 to 400 over time, but also eluded to resident hunters having been reduced too. When or what was the resident reduction? It's still OTC, so was it a 2nd tag type thing?

Mostly in the shorter seasons and the amount of Doe tags. Before the winter of 93 they were issuing up to 5 doe tags per hunter in certain Wyoming Range units. They had 50,000+ deer back then, when numbers never recovered they changed the objective to 40,000 deer which we are still well below, around 32,000 and now they are looking at setting it at the 35,000 deer level. Seems sad to just keep lowering the objective rather than actually try and increase herd numbers. The age class of male deer has also declined substantially and that data is still being collected, surprisingly so after 30+ years of intensive Mule deer management we are just documenting the over harvest of male deer. The elk herds have also increased substantially on the Wyoming Range over that same period putting increased pressure on limited Winter range forage. An increased emphasis on Mountain Lion hunting and increased late season Cow elk tags would surely help this herd.