MULE DEER RESTORATION COMMITTEE TO MEET IN ELKO

The newly formed Mule Deer Restoration Committee is set to hold its second meeting in Elko Thursday, April 15, beginning at noon in the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) office on 60 Youth Center Road. A teleconference phone will be set up at the 1100 Valley Road Headquarters location as well.

The Mule Deer Restoration Committee, a sub-committee created by Nevada Board of Wildlife Commission (NBWC) Chairman Gerald Lent with the purpose of helping to restore mule deer numbers in the state, is chaired by NBWC vice-chairman Scott Raine. Other members of the committee include Wilde Brough, Cory Lytle, Pat Laughlin and John Carpenter. Tony Wasley, NDOW game biologist, is assigned as staff to the committee.

Raine will hold a review of the Draft Charter for Committee Operations and then review a list of possible factors affecting mule deer populations that the committee will be considering. The review will be followed by a discussion of early Nevada history by local residents Cliff Gardner, Mike Laughlin and Wasley.

The meeting will wrap up with a review of committee assignments. The assignments have been divided among committee members and include liaisons for the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association, Nevada Farm Bureau, and Wildlife Services. Committee members will also be tasked with research and findings regarding several possible factors involving mule deer numbers. These factors include energy development, shed horns, wild horses, pinyon juniper encroachment; ungulate competition; road crossings; predation; doe hunts; genetics, secondary effects of helicopters, and grazing.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) protects, restores and manages fish and wildlife, and promotes fishing, hunting, and boating safety. NDOW’s wildlife and habitat conservation efforts are primarily funded by sportsmen’s license and conservation fees and a federal surcharge on hunting and fishing gear. Support wildlife and habitat conservation in Nevada by purchasing a hunting, fishing, or combination license. For more information, visit www.ndow.org.

The Nevada application period runs from March 19 to April 19. You may use a paper application or apply online. In order to get a bonus point you must buy the license and not have it refunded if you don’t get a tag. There is a slim chance you will get drawn without any bonus points. You can list five choices.

The license costs $142. Deer tags cost $240. Application fees are $16.50 if you apply online.

Click HERE or go to the states tab for more information

Good Luck

Tags Still Available For Deer, Elk Hunts

(Press Release) 06-07-2009

For those hoping for another chance to get a tag for this year’s big game season, there are still 1,191 tags remaining for hunters wishing to apply for the Second Draw on June 19.
The Second Draw will open at 8 a.m. on June 19 at www.huntnevada.com and will close at 5 p.m. on July 6.

Any eligible hunter, including those who didn’t apply in the first draw, may apply for the following remaining tags in the Second Draw.

· Hunt 1341 Resident & Nonresident Mule Deer Antlered Longbow Archery: 101 tags. A portion of these tags were nonresident remaining tags that are now available to residents.

o Units 101 – 108 Early: 80 remaining tags

o Units 211, 212: 17 remaining tags

o Units 251 – 253: 2 remaining tags

o Units 261 – 268: 1 remaining tag

o Units 271, 272: 1 remaining tag

· Hunt 4111 Resident Elk Antlerless Longbow Archery

o Unit 073: 3 remaining tags

· Hunt 1181 Resident Mule Deer Antlerless Rifle

o Units 101,102 and that portion of Unit 104 East of the CCC and Quilici Spring Roads: 740 remaining tags

· Hunt 1107 Resident Junior Mule Deer Either Sex: 347 tags

o Unit 032: 2 remaining tags

o Unit 035: 6 remaining tags

o Unit 051: 72 remaining tags

o Units 071 – 079, 091: 66 remaining tags

o Units 101- 108: 62 remaining tags

o Units 141 – 145: 14 remaining tags

o Units 171 – 173: 93 remaining tags

o Units 181 – 184: 12 remaining tags

o Units 211, 212: 5 remaining tags

o Units 251 – 253: 15 remaining tags

For more information on remaining tags, maps, hunter information sheets and season regulations visit www.ndow.org.

This year, Nevada posted draw results in a record 48 hours. If you applied, click HERE, to see if you drew a tag.

Hunters who see their names listed as successful should check that they have sufficient balances on their credit cards; also check whether there have been any changes (address changes or credit card expiration date changes can also cause problems). If you are shown as successful and need to report credit card changes, call Systems Consulting, Inc. at 1-800-576-1020 M-F, from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Over 50,000 hunters sent in 151,000 applications for 22,164 big game tags available in the draw. There are still 1,191 tags remaining after the first draw. Remaining tags are available for eligible hunters, including those who did not apply in the first draw. For more information go to www.huntnevada.com.

Some people in Nevada would prefer to hunt mule deer as opposed to feeding them to the lions

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A Nevada bill, Assembly bill 241, was recently defeated. This bill would have required that at least 40 percent of the money in the Wildlife Heritage Trust Account be spent controlling mule deer predators. The mule deer is a favorite of some hunters, including Gov. Jim Gibbons, so they want to protect it so as to be able to kill it. Alas, the mule deer must fend for itself.

If you want to apply for a Nevada Mule Deer hunt, don’t wait much longer. The deadline is April 20.

Click HERE go to the states page where you can access the online applications

If you applied for a 2008 Nevada Mule Deer hunt, and want to see if you drew,

Click HERE

Click on the highlighted links for information:

Nevada Management Plan for Mule Deer

Note: In the entire Nevada Mule Deer Management Plan there are only two paragraphs about predator control. This fact should tell you a lot about how (un)successful the plan will be in restoring mule deer to their former glory.

Nevada Predator Management Plan

Note: There are six predator management projects, and there will be plenty of money spent on them. Will they do any good? One is to protect Big Horn Sheep from Mountain Lions. Two others are to protect Mule Deer Fawns from coyotes (While the NDOW acknowledges that coyotes can kill as many as 77% of the fawns, the plan is to only kill enough coyotes to start an increase in deer numbers. Instead of spending little, if any, to have coyotes killed by hunters, NDOW will spend a lot of money using a full-time coyote agent. The coyote projects are in units 231 and 222). Two more projects are to protect Mule Deer from both Lions and Coyotes. These two projects have potential. Another project is to poison ravens to see if the sage grouse will recover. Ravens are protected, so instead of having hunters kill them for free, NDOW will spend money doing this also.

Nevada Mule Deer Harvest and Draw Reports

Nevada 2007 Non-resident Mule DeerBonus Point Report

Nevada Mule Deer Harvest Report

Would you like some Nevada BLM maps?

Click below

Nevada links for BLM maps

Nevada plans to reduce mule deer tag numbers for 2008 owing to very low fawn/doe ratios. This points to coyotes, but I doubt DOW personnel are willing to acknowledge it. I think they would rather blame the weather.

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In 2007, there were 18,261 deer tags available to resident and nonresident hunters. If the commission chooses to adopt recommendations from NDOW wildlife biologists there will be 16,242 deer tags available in 2008, a reduction of 2,019 tags. This reduction follows back-to-back deer surveys in which biologists documented very low fawn production.

During fall deer surveys we “classified more than 19,000 deer but documented one of the lowest fawn production values ever observed at 33 fawns per 100 adults. Spring surveys found the statewide average fawn-to-adult ratio to be just 26 fawns to 100 adults. Especially hard hit were the northeast, central and east-central portions of the state,” said Mike Dobel, NDOW supervising game biologist in Reno.

The habitat conditions leading to low fawn production and survival rates this past year are similar to those that lead to low fawn recruitment (birth & survival rate) following the winter of 1992-93. In that circumstance, Dobel said, a drought period was followed by a heavy winter. Likewise, the winter of 2006-07 was very dry but the winter of 2007-08 had average to above average precipitation combined with extremely cold temperatures.

Statewide the estimated mule deer population is 108,000, a five percent decrease from the 2007 estimate. The 2008 tag quota recommendations are available on the NDOW website – www.ndow.org.