Disgruntled Hunter
Editor:
I’m probably going to blow my chances at getting any Wyoming Game & Fish draw licenses, but here goes.
After my graduation from the University of Wyoming in 1977, I had six months before I could get into my Army Cavalry Class at Fort Knox, Ky., in January 1978. After a Labor Day antelope hunt with some friends northwest of Rawlins, I drove to Afton, where outfitter L.D. Frome hired me on to guide for mule deer in the famous Grey’s River.
That was one of the last years for big bucks in that region. Sure, there are still some trophies but the weather, oil exploration, predators, chronic wasting disease and related factors have seriously impacted mule deer there and all over the West.
Hunting a big mule deer is challenging. Their intelligence is keen and they travel alone or in pairs. They are the sharpest game animal to hunt.
Wyoming’s G&F makes more money selling deer licenses than any animal. We only wish they would devote more time and money to solving the mule deer dilemma.
They waste thousands if not millions of dollars supporting non-game species. The black-footed ferret and the Wyoming Toad are just two examples. Wyoming Wildlife is not what it used to be.
I loved getting that publication decades ago to read about hunting adventures. While reading about other living creatures and our environment may appeal to yuppies, us hunters have stopped reading.
I will let my subscription expire and pick up the Wyoming G&F newspaper as it fills that need.
BILL PADILLA, Cheyenne
