Mule Deer Fanatic

April 7 is the last day to apply for limited-entry mule deer hunts in Colorado

The original deadline was April 8 2009, however, owing to overcrowding of the internet resources, the deadline has been extended to April 15, 2009

Here are two rather unusual cases of deer poaching:

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In mid-February, 2009 someone killed two mule deer and dumped the heads in a WalMart parking lot in Oregon.

In late November 2008, a Vermont teenager bolted the antlers of a buck on a dead doe and ran it through a checking station, during a buck only hunt. He was fined $400 and put in jail.

According to Tom Wharton of the Deseret News, in Salt Lake City, 10000 people have applied for shed antler permits in Utah as of March 12

If you are going to apply for a deer hunt in Wyoming you have until March 15.

For more info go to the States page and click on Wyoming

As quoted from the Wyoming Game and Fish :

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On March 28, 2008, wolves were officially removed from the Endangered Species List in the Northern Rocky Mountains. This includes the entire states of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, as well as portions of Utah, Oregon, and Washington. However, a number of groups have filed a lawsuit challenging the delisting of wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains. Those same groups filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to restore Endangered Species Act protection to wolves while the lawsuit is being heard. On July 18, 2008, a federal judge in Montana granted this injunction, returning management authority for wolves to the federal government.

News Release
Contact: Eric Keszler
eric.keszler@wgf.state.wy.us
July 18, 2008
Cheyenne Headquarters
5400 Bishop Blvd.
Cheyenne, WY 82006
Phone: (307) 777-4594 ▪ Fax: (307) 777-4600
http://gf.state.wy.us
Federal Court Decision Changes Wolf Management in Wyoming
CHEYENNE—A decision issued today in federal court will have significant impacts on the way
wolves are managed in Wyoming. Judge Donald Molloy issued an injunction to suspend the
removal of wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains from the federal Endangered Species List.
Wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains were removed from the Endangered Species List in
March 2008. A number of environmental groups are challenging the US Fish and Wildlife
Service’s delisting decision. Today’s injunction effectively returns management authority for
wolves in the region to the federal government while these legal challenges are heard.
Under state management, wolves in Wyoming were classified as Trophy Game animals in the
northwest corner of the state and Predatory animals in the rest of the state. In the Trophy Game
area, wolves could only be taken by hunters with a wolf hunting license during an open season or
by ranchers who had been issued a lethal take permit by the Game and Fish. In the Predatory
Animal area, wolves could be taken by anyone at any time.
As a result of today’s injunction, wolves can no longer be taken anywhere in Wyoming except in
cases where wolves are in the act of attacking livestock. Ranchers who are experiencing
livestock depredation problems anywhere in the state should contact their local Wyoming Game
and Fish office.

Changes to the Utah bonus point program

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In 2009, the Utah Wildlife Board approved some critical changes to the state’s bonus point program:
If you do not apply for a limited-entry or once-in-a-lifetime permit or a bonus point at least once in a consecutive three-year period, you will lose any bonus points you’ve accrued. Because 2009 is the first year of the three-year timeframe, point loss will not begin until after the 2011 hunt drawing.
If you are a nonresident, you may apply for permits or bonus points for all limited-entry and once-in-a-lifetime species. (However, you may draw only one permit per year.) For more information, please see page 19 [of the proclamation].
If you surrender a permit obtained through a group application, you will not have your bonus points reinstated unless all group members surrender their permits more than 30 days before the season begins. For more information, please see page 21 [of the proclamation].

This email just in:

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The photo below captures a disturbing trend that is beginning to affect wildlife in the US. After a sweeping victory in the November elections, animals that were formerly self-sufficient are already modifying their behavior to take advantage of what they expect to be a new set of societal norms in the next four to eight years. This black bear from Montana has ceased hunting for a living and is sitting outside the US Fish & Wildlife Service office in Kalispell, apparently waiting to be fed and to have his winter den dug by government employees. The residents of Kalispell are calling him “Bearack Obama”.

Beary Punny

If you want to gather sheds in Utah now, you must first take an online ethics course. Once completed you can print a certificate which must be carried with you while gathering. You may only gather between Feb 1 and Apr 15, 2009 and you cannot remove antlers attached to skulls.

What will the DWR think of next? This will spread like a virus and will mutate as well.

Non-resident fishing license                               $70

Non-resident combination license                       $80

Non-resident basic hunting license                     $65

Non-resident general season deer                     $263              includes fishing license

Non-resident limited-entry deer                          $463              includes fishing license

Non-resident premium limited-entry deer           $563              includes fishing license