Mule Deer Fanatic

I have, for several years now, heard rumors flying around about Kirt Darner – whom, as a Mule Deer Fanatic, I idolized because of his accomplishments and knowledge.  I recently came acrossed an article written by Rich Lorrocco, a friend, which tells the “rest of the story”.  I believe that Rich does not necessarily want to defame Darner.  There may be, and probably are trophies that Darner has taken legitimately.  Additionally, Darner certainly seems to know the “how to’s” of trophy mule deer hunting.

Here is the link to Rich’s article:  http://www.hunts.net/darner.html
Check out his site while you’re there.

One of the best things the Utah DWR has done for mule deer hunters in recent memory is the creation and management of an on-line forum. Typically, the DWR’s actions impact mule deer hunters only in negative ways.

Among other things, the forum allowed the DWR to maintain a pulse on how the hunting community felt about them. I guess they got too much heat. The DWR decided they had no business having a forum and that it was in competition with other forums, so they cancelled it.

There is a version of that forum still in existence. It is managed by a group that calls themselves Utah Wildlife Network. The DWR archive is here: http://utahwildlife.net/dwr_forum/

Or, better yet – here is a forum exclusively about MULE DEER:

MULE DEER FANATIC FORUM

A fire-by-fire breakdown is provided by Pahrump Valley Times. Nevada Department of Wildlife’s Game Bureau Chief Russ Mason was quoted as saying “These [2006 wildland] fires are an environmental disaster for the state of Nevada.”

Excerpt:

Areas of critically important mule deer transition and winter range and important sage grouse nesting and brood rearing habitat have been lost. In addition, chukar and pronghorn have been affected.

“Historically, fire intervals are between 100 and 150 years in these areas, and for some sagebrush environments in lower elevations, 200 to 300 years,” said Shawn Espinosa, Wildlife Biologist for the Nevada Department of Wildlife). Biodiversity is affected when these natural cycles are disrupted.

“We are now seeing fire return intervals on the order of 10 to 20 years – so the cheatgrass fire cycle is perpetuating itself,” he said. “More frequent fires preclude sagebrush seedlings that would come back after a fire from ever establishing,” said Espinosa.

One of the factors affecting fire intervals is invasive species.

In particular, non-native cheatgrass seems to have evolved to obliterate Nevada’s native vegetation. Cheatgrass is so named because it matures early and cheats native grasses, which emerge later, out of essential water and nutrients before the heat of summer sets in. It matures early and dries out early, creating fuel for fires. And it carries fire across areas between shrubs that would normally be bare.

“The potential for successful restoration is limited,” said Espinosa. Governmental agencies need to have luck on their side in the form of good precipitation, and the seeding must occur during the first year after a fire in order to out-compete cheat grass. Even then, the odds for sagebrush re-growth are low.” he said.

“We’ve seen sagebrush seed response in certain aspects – such as north facing slopes out of direct, all-day sunlight – and at certain elevations conducive for it to grow,” he said.

“Those are the sites we’re concentrating on. South facing slopes will predominantly convert to a cheatgrass environment,” Espinosa said. He noted that even when sage brush areas are reseeded, the overall germination rate is only about 20%.

With the basic fabric of the habitat changing, this doesn’t bode well for a lot of Nevada’s wildlife species. Sage grouse, a native species whose numbers are threatened, have lost numerous strutting grounds, used for mating.

“Over the past few years their nesting and critical brood-rearing habitat has been lost as well,” said Espinosa. “We’ve effectively lost these habitats for the next 30-50 years – conservatively,” he said.

The loss of critical deer winter range is being assessed, and the outlook is poor there as well. Areas burned were host to a number of species which will all suffer from the loss of habitat, including sage-dependent species like sage thrasher, vesper sparrow, and pygmy rabbit, as well as Lahontan cutthroat trout and a whole host of upland game species.

After last summer’s fires in Elko, the department put satellite tracking collars on 10 mule deer to track their movements. The information will help wildlife biologists learn how burned areas affect the deer’s journeys from summer to winter ranges. The data will also provide information to guide rehabilitation efforts to increase survival rates.

Since the gestation period for mule deer is about 210 days, if you know when the rut occurs, then you will know when to expect baby deer.  Or, in like manner, if you know when the fawns are born, then you know when the rut occurs.  In my home area of North Central Arizona, the first fawns are born about the end of July.  This may be a surprise to some.  It was a surprise to me.  The peak birthing period here is mid August.  That is when the typical Arizona monsoon hits.  This timing is about 2 months later than, say Western Colorado.  If I work backwards, that means our local rut is around mid to late January. 

It just so happens that, here in Arizona, I can buy an over-the-counter archery tag that lets me hunt during the rut in certain areas.

Since I am a Mule Deer Fanatic, and a serious student of the Mule Deer, I watch the mule deer near me with keen interest.  I know that the fawns that are being born are disappearing just about as fast as they hit the ground.  I know that the does separate themselves from the other animals just before fawning.  I know that they typically give birth in the middle of a park, which is what I would expect of an antelope.  I presume this is a predator evasion strategy.  It doesn’t seem to be working too well, however.  There are so many coyotes in our area that the deer, and the small game, for that matter, don’t have much of a chance to survive. I see these deer every day – so I can tell when a doe is pregnant, and I can tell when she has delivered.  If I see fawns with their mother, and then they disappear, I deduce a predator problem.  We do not have a habitat problem per se, and we do not have winter kill. 

Last year, we ended up with about 0.5/1.0 fawns per doe.  That’s pretty sad.  It looks like it is going to be even worse this year.  Have you ever wondered what this ratio should be?  If you were a deer rancher,  you would want to net at least 1.5/1.0 fawns per doe.  Is that possible, you ask.  Why, yes it is.  If our agencies were even half good game managers, that is what we could expect from them.  This type of ratio is essential to a growing herd and to having surplus deer.  That is why we have hunting – because of the capacity of deer herds to produce a surplus.  Today, we are giving the lion’s share of that surplus capacity to predators.

It is “normal” for a “heifer” doe to have a single fawn for her first birthing experience at age 2 1/2.  After that, until she goes through menopause, she will typically have twins, occasionally triplets.  Let’s say that a doe will have seven birthing experiences in her lifetime, then we could expect her to deliver 11-13 fawns.  I should interject here – this is why we don’t kill does.  About 55% of the fawns will be buck fawns, so we could expect something like seven buck fawns and six doe fawns from a single, healthy doe.  By the time a doe expires, let’s say, at age ten, between her and her offspring, there would be approximately 340 fawns delivered, of which about 190 would be bucks.  Thinking about these prospects should make any Mule Deer Fanatic happy.  Then you think about the current state of mule deer mis-management and you get sad. 

So, keep an eye on your own deer herd and see what you can learn.  If you see low fawn/doe ratios, you can start killing coyotes.

This young gal is long on sincere and short on smarts. She wants to teach the wolves some manners and keep the mountain maggots in pens at night. We need more volunteers like her – a lot more.

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Can wolves and sheep coexist here?

IDFG considering whether to kill off Phantom Hill wolf pack

By JASON KAUFFMAN
Express Staff Writer ———————————–

Wood River Valley resident Cindi Hillemeyer scans the surrounding Smoky Mountains with a handheld radio telemetry receiver in attempt to locate the Phantom Hill wolf pack’s two radio collared wolves Monday evening. This summer, Hillemeyer has been working as a volunteer with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game tracking the movements of the pack in an attempt to keep them away from bands of sheep that are grazing federal grazing allotments. Photo by Jason Kauffman

Raising her handheld radio telemetry receiver above her head just before nightfall on Monday, Cindi Hillemeyer scanned the surrounding hills of the Smoky Mountains for a sign of the elusive Phantom Hill wolf pack.
A volunteer with Fish and Game, Hillemeyer has spent much of her summer tracking the movements of the wolf pack in an attempt to keep them away from grazing sheep. Along with her Fish and Game-issued radio telemetry receiver, she also carries a single-barrel shotgun along with non-lethal rubber bullets to scare wolves that may venture too close to sheep.Hillemeyer’s solitary task is a tall order, especially given the six-member wolf pack’s expansive home range roughly coincides with several federal sheep grazing allotments in the upper Wood River Valley. While at least one local sheep producer—Hailey-based Lava Lake Land and Livestock—elected to remove sheep from its grazing allotments earlier this summer after the pack was discovered, other grazers have chosen not to. One of those sheep ranchers—John Faulkner, of Gooding-based Faulkner Land and Livestock Co.—began to lose some of his sheep to wolf depredations on July 10 and 12. The sheep-killing incidents didn’t end there.Both Hillemeyer and Fish and Game’s large carnivore manager, Steve Nadeau, confirmed Monday that the wolf pack has continued to stay in close proximity to Faulkner’s bands and have been involved in repeated sheep killings. Such incidents are the reason Hillemeyer has spent numerous days and nights alone in the field monitoring the movements of the Phantom Hill wolves.

The killings are also why Nadeau is giving serious consideration to the pack’s continued existence. The option to kill off the pack was never out of the realm of possibility, he said Monday.

“It’s always been in the cards,” he said.

During an interview by telephone, Nadeau said a determination about whether agents with the U.S Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services would be called on to kill off the pack could happen soon. He said the decision—which is largely his to make—would be based in part on a detailed tally of Faulkner’s sheep that was to take place Monday evening in the Baker Creek area.

During Monday’s sheep count, lambs from the band were loaded onto out-of-state-bound trucks, while the adult ewes remained on-site and were joined by additional sheep.

Sheepherders looking after Faulkner’s sheep have reported continued losses throughout the past few weeks, Nadeau said.

“They continue to pluck away sheep,” he said.

What’s really needed, Hillemeyer said, is a stronger focus on instituting non-lethal methods to keep sheep and wolves separate. These can include putting sheep in protective electric-wire enclosures at night and placing more guard dogs with sheep bands—measures some sheep grazers have instituted with success, she said.

“I feel like that could shape a future for coexistence,” Hillemeyer said.

In response to a comment Nadeau made on Monday concerning the temporary nature of such non-lethal measures, she said the same can be said for killing off wolf packs without first trying to encourage them to stay away from sheep. Just as generations of wolves can learn bad habits like preying on sheep, so too can they learn to avoid sheep, she said.

By late afternoon Tuesday, information about whether the Phantom Hill pack was definitely marked for extermination was unavailable. Check the Idaho Mountain Express Web site at www.mtexpress.com for continued coverage of this ongoing issue.

Kings Outdoor World Blog post about New Archery World Record taken in Colorado

Mountain Lion Attacks Hiker in California

January 26th, 2007 David King – King’s Outdoor World

A 70-year old man was hiking with his wife at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park on Wednesday when he was attacked by a mountain lion. His wife basically saved his life by beating the cougar with a stick and stabbing it with a pen. Game wardens closed the park and sent dogs to track the lion and eventually tracked and killed a pair of mountain lions. The man underwent surgery for lacerations on his head and body and is currently in fair condition

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A comment I made on Kings Outdoor World Blog and a response: 

I attended a meeting several years ago where the California Director of wildlife resources was a guest speaker. He stated that Utah would soon be in the same boat as California relative to lions – if Utah did not wake up and smell the roses. His words were prophetic.

He had just come from escorting a husband to the kill scene where a lion had killed the man’s wife and had partially eaten her – the husband was to identify the remains. The woman was jogging on a trail near LA. The husband sued the Division and the Director for not controlling the lions. Lion management was taken from the Director’s hands by way of proposition, but he was still held responsible.

Happy hunting and may the Force be with you

MuleDeerFanatic

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I finally moved out of Calif in late 2006. Part of the reason was because of all the liberal tree-hugging nuts that have taken over Calif. These same nut cases are the ones responsible for banning trapping and the hunting of cougar in Calif.. Since these bans went into effect there has been a huge increase in human attacks by lions and a drastitic decrease in upland game bird poulations due to the out of control populations of coyote (trapping ban). I would routinely see 3 or more skinny coyotes walking around in broad daylight while duck-hunting in the Calif delta region. I moved to Oregon and plan to kill as many cougar as I legally can in the coming years. I’m going bear hunting in a couple of days and will get a bear. Bears have destoyed up to 30% of the timber in certain areas of southern Oregon. Cougar hunting with dogs was banned by the liberal animal-lovers (baby-killers) in Oregon a few years ago. Now the cougar population has tripled and deer and elk herds are on the decline. Cougar kill an estimated 1 deer/elk/livestock animal week or nearly 500000 animals annually in Oregon

Daniel Cook

CLICK: MULE DEER RECORDS

CLICK: SCORING A TYPICAL BUCK

CLICK: SCORING A NON TYPICAL BUCK

Minimum Scores:

Category   Awards   All Time

Typical           180             190

Non-typical    215             230

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Boone and Crocket Specific Guidelines:

ALTERED TROPHIES
Trophies that have been tampered with to gain an advantage obviously are not eligible for entry into the records books. Examples of trophy tampering include the deliberate removal of abnormal points from typical racks to increase a trophy’s score and/or the addition of antler or horn material. If any points are deliberately removed from antlers of any trophy by breaking or sawing them off, that trophy is not eligible for entry in the Awards Programs and/or records books. Deliberate modification of horns by adding to horn length or artificially increasing circumference measurements is also grounds for disqualification of a trophy.

DAMAGED AND/OR REPAIRED TROPHIES
Prior to January 1, 1980, the Club did not accept any repaired trophies for the records books. After that date, however, the Records Committee agreed to accept repaired trophies for the records books on a case by case basis. Trophies that have been repaired can be accepted by the Records Committee if the owner or the Official Measurer identifies the repair, and if the repair is made with original horn or antler material. The Committee still reserves the right to reject any repaired trophy, at the Committee’s discretion.

When scoring any trophies that have been repaired, no portion of the repaired material can be included in any measurement nor can any allowance be made for lost material. For example, measurements of repaired points or main beams can only be taken to the point of the break.
When measuring horns, no allowances can be made for missing horn material. For example, there are frequently large chunks of horn material missing in the area where the D-2 circumferences are taken on desert sheep. This damage probably occurs when sheep are sparring with each other. If a D-2 circumference falls on the damaged area, the circumference is still taken through the damaged area by wrapping the tape snugly around the horn.

Cat and bear skulls are also prone to being damaged. Some damage occurs naturally when bears are sparring with each other. More frequently, however, skulls are damaged when trophies are shot in the head. In any event, measurement of damaged skulls must include only the intact, unrepaired portions of the skull.

Older deer racks often have a varnish coating. It seems that varnishing trophies must have been a common practice in the “good old days,” since it seems it is generally only older racks that surface with varnish on them. Because all velvet must be removed from antlers before they can be measured, people may assume all varnish must be removed from antlers before they can be officially measured. This is not so. Basically, the antlers can be scored, so long as the varnish doesn’t have any effect on the final score. However, if there are pockets or spots of thick varnish that affect any measurements, the varnish must be removed before the trophy can be officially measured.

DRYING PERIOD
Official measurements cannot be taken until the antlers, horns, skulls or tusks have air dried at normal room temperature for least 60 days after the animal was killed. If the trophy has been frozen prior to cleaning, as is often the case with skulls, the 60-day drying period begins once the cleaning process is complete. The drying process for trophies that have been boiled or freeze-dried starts the day they are removed from the boiling pot or freeze-drier, respectively.

In the case of picked up trophies, the 60-day drying period also applies. If it is clear from the condition of the antlers, horns, skulls or tusks that the trophy has dried for more than 60 days, one does not have to wait another 60 days from when it was found to measure it. However, it is necessary to enter the approximate date the animal died on the line provided for the date of kill on the score chart. Trophy owners may be asked to provide a brief history for “picked up” trophies or trophies of unknown origin to substantiate the approximate date of death.

ENTRY DISQUALIFICATION
As keeper of the Records of North American Big Game, the Club has the inherent responsibility to maintain the integrity of the records. On occasion the validity of some entries is questioned. The Records Committee treats such questions as serious matters. If, upon completion of the Club’s investigation, it is found that the trophy was inappropriately entered, the matter is taken to the Records Committee. The typical action by the committee in such cases is to remove that trophy and all others that that particular trophy owner has entered into the records books and to preclude any future entries from that hunter or trophy owner, as the case may be.

HORN PREPARATION
Shrinkage of horns (pronghorns, goats, etc.) has been a concern of many trophy owners over the years. It is acceptable to remove horns from the skull, clean them, and then have them reset with a bonding substance as long as the horns are not altered in the process. Thus, a bonding substance can be used but its presence cannot enhance the horn’s basal circumference. Alteration of the basal circumference is grounds for disqualification of the trophy.

LOCATION OF KILL
Every effort is made by the Club to ensure that the location of kill data for trophies listed in the records books and Fair Chase magazine are accurate and correct. Space is provided on both the score chart and the Hunter, Guide and Hunt Information form to include this data for each entry.

Please keep in mind that we are looking for the following information when completing the blanks provided for the location of kill information. For trophies taken in the lower 48 states, we need the county and state (e.g. Lawrence Co., PA) where the trophy was taken (or found). If the county is unknown, we need to know the state where it was taken. A standard road atlas is used to ensure the correct spelling of counties in the lower 48 states.

For trophies taken in Canada and Alaska, we need the name of the nearest geographic feature (e.g. Post River, AK; Glacier Lake, BC; Cataract Creek, AB) that can be found on a map or in a geographic atlas of place names for that state or province. The Club has a small library of geographic atlases and topographic maps used to ensure that the name of a geographic location is a nationally accepted name (not simply a local name) and that it is properly spelled.

At times we have problems collecting geographic information from Canadian and Alaskan hunters. For example, a whitetail buck taken in an agricultural area in the prairie provinces may be a hundred miles from the nearest geographic feature. However, while we shy away from using the names of towns, since most animals are not actually killed in a town—only near it, we will use towns if no other location of kill information is available.

If there is more than one geographic feature that could be listed for a trophy, we prefer to list the feature closest to the site of kill. For example, Divide Lake is a better location of kill for a mountain caribou than the Mackenzie Mountains that covers thousands of square miles. Similarly, it is not very useful to list a location of kill for a whitetail deer as Lake Winnipeg since it stretches for hundreds of miles through the heart of Manitoba. For trophies taken in Mexico we simply need to know the state it was taken in.

If the location of kill or find is not known, the location should be listed as “unknown.” Of course, an unknown location of kill is unacceptable for trophies separated from subspecies by boundaries. For example, an elk trophy from Washington State cannot be accepted in the Roosevelt’s elk category with an unknown location of kill since we must be able to verify that it came from an area where Roosevelt’s elk are located.

It is rare that we ask an individual to pinpoint the exact location of kill for his or her trophy on a map. However, we may need this information for categories of big game separated by boundaries. If we receive this information from a trophy owner, the information remains confidential and is never divulged to anyone for any reason.

When completing the location of kill information on the score chart and HGH form please be as accurate as possible. This will continue to add scientific validity to the records listings and ensure that the location is correctly spelled.

METHOD OF HARVEST
The Boone and Crockett Club, because it recognizes the trophy and not the hunter or owner, accepts hunter-taken trophies harvested with: firearms, including muzzle loaders, pistols, shotguns, etc.; archery tackle, including compound bows and traditional archery equipment; crossbows; etc. All hunter-taken trophies are eligible for entry into the Club’s Awards Programs and records books, so long as the equipment is legal in the state or province where the animal is harvested. (Pope and Young Club only accepts trophies taken with a bow.)

The Boone and Crockett Club, because it recognizes the trophy and not the hunter or owner, also accepts trophies that are picked up (e.g. winter kills, road kills, etc.) and trophies of unknown origin (e.g. garage sales, taxidermists, attics, etc.). Trophies accepted with unknown locations of harvest are eligible only if they are for a category without a boundary.

SHED ANTLERS/SPLIT SKULLS
Shed antlers, as well as any set of antlers with a split skull plate, are not eligible for entry in the Club’s Awards Programs and/or records books, regardless of how well they have been restored to their original condition. This is because the inside spread, which is an integral part of the final score of antlered trophies, cannot be accurately determined if the skull plate is absent or split. If an official measurer suspects that a set of antlers he or she is measuring is either shed antlers or a split skull, he or she should contact the Club’s headquarters for instructions on x-raying that trophy. This policy applies to trophy specimens of deer, caribou, moose and elk, as well as pronghorn.

TROPHIES TAKEN ON RESERVATIONS
Trophies taken on tribal/communal lands in line with sound game management practices, taken in full compliance with tribal/communal laws or regulations regarding such hunting, and with possession of the usual state/provincial hunting license where applicable, and taken in full compliance with the Boone and Crockett Club’s rules of Fair Chase, will be fully accepted as entries for both awards and publication in the records books.

VELVET ANTLERS
The Boone and Crockett Club does not accept antlers in “velvet” for entry into the Awards Programs and/or records books unless the velvet is removed before official measurements are made. Remnants of velvet are permissible as long as they do not affect any measurements.

World record Typical Pope and Young Mule Deer

World record Non-typical Pope and Young Mule Deer

Pope and Young Minimum Scores

CLICK: TYPICAL RECORDS

CLICK: NON-TYPICAL RECORDS

CLICK: ARCHERY RECORDS