Mule Deer Fanatic

This deer talks, no manners though.

Click here: TALKING MULE DEER by SouthernGurl111

Watch out for robot deer that are being used by Game agencies.

Last year, while hunting the North Kaibab, I met a man at the lodge who told me this story:

I was bowhunting on the North side of Kendrick Mountain and came up on a nice buck standing in the road. I jumped out of my vehicle and drew my bow to shoot the buck. Then, I wondered why the deer was standing so still. It moved its ears and its tail, but that was it. I thought something was fishy so I let down my bow. Immediately, a bunch of wardens jumped out of the bushes. They were very angry with me and wanted to know why I didn’t shoot at their robot deer. They treated me very badly and then insisted that I get out of there so they could catch someone else.

In one end – out the other.

Click here: MULE DEER FAWN NURSING

Video by microtuefel

Well, of course they do. Bears will eat about anything, and deer are tasty. Humans are nasty and stinky. If bears are willing to attack people, so much more a deer.

This just in: Did you hear about the 11 year old kid that was killed by a bear up American Fork Canyon Sunday night? It drug him out of his tent in the middle of the night. Someone else was attacked Saturday night in the same camping spot. After the boy was killed, they tracked down the bear and made it a good bear.

A friend of mine, from Northern Utah, just sent me this email. I happen to know of a similar story which occurred, a few years previous, near Soldier Summit, Utah – not far from the above incident, where a girl was dragged from a camper by a bear that was a Yellowstone transplant. When bears in Yellowstone cause too much trouble they can apparently be transported to other locales – where they may be expected to cause more trouble.

Several years ago, Idaho did a study, in the lower pan-handle region, to learn the cause of excessive elk calf mortality. To the amazement of the researchers, many calves were being killed by black bears. By the way, black bears are extremely fast when they want to be. I have witnessed this up close and personal. They can, reportedly, out run a quarter horse. I have also seen a video, filmed in Yellowstone’s Hayden Valley, where a grizzly bear overtook a healthy calf elk and killed it. The elk had about a 100 yard head start. That grizzly bear moved like greased lighting, and only a few seconds earlier it had been lumbering around like a bear while the elk watched.

Bears are opportunists. They will kill to eat as illustrated by the above stories. If a bear is hungry ( or even if it is not ) and a deer is close enough to be attacked – what do you think will happen? Bears, I am told, start with the guts. The nastier the better. A bear, unlike a mountain lion, will eat carrion. This means: they keep eating until it is gone – even if their meal gets quite ripe. So, it is not too likely that you will ever discover bear-killed deer just lying around. If you discover a recently killed deer with the guts eaten – beware. Don’t be deceived into believing bears do not kill deer.

In much of mule deer habitat, thank goodness, there are no bears. Where there are bears, they will be killing and eating mule deer. Even if this were not so, in my experience, bears definitely displace deer and cause them stress. From what I have seen, deer go bonkers when they smell a bear.

There are numerous bears within 5 miles of my home. I do what I can to help my local mule deer herd, but the fawn/doe ratio is poor. The herd just can’t seem to grow. Between the bears, coyotes, and lions – what chance have they? Do your part – kill a bear, legally, of course. Don’t stop there. Work on the lions and coyotes as well. This will show that you are a true Mule Deer Fanatic.

Coyotes and Mule Deer

Last week, while visiting with my neighbor, our discussion turned to mule deer. I asked him if he had seen many deer on his property. He said he had an interesting experience with mule deer right next to his house, and related the following story:

My wife and I were busy inside the house when she told me she could hear a woman screaming outside. She insisted that I go outside and see what was happening. I went out the front door, and to my amazement, there were two coyotes attacking a doe and her two fawns. One coyote had a hold on the doe by a front leg – the other was in the process of killing the two fawns. I ran into the house to get my gun. When I returned to the scene, I fired a shot at one of the coyotes. I missed the shot, and the coyotes ran away. Both fawns were already dead, and I seriosly doubt that the doe survived the attack even though she was still alive when the coyotes fled. The doe moved away when I went up to look at the fawns, but she was seriouly wounded. Since the fawns were dead, there was nothing more I could do. Less than three hours later, the fawns had been dragged some distance away and mostly eaten, presumably by the same coyotes that had killed them.

I find this story interesting for several reasons. The first is that two coyotes can prey upon and kill a healthy doe and two fawns. The second is that these deer, it would seem, would rather deal with people than with coyotes – even though their proximity to humans did not save their lives in this situation. The third is that, even after being shot at, these coyotes returned in a short period of time to finish the job they had started.

In my lifetime I have met numerous people who believe that coyotes either kill only the weak, or that they don’t kill many deer – period. I don’t believe either. Instead, I believe that the single largest factor in fawn mortality is predation by coyotes. When fawn/doe ratios are low you can bet that there are way too many coyotes. I also believe that coyotes, lions, and bears kill healthy deer on a regular basis, and indeed, prefer healthy ones over the sickly.

Coyotes, lions, and bears are far more abundant than at any other time in my 55 years on this planet. Correspondingly, mule deer numbers are at their lowest. It is not a coincidence that deer numbers are so low. Each and every hunter who values mule deer should take it upon himself to kill as many coyotes as he possibly can.

Successful archery deer hunters must report harvest
By Tom Cadden, public information officer, Arizona Game and Fish Department
All archery deer hunters are reminded of a rule that went into effect in 2004. Successful archery deer hunters must contact an Arizona Game and Fish Department office in person or by telephone at 1-866-903-DEER (3337) within 10 days of taking a deer unless the deer has been checked through a mandatory hunter checking station.

Department analysis indicates that only about 35 percent of the successful archers complied with this requirement last year. The archery report-in process was put in place to gather data on archery harvest rather than go to a full draw system for archery deer hunts. Please report your harvest to help us collect this important data.  If you fail to comply with this rule, you could be cited by the department.

Excerpt from NRA

Earlier this spring, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a draft resource management plan for Ironwood Forest National Monument that proposes to ban recreational shooting in the 128,000-acre Ironwood Forest National Monument. The Monument is currently open to dispersed recreational shooting but if BLM’s preferred alternative (Alternative C) is adopted, ALL recreational shooting will be banned.

It is critical for BLM to hear from NRA members, hunters, and recreational shooters during this meeting to stress how important recreational shooting is in Ironwood. Make no mistake; this is just the first step to banning all firearms and their usage on all public lands. If the federal government can ban shooting on a vast rural area like Ironwood Forest National Monument, it can and it will ban shooting on all public lands. They must be stopped now.

An extremist environmental group called the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) issued an “Action Alert” to its followers calling NRA members who attended the five (5) previous meetings “reckless recreational shooters. These “reckless recreational shooters” are the same responsible, law-abiding shooters and hunters who pay millions of dollars every year in Arizona for conservation projects and wildlife habitat through license fees, taxes on ammunition, firearms, and other firearms-related equipment.

Please send written comments to the BLM by Thursday, May 30, and let them know that recreational shooting is a legitimate use of public lands, and a legitimate and traditional recreational use in Ironwood Forest National Monument.

The growing campaign to ban recreational shooting on federal lands in Arizona and throughout the West is underway.

Written comments are due Thursday, May 30 and can be submitted by mail to Mark Lambert, BLM Planner, Tucson Field Office, 12661 E. Broadway, Tucson, AZ 85748, or sent via email to . To review the management plans; go to “http://www.blm.gov/az/LUP/ironwood/ironwood_plan.htm”

As Reported by the Idaho Examiner:

     Reducing coyotes on mule deer fawning range and managing other predators is one component of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s Mule Deer Initiative. The initiative is a multi-faceted program aimed at increasing mule deer populations and public understanding of factors that influence mule deer populations across southern Idaho. The other five interconnected components of the initiative include: habitat, populations, communications, access and enforcement.

     “Research has demonstrated that focused coyote control during specific times of the year can improve mule deer fawn survival, especially when alternate prey – rabbits and mice – are low in abundance and deer populations are well below carrying capacity,” said Toby Boudreau, MDI coordinator for Fish and Game. Biologists are using radio-location data for mule deer from the Tex Creek Wildlife Management Area to determine where mule deer does have their fawns. This information is then used to focus coyote removal before and during the spring fawning season.

     “Coyote removal efforts are conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services from December 1 to July 1,” Boudreau said. This is the 10th year that Idaho Fish and Game has funded and directed Wildlife Services to control coyotes on mule deer fawning ranges. The goal of the program is to remove 75 percent of the coyotes from a given area in an attempt to improve fawn survival.

     Fish and Game provides $100,000 a year to Wildlife Services to supplement predator control efforts in Idaho. In exchange, Fish and Game determines where Wildlife Services should spend hunting license and tag revenues to benefit wildlife. Predator control geared to benefit mule deer is based on an annual evaluation of mule deer populations, alternate prey, and environmental conditions.

For more information, contact Idaho Fish and Game at 208-525-7290.

WYOMING’S POPULAR MULE DEER

10/27/2006

– This fall, Wyoming’s estimated 480,000 mule deer will attract around 63,000 hunters from places as local and colorful as Point of Rocks to as international and historic as Munich, and a multitude of places in between.

This large-eared symbol of the West lures hunters in all sizes, many nationalities and both genders. Mule deer accommodate hunters in open country and rugged mountains and with better than every other hunter bringing one home, the mule deer is truly an equal opportunity big game animal.

Not as large or prone to seek thick timber as elk, but then not as visible as antelope, the mule deer over the years has been the state’s most popular game animal. But in his book, “The Mule Deer of Wyoming,” Neal Blair wrote from studying the diaries of Wyoming’s early trappers and explorers that mule deer were an infrequent sight in the 1800s and the men subsisted mainly on antelope, bison and bear with deer a rare camp meat entry.

Although the trickle of early travelers reported few deer, the herd now attracts a legion of repeat customers that rank Wyoming’s mule deer hunting as some of the nation’s best.

Nonresidents migrate here by all modes of transportation from private plane to buses or motor homes customized expressly for hunting. Because their home territory usually either offers only whitetails or limited mule deer opportunity, they come to hunt in the stirring setting of forested peaks, sagebrush canyons and rocky outcrops. For others, the $273 nonresident license and the expense to get here are bargains for an opportunity to hunt good habitat, compared to the cost of buying a private lease in their home state.

Here at home, some school districts traditionally close their doors the first couple days of deer season to allow the kids to follow their elders into the golden aspen in search of some winter meat.

To locals and migrants alike, the quest for delicious venison or an exalted rack and the abundance of animals in a variety of settings induces hunters to inject over $28 million into the state’s economy in pursuit of a mulie.

In September, mule deer swap their brown summer coat for the gray of winter and the bucks polish the last velvet off their antlers. After most seasons end, the bucks’ necks swell for the rut as thoughts turn to propagating the species. Unlike elk, buck mule deer don’t establish a harem but rather “play the field” with their polygamous breeding activity hitting a peak in late November. Although up to 28,000 bucks were harvested prior to then, enough remain that any barren does are likely the result of physiological problems.

Rut is a stressful period for bucks. They fight between themselves, nearly quit eating and about the time they’ve recovered it’s time to contend with winter.

Deer spend the spring and summer gorging themselves to accumulate energy reserves in preparation for the ominous season. To cope, deer migrate to lower elevations where sagebrush, mountain mahogany and bitterbrush extend above the snowpack to provide winter browse.

The availability of good winter range can make or break a mule deer herd. A herd is better off entering winter with slightly fewer members than the winter range can support so the habitat is not severely abused. In the event of a severe winter like 1983-84 or 1992-93, deer on good winter range make it through in better condition and their fawn crop is not severely diminished.

Bucks begin dropping antlers in January and the whole herd is bald by April. Mule deer have forked branches on their antlers contrasting with whitetails where all points come off the main beams.

The does’ seven-month gestation period generally ends the first two weeks of June. The first pregnancy typically produces a single fawn with twins the norm in following years.

With white spots their first 5-10 weeks, fawns are a thrilling sight for summer tourists. A doe with trailing fawns strolling naively along has been the highlight of many a family camping trip.

Deer and other big game in Wyoming are managed on the “herd,” or population, concept. A herd is a distinct population of deer, which keeps to itself, engaging in very little breeding or interchange with neighboring deer herds. Individual herds tend to remain in certain geographic regions (although the regions can be quite large) and use traditional fawning, summer and winter habitat from year to year. The populations of Wyoming’s 39 herds range from 500 in the Chain Lakes or Shoshone River herds to 58,000 in the Powder River Herd.

“Across the West and in Wyoming, mule deer numbers have declined since the ‘good old days’ of the ‘50s and ‘60s for a variety of reasons,” said Daryl Lutz, chairman of the Game and Fish’s Mule Deer Working Group. “The most recent decline took place during the early 1990s due primarily to the combined effects of drought and severe winters. Unlike declines and recoveries in the past fawn productivity and survival have remained at depressed levels. These, relatively low recruitment levels in concert with the harder winters ’92-93 and 2001-02 and several dry summers have resulted in mule deer populations remaining lower than the department and public desire.”

Of the continent’s 11 mule deer sub-species, the Rocky Mountain mule deer which inhabits Wyoming has the widest geographical distribution and a population larger than all of the other subspecies combined.

(contact: Daryl Lutz (307) 473-3400 or Jeff Obrecht)

-WGFD-

ANTLER PICK-UP PROTOCOL CLARIFIED BY G&F

1/27/2007

CODY – In the Cody area alone, wildlife officials know that at least two bull elk and three mule deer were poached last winter and one deer this winter – not because someone needed the meat – but because someone wanted their antlers.

These incidents have prompted the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to reconsider how they enforce the laws in issuing an Interstate Game Tag, the tag required to possess certain wildlife parts.

“When someone finds a dead buck deer or bull elk in the field, they have stumbled upon a potential crime scene,” said the Game and Fish’s Cody Region Wildlife Supervisor Gary Brown. “If that same individual cuts the head off of the carcass before notifying us of their discovery, the crime scene is compromised and our chance of apprehending the poacher or poachers is lessened.”

According to Brown, protecting wildlife is a high priority. “Our job is to enforce the laws and regulations that protect our wildlife resource and we have a responsibility to investigate the illegal killing of our game animals,” he said. “Of course, not every dead buck or bull found in the field has been poached. Predation, disease, weather and old age also kill animals.”

When someone finds a skull with attached antlers they must contact a Wyoming Game and Fish Department law enforcement officer as soon as possible and arrangements must be made to game tag the antlers. This same procedure applies to road-killed animals.

According to Brown, the “soon as possible” reference means just that. “With the advent of cell phones, soon as possible will be immediate in some cases and in others, contact should be made as soon as a public telephone or cell phone service is available,” Brown said. “Failing to notify us is a violation we will strictly enforce.

“Once we have been contacted and obtain detailed information regarding the dead animal and its location, it is possible that the person who found the skull will be allowed to bring it in and have it properly tagged. If we feel it may have been poached, we will investigate.”

If illegal activity is suspected the Game and Fish will likely retain the antlers.

Naturally shed antlers and antelope horns do not require Wyoming Interstate Game Tags nor does the department need to be notified when they are found. All bighorn sheep horns picked up must be reported to the Game and Fish within 15 days for registration, plugging and interstate game tagging.

There are no antler hunting seasons in Wyoming however, the Game and Fish urges all antler hunters to avoid moving elk and deer while they are on their winter ranges, especially when deep snows or cold temperatures persist. Some Game and Fish and U.S. Forest Service winter range areas are closed to all human activity during the winter period.

For more information about winter range areas or the proper procedure for tagging or plugging pick-up skulls contact your local game warden or nearest Game and Fish regional office.

-WGFD-

Big changes coming for big game hunting seasons

AARON MEIER

Hunters who have been around a while will notice several important changes from years past. Perhaps the biggest changes affect the scheduled season dates for the upcoming fall hunting seasons. Rather than opening on a designated day of the week, as has been done in the past, the 2007 hunting seasons will begin and end on specific dates. Those dates have been set for the next two years. This, according to NDOW, will allow seasons to remain constant from year to year and should make it easier for hunters who need to plan their hunts and put in for vacation time early in the year.

This is a significant change for a hunting culture that is rich in tradition, but NDOW is hoping that the changes will ultimately make it easier for hunters and their families when it comes to applying for tags and planning their hunts.

“The long-term goal is to pursue standard seasons and eliminate unnecessary changes and confusion to tag applicants and hunters every two years,” said Mike Cox, NDOW’s big game staff biologist. “The diverse and changing work force of Nevadans, commitment of hunters to hunt regardless of what day of the week it is, the spread of hunting pressure across the opening day and first weekend of a season and trends of other western states were all taken into account.”

Another significant change is the creation of split hunting seasons for mule deer and elk hunts in several areas. These changes will provide hunters with a choice of early and late rifle hunts. The benefit of the split seasons, Cox said, is the ability it gives NDOW to recognize and manage two groups of hunters, “opportunity hunters” and “trophy hunters.” Each group has different expectations and demands. Split seasons also provide a level of protection to the mature buck segment by controlling the harvest of these bucks later in the fall.

Mule Deer — An antlerless deer hunt has been added in Area 6 and many hunt areas will now offer an early and late split rifle season. However, the resident junior deer rifle season was not split (single 22-day season). Some interstate deer herds have all three weapon class hunts in December.

Unit Boundary Changes

Pilot Peak in eastern Elko County is now designated as Unit 091. In prior years Pilot Peak was included in Unit 079, but that unit is now limited to the Toana Range and surrounding area. Other units with revised boundaries include: 072 – 075, 102, 104, 111, 114, 131, and 221.

Hunters should be aware and research that wilderness areas are greatly expanded across White Pine, Lincoln and portions of Clark County. These areas restrict motorized access. The Hunt Unit Map at ndow.org displays the wilderness boundaries. An updated Nevada hunt unit map can be found on the NDOW website at http://www.ndow.org/hunt/maps/unitmap.shtm . The Big Game online tag application program began last month and ends on April 16.