Mule Deer Fanatic

This nice buck was killed by an unknown hunter while hunting in South Central Utah – 2008

Photo submitted by Paul Baxter

Compare the two stories below and see what your conclusions are; mine are at the bottom.

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CASPER, Wyo. – A police officer didn’t think much of a call to shoo off a bothersome “kitty cat” at a home in Casper, Wyo. Then the officer arrived at the home of Beverly Hood. It was no ordinary domestic feline — but a male mountain lion weighing 80 to 90 pounds.

Officer Mike Ableman says he ran for cover inside Hood’s home when he saw the cougar.

Hood says she was inside when she first saw the mountain lion lying on her porch Monday. Hood says the lion hissed at her, but she wasn’t scared.

She called 911, animal control and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Hood reported that she had a bothersome “big cat.” A dispatcher told Ableman that it was a house cat.

A game warden tranquilized the mountain lion and the animal was relocated.

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Deer project starts off with 13 caught, killed

Associated Press – September 23, 2008 10:55 AM ET

HELENA, Mont. (AP) – Helena police trapped and killed 13 mule deer in four days last week, as part of a pilot project to reduce the number of deer within city limits.

Chief Troy McGee says the last of the carcasses were taken to a meat processer on Monday.

All of the venison is being given to Helena Food Share for distribution. The food bank is paying for the processing.

The pilot project aims to cut the city’s growing deer herd by 50 animals over the course of several weeks. Officers began the nighttime work last week, baiting a half-dozen box traps with apples and a mix of grains and molasses.

Officers kill the deer with a bolt gun, which uses a blank cartridge to fire a cylinder into the deer’s brain. It does not fire a projectile.

Information from: Independent Record, http://www.helenair.com

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To me, a hissing male mountain lion on my front porch constitutes a threat – much more so than mule deer eating my shrubs. In my opinion, the mule deer in Helena should be relocated and the mountain lion shot on the spot. Modern-day priorities seem to exibit a love affair between agencies and predators.  It is almost as bad to kill a predator as it is to cut down a pine tree.

$$$$$$$  Is it all about money?  $$$$$$$

What is being done with the money to benefit the average mule deer hunter?

New Mexico has way less mule deer than habitat for them.

$145k could keep me killing predators night and day for three years. Don’t you think New Mexico should hire me to help the deer herd before they start planting more sage brush for the mule deer that aren’t there?

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Auction nets $568,000 for NM big-game licenses

SANTA FE — New Mexico has gained $568,000 from auctions for special big-game hunting licenses.

The state Department of Game and Fish says that the auctions are an important fundraising tool and that the money is used for big game habitat and conservation.

A hunter from Washington bid $172,000 for a package of hunts – deer, elk, pronghorn, oryx and ibex – at the recent annual Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation National Convention in Reno, Nev. A second package sold for $145,000 to a hunter from California at the Mule Deer Foundation Convention in Salt Lake City.

In addition, a Tennessee hunter bid $90,000 for an elk license, a hunter from Illinois bid $90,000 for a bighorn sheep license, and an Arizona hunter bid $71,000 for a mule deer license, the department said.

From the Witchita Eagle:

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This fall, the Satanta hunter, Todd Robinson, shot this typical mule deer buck, killed with a muzzleloader, netted 195 5/8 of typical antler.

Hours before he shot the big mule deer, he’d resigned himself to shooting a doe.Robinson had hunted hard for nine days in Unit 17, having passed up numerous small bucks.

Getting off work early on Sept. 27, the next-to-last day of the special muzzleloader season, sent him to where sand hills met farmed ground.

He spotted the buck in the distance with about 20 minutes of legal shooting time remaining.

“Everything just worked out,” he said. “I had the sun at my back and a light breeze in my face,” Robinson said. “The field had a little dip in it and I used it to get close.”

The 100-yard shot with a .50 Thompson/Center Encore was perfect.

“I knew he was big, but didn’t realize how big until I walked up on him,” he said. “It literally blows you away when you walk up on a deer that big.”

The buck carried antlers with five tines per side and an outside spread of 31 inches. The beams carry exceptional mass from beginning to end.

The buck easily topped the previous state record, a buck of 189 5/8 inches shot in Unit 2 in 2000. Robinson’s buck also ranks second for Kansas’ all-firearms category, trailing a Unit 17 buck of 202 2/8 shot in 1999 with a centerfire rifle.

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The Mule Deer Hunt is coming up soon. HURRY and get your HUNTING GRUB

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Oregon has a hunter access map through google. Here is the link:

More than 50 percent of Oregon’s land is public. Hunters can use the access map to locate private lands where ODFW has established cooperative management agreements with landowners to provide hunting access to the public.

The map provides online links to harvest statistics and regional hunting reports. It provides the size and a description of the area.  Special regulations, such as mandatory hunter check-in and check-out, are noted.

This report comes from the chief of Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, Quentin Kujala.

The rifle season starts October 26 and about 160,000 hunters are expected. Locals are praying for snow to drive the deer into the low country.

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Region 1 — Northwestern Montana

Near Kalispell and the surrounding area, white-tailed deer herds are stable and experienced a normal winter in the east half of the region and a harder winter along the Idaho border. White-tailed deer are plentiful in the Swan Valley, the Salish Range and the Lower Clark Fork Valley. Hunting access is good but involves stalking game in heavy coniferous habitats. Mule deers populations are slowly increasing with good fawn production. Hot spots for mule deer include the Cabinet and West Cabinet mountains, the high country of the Lower Clark Fork, the Whitefish Range and the subalpine areas of the Mission and Swan mountain ranges. Mule deer hunters typically are more successful at the higher altitudes.

Region 2 — Western Montana

Near Missoula and the surrounding area, mule and white-tailed deer numbers are trending upward. Mule deer are being seen at lower elevations in numbers not seen in the past 30 years. Hunters can take advantage of additional whitetail permits, and if the weather cooperates, the season has the potential to be very good.

Region 3 — Southwestern Montana

In the areas near Bozeman and north of Yellowstone National Park, mule deer recruitment in general was moderate to good. In some cases, numbers are healthy but remain below historic highs.

Region 4 — Central Montana

Hunting near Great Falls and the surrounding area reflect ample opportunities for both white-tailed deer and mule deer. Mule deer populations are stable and reflect strong overwinter adult survival but declining fawn production and survival. White-tailed deer and mule deer are present on both private and public lands. Signs are pointing toward a good deer hunting season this year but somewhat diminished opportunities in the succeeding year owing to poor fawn survival.

Region 5 — Southcentral Montana

In Billings and the surrounding area, deer populations remain high, with a good distribution of older age bucks available. Mule deer numbers are higher than last year in many hunting districts. Hunters can expect significantly reduced white-tailed deer numbers along the Musselshell River between Melstone and Roundup and adjacent areas due to a blue tongue outbreak in August and September of 2007. White-tailed deer numbers continue to grow in most other areas of Region 5. Hunters are encouraged to enquire about surplus whitetail “B” licenses and access opportunities at FWP’s Region 5 office in Billings.

Region 6 — Northeastern Montana

Mule deer and white-tailed deer numbers are very high in Glasgow and the surrounding area. Mule deer populations have mostly recovered from the low levels earlier in the decade and are exceeding population objectives in many hunting districts. General-tag deer hunters on public land should see plenty of bucks and does in habitats as geographically disparate as the Bears Paw Mountains and the Richland County breaks. White-tailed deer numbers are also quite high, and where access is secured through Block Management, hunting on private land should be very good.

Region 7 — Eastern Montana

In Miles City and the surrounding area, both species of deer wintered well and benefitted from abundant spring forage. Populations along the Yellowstone River, between Glendive and Sidney, are 20-30 percent above the long-term average. The ratio of white-tailed deer bucks to does is 40 bucks per 100 does. White-tailed populations along the Yellowstone River between Miles City and Hysham showed some mortality due to last fall’s, blue tonguee disease. Mule deer populations are about 17 percent above the long-term average, with a good percentage of mature adults. Hunters should find ample opportunity to harvest mule deer.

Are you just itching to get out there and do some deer hunting? October 11 marks the begining of the Washington State rifle deer hunt. According to reports, the bowhunters have had a good time of it. You rifle hunters get out there and find us a big buck. We always appreciate stories and pictures to go with them. Go to our contact page or send your stories and pictures to: foremleader@muledeerfantic.com

CLICK:  WASHINTON REGS for Washington State hunting Regs.

Saturday, September 27, marks the opening assault on Texas Mule Deer as bowhunters take to the woods and hills. Mule Deer numbers are up according to some reports. I’m not sure there is any state that can match Texas in terms of the number of bowhunters, so get out there early and shoot a big buck. You’ll likely be competing with 99,999 other hunters, but then Texas is a big place.

  Happy Hunting and May the Force be with You.

What is the world coming to? What direction are we headed? Anti-hunters need only wait a few more years and the state wildlife agencies will have taken away all hunting privileges and confiscated all weapons.

Antlers confiscated by Utah DWR:

A Utah man picked up a set of trophy antlers in Colorado and was prosecuted in Utah because it is illegal in Utah to possess antlers naturally attached to a skull unless those antlers were legally harvested. The antlers were confiscated through court action and the man was fined $217.00.