Mule Deer Fanatic

Deseret Land and Livestock and the surrounding area was once a premier locale for monster buck mule deer. This year, after many years of decline, a good one has surfaced:

Submitted by Paul Baxter

In the summer of 1992, a young girl of nine years was attacked by a Utah black bear while she was sleeping in the camper on her grandparent’s truck. The girl’s name was Krystal Gadd and the attack occurred near Strawberry Reservoir. Krystal was mauled and scalped by the bear – and quite likely would not have survived had her grandfather not assaulted the bruin with a large flashlight. The bear was attempting to haul Krystal away while still inside her sleeping bag, but the sleeping bag got hung up on a barbed wire fence. Grandpa Gadd attributed his success at warding off the bear to an unseen spiritual presence.

This is not a mule deer, but I’ll bet it will still get your attention. This is reportedly a new world record elk scoring somewhere around 527 and taken in Idaho near Blackfoot. Talk about MASS. Enjoy!

Jan 05 , 2010

One lucky boy in Canada can say without a doubt that he has his own personal guardian angel — not of the spiritual kind, but of the furry.

On Saturday an 18-month old golden retriever saved her owner from being attacked by a cougar while in the backyard of their home in Boston Bar, British Columbia, about 130 miles north of Vancouver.

The dog — named Angel — leaped into action and threw herself between her owner, 11-year-old Austin Forman, and the cougar that was charging at him.

Sherri Forman, Austin’s mother, said her son was outside with Angel around 5:30 p.m. gathering firewood from their backyard. She explained that Angel normally runs around and plays when she is outside, but on this afternoon she was behaving differently.

“He had come in at one point to tell me how cute Angel was being because she was sticking pretty close to him in the yard, which was unusual for her,” Forman told CNN.

In hindsight she realizes that Angel was protecting her son from an unseen danger.

When the cougar charged, Angel ran to protect the boy.

“She intercepted the cougar,” Forman said. “Austin came into the house very upset, and I had to get him to calm down so I could understand what he was saying. Finally he said ‘there’s a cougar eating Angel.'”

Angel and the cougar fought under the family’s deck, while Austin’s mother called 911 for help. A constable was in the area and able to make it to their home and kill the cougar quickly.

Forman said when her nephew pulled the cougar’s body off Angel, who at first appeared fatally injured, the dog sucked in a “big breath of air and then got up.” Ever the protector, Angel “walked to Austin, sniffed him to make sure he was alright, then sat down.” Despite receiving a few deep bites and scratches Angel’s prognosis is good.

“She had some pretty nasty injuries across the front of her head and neck” said veterinarian Jack Anvik who is treating Angel at the Sardis Animal Hospital. “If there had been enough time for the two of them together the cougar would have probably killed the dog,” he told CNN.

According to his mother, Austin is so thankful for Angel’s bravery that he “went to town with his grandpa and bought a huge steak for her.”
“I feel very good now that we know she’s alive and the fact that she saved me and survived is amazing,” Austin told CNN.

And Angel appears to be in good spirits while she recovers at the Animal Hospital.

“She’s a golden retriever,” Anvik said. “They’re always happy.”

It is a shame to make good coyotes out of all those bad coyotes. Culls don’t work well in such small numbers. Thousands need to be killed.

The president of the Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre says the so-called Great Coyote Cull Contest underway in Osgoode “casts shame on the entire city.”
Donna Dubreuil says she has received a slew of e-mails and phone calls since the contest began last month.
“In the past four or five days, I’ve had non-stop e-mails and phone calls,” said Dubreuil, who asked, “Has Ottawa become the town that time forgot?”

Chronic problem
What she’s referring to is a more aggressive approach to a chronic problem in the city’s rural areas: Coyotes killing farm animals, pets and even threatening people — as was the case last year when a teenager was attacked near Osgoode.
But there’s controversy.
The Osgoode Township Fish, Game and Conservation Club-sponsored contest will — for a $2 entry fee — reward those who bring in a dead coyote with a ballot in a gun raffle. Dubreuil calls this approach embarrassing.
“It’s a wild west show,” she said. “An 18th century response.”
Dubreuil also said coyote culls don’t work in the long run.
She points to recent history. Two years ago, Osgoode Coun. Doug Thompson used public funds to pay trappers to eliminate coyotes over a three-month period. They reportedly caught 22 of them. But Thompson himself said, based on the number of sightings he’s heard about recently, the problem persists.
He said he’s received “more than 100” reports of people who have lost pets and livestock, or saw coyotes on municipal streets in the past year.
“I’ve been working with the (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) and the city bylaw department to resolve this issue,” said Thompson, who will meet with both again later this month.
Bruce Roney, executive director of the Ottawa Humane Society, agrees with Dubreuil that a cull isn’t the answer.

“You can do a cull, but they soon come back, and sometimes in greater numbers,” said Roney, though he claims there is no official ministry data on the number of coyotes in the city.
He also thinks the name of the contest is offensive.
‘Effective’
“If there’s a cull needed, I’d support it. But I think the name may draw people in who aren’t as responsible,” he said.
Dave Craig, director of the Osgoode Township Fish, Game and Conservation Club, thinks it might have been better to call it simply “The Coyote Cull”, but defends its effectiveness.
“There are those people, I suppose, but culls are effective because they bring the numbers down,” said Craig.
“They’re a real problem. They kill sheep, calves, deer — even cats and dogs.”
He also said the cull is a potential tax-saver.
Each time a coyote kills a livestock animal, the provincial government cuts a $200 compensation cheque.
“They pay out for every kill,” he said.
Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder said coyotes are frightening for people whose kids walk to school, but added, “I can’t see us taking guns and shooting them in Barrhaven.”
“That’s overkill, no pun intended.”
Harder said coyotes are the province’s problem, not the city’s.
“The ministry needs to get off its butt, step up and come up with a solution,” Harder said.
When contacted, representatives from the ministry declined comment.

If you want to take your chances at drawing an Arizona Mule Deer Tag, don’t wait too much longer. The deadline is June 8, 2010. You may purchase a license first or apply for one as part of the drawing. You cannot apply online for the draw.

Click ARIZONA APPLICATION for the application.

Or select the States Tab for more information.

Good Luck

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Cougar attacks dogs in Gimlet. Fish and Game officers relocate big cat after confrontation

 Idaho Department of Fish and Game

A two-year-old male cougar sits in the snow at its relocation site near the Little Wood River north of Carey on New Year’s Eve. Idaho Department of Fish and Game officers transferred the big cat to the remote area after it tangled with two dogs in the Gimlet neighborhood south of Ketchum.

Gimlet resident Lon Stickney was treated to the kind of surprise no pet owner would ever wish for when he stepped out of his home on New Year’s Eve to check on his two dogs.
Glancing around for the pair of 60- to 70-pound mixed-breed dogs, Stickney, a pilot for Sun Valley Heli-Ski, found them in the fight of their lives with a cougar. Stickney’s home is located near the Big Wood River’s forested corridor just north of the confluence with the East Fork.
Calmly retelling the story last Friday, Stickney said all he could see when he approached the confrontation was a tumbling ball of fur. Wanting to do something to save his dogs, he grabbed a large leaf rake and approached the melee.
“I poked at it and this cougar looked up,” he said. “He started walking towards me.”
Seeing the cougar’s approach, Stickney gathered up the two bleeding dogs and retreated to the house. Soon after, he and his wife, Gail Stickney, glanced out their living room window to see the cougar’s eyes fixated at them through the thin pane of glass. The cougar stepped away.
“It turned and went under my deck,” he said.
Stickney quickly decided he should call the authorities for help. He telephoned the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office, which contacted Idaho Department of Fish and Game Conservation Officer Lee Garwood, a Hailey resident.
Sun Valley Chamber of Commerce
Within an hour, Garwood and Rob Morris, another Fish and Game conservation officer based in the Wood River Valley, arrived at the Stickneys’ home. Checking under the couple’s deck, the two officers saw the cougar staring back. After assessing the situation and consulting with Fish and Game officials in Jerome, Garwood and Morris proceeded to tranquilize the cornered animal.
The cougar was a young male—likely just 2 years old—and was probably searching for a home range of its own, Garwood speculates. He said there have been a number of cougar sightings in the lower East Fork area in the past month or so. The cougar they captured may be the same animal, he said.
Garwood said it may also be the same animal that attacked dogs twice over the summer in the Elkhorn and Triumph areas.
The big cat was likely pushed into the river corridor by recent snows that have forced its main prey base—elk and mule deer—out of their summer ranges, Garwood speculates.

Once the cougar was under control and placed in a transport box, Garwood and Morris drove the 80-pound predator over to the Little Wood River drainage north of Carey. After the tranquilizer had worn off enough to allow the cougar to safely move out on its own, the two officers released the cat.

Garwood said Stickney handled the situation well by bringing his dogs indoors and calling the authorities for help. He said people should never try to handle that kind of situation on their own.
“Let us handle it,” he said.

Garwood has several other winter-related wildlife tips for locals. First, he said he likes to hear from the public when they encounter wildlife such as moose, cougars, gray wolves and black bears. Hearing reports from the public can help Fish and Game officers develop a picture of which areas individual animals may be occupying.
Garwood also cautioned that recent snows have really begun to limit the available habitat for local deer and elk. He said people who run into wildlife while out recreating in the snow should reconsider their plans and find an alternative spot to play, in order to let the animals conserve their energy.
“The world has become a little smaller now because of the snowfall,” he said.
People should also be careful with their dogs, no matter how well behaved they think they are, Garwood said.

“The chase instinct kicks in,” he said.

Garwood said local pet owners should be aware that all of Blaine County is cougar country and should act accordingly. He said that when letting a dog outside, people should turn the porch light on and make sure the coast is clear.
“If you can supervise the animal, that’s best,” he said. “There’s always a miniscule chance that a cougar will be passing through.”
To this, Stickney can now surely attest.

“They’re around and they’re not afraid of anybody,” he said.

Except for a bit of soreness and the stitches to mend their torn sides, the Stickneys report that their two dogs—Daphne and Ruby—are doing fine.

MULE DEER RESTORATION COMMITTEE TO MEET IN ELKO

The newly formed Mule Deer Restoration Committee is set to hold its second meeting in Elko Thursday, April 15, beginning at noon in the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) office on 60 Youth Center Road. A teleconference phone will be set up at the 1100 Valley Road Headquarters location as well.

The Mule Deer Restoration Committee, a sub-committee created by Nevada Board of Wildlife Commission (NBWC) Chairman Gerald Lent with the purpose of helping to restore mule deer numbers in the state, is chaired by NBWC vice-chairman Scott Raine. Other members of the committee include Wilde Brough, Cory Lytle, Pat Laughlin and John Carpenter. Tony Wasley, NDOW game biologist, is assigned as staff to the committee.

Raine will hold a review of the Draft Charter for Committee Operations and then review a list of possible factors affecting mule deer populations that the committee will be considering. The review will be followed by a discussion of early Nevada history by local residents Cliff Gardner, Mike Laughlin and Wasley.

The meeting will wrap up with a review of committee assignments. The assignments have been divided among committee members and include liaisons for the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association, Nevada Farm Bureau, and Wildlife Services. Committee members will also be tasked with research and findings regarding several possible factors involving mule deer numbers. These factors include energy development, shed horns, wild horses, pinyon juniper encroachment; ungulate competition; road crossings; predation; doe hunts; genetics, secondary effects of helicopters, and grazing.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) protects, restores and manages fish and wildlife, and promotes fishing, hunting, and boating safety. NDOW’s wildlife and habitat conservation efforts are primarily funded by sportsmen’s license and conservation fees and a federal surcharge on hunting and fishing gear. Support wildlife and habitat conservation in Nevada by purchasing a hunting, fishing, or combination license. For more information, visit www.ndow.org.