So true. We have all had our secret spots found by others but like she said the mags are a place to start. Someone else was probably hunting your spot before you did and it was their honey hole.
sell out
- Thread starter sellout
- Start date
For those of you who do not understand the point of all this, I am not saying it is all the magazine fault, the game and fish, and winter kills also play a part of the decline. I am also saying that if you want to hunt a big deer wyoming is not the place anymore Now if Eastman's came out with an story in the mangazine and said that the hunting in a area is bad no deer would you put in for that area?? NO. Now if they come out and say this is the greatest place to hunt would you put in for it? Yes. That is one way that areas get over hunted. The game and fish are more inerested in the money than they are about the deer, that is why they give so many tags. If people would stop talking the area up and stop putting in for the area the game and fish might stop selling so many tags.
buckbull
Veteran member
- Jun 20, 2011
- 2,167
- 1,354
sellout, I think you are over simplying the issue. Most of the limited entry units for nonresidents take multiple preference points to have a chance at drawing a tag. Just because Wyoming may have a bad year for deer doesn't mean I'm going to stop applying and lose my 4 years worth of points. I'm sure I'm not the only one. I think there will always be a higher demand for tags than the number of tags available.
I am not saying that only non resident overr hunt the areas because the residents hunt it as well. In some of these area a resident can buy a tay over the counter. If you want to put that is fine just be prepared to not see very many deer, and not very big deer. Good Luck
Not all of Eastman's magazine write ups are bad some are truthful, In the new jounernal for Feb/ Mar in the wyoming section Guy Eastman has a good write up about Mule deer in wyoming. He says the deer are at a 30 year low, and "would consider holding out on applying for a deer tag this year in the cowboy state".
Not all of Eastman's magazine write ups are bad some are truthful, In the new jounernal for Feb/ Mar in the wyoming section Guy Eastman has a good write up about Mule deer in wyoming. He says the deer are at a 30 year low, and "would consider holding out on applying for a deer tag this year in the cowboy state".
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Musket Man
Veteran member
sellout. Have you read the MRS for this year for Wyoming? You are not saying anything about the deer decline thats not in it.
MWScott72
Active Member
In a perfect world, tag quotas are not set by "unit popularity", rather they are set based on the biological health of the herd and what level of hunting it can support and still maintain a healthy balance. Game managers & biologists are human like the rest of us and simply get it wrong sometimes...but, I believe that they are trying their best to get things right (just like the rest of us). If a magazine like Eastmans recommends an area as a good unit, that recommendation is not going to lead to overhunting because the quotas are set independent of Eastmans (or any other magazine's) recommendation. The tags offered are based on what the herd should be able to support - not hunter popularity. It does affect the draw odds however, and that unit that used to take only a point or two to draw could double or triple in points required for the tag. I found it very interesting this year in talking to antelope biologists in WY that some of the "blue chip" units recommended by Eastmans were not held in the same high esteem by many of these biologists. That's where Eastmans recommendation to "do your homework" comes into play.
honeybadger
New Member
- Feb 21, 2012
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I am from western wyo and it is sad that the deer population has dropped, hopefully WGF will do something about
jjenness
Very Active Member
Its sounds like things are pretty bad down there Sellout. I think that you should do your part and not hunt the deer in your state this year, and that will at least be one more deer left for next year. Hopefully other people take your example to heart, and most everbody will stop hunting deer in WY until the cycle relplenishes itself. I will be sure to post pictures of the deer that I shoot this year to help tide you over.
I think another reason for the decline of Mule Deer is the increase of people running around the mountains all winter, letting their dogs chase deer around through the heavy snow. I have personally seen this happening in the Bridgers for years now, and saw a dismal amount of deer on my Bridger buck hunt last fall. There are so many factors decreasing the population, I have a hard time seeing them come back. I sure hope I'm wrong though.
Shooter
Active Member
No magazine has anything to do witht he decline of deer in western wy. Take a look at the record books. G, H, and K are no secrets.
Jon Boy
Active Member
Thats why I dont start shed hunting early if its a rough winter. So far its been really mild and the deer seem to be in good shape so ive started early.
RUTTIN
Veteran member
I think another big problem with deer mortality, that a lot of people don't take into account are vehicle mortality also. I know a few of the areas I see in my travels with work, the deer come down into the more populated areas to winter. (there is another problem, people building on winter range) And people don't look out for the deer.
Drhorsepower
Veteran member
I read an article in a magazine about a year ago regarding vehicle deaths. I don't remember the unit/road/ or exact statistics but it really brought into perspective how many deer are killed by vehicles. They kept track on 30 something miles on a highway in a hunt unit and I want to say they averaged a deer killed a day and that unit issues something like 40 tags or something like that. 365:40. I didn't really realizw how many deaths by vehicles occurred.
brandenbowhunter
Member
I agree that Eastman's MRS had made it harder to draw tags...part of the game...
Hunting TV shows have ruined a lot of hunting too...but that is the day we live in
Hunting TV shows have ruined a lot of hunting too...but that is the day we live in
sjsmallfield
Veteran member
iowashedhunter
New Member
If you want to see a deer decline from overhunting just look at what Iowa has done to our whitetail herd in the last 4 years.They have been slaughtering the doe hers relentlessly and now no one can figure out where all the deer went? REALLY?? I would be willing to bet that weather plays a much bigger role in mule deer decline then hunting does along with habitat loss.
Roughneck Country
New Member
Eastmans is just a resource to use to find info like any other. If people didn't pick a few things up here and there from the mag they would get it other places. I know eastmans is only one of several sources I use. The internet, forms like this one and even info found on outfitter web sites is used. I know I have scouted out places from pictures I have seen posted before as well. Don't blame Eastmans for a deer decline, at the end of the day it is fish and game that needs to set quota's and manage the population.