ssulliv155
Member
I noticed some more mule deer rut hunts proposed. This is good to see some opportunities for mule deer hunting in November.
WGFD license proposals 2022, big cuts to Antelope.
- Thread starter go_deep
- Start date
Alabama
Veteran member
Those rifle elk hunts in the upper bighorns look a whole lot better now. Earlier dates for more rut activity and 15 days of hunting without general deer overlap. Makes me wish I had applied this year! Elk must be doing extremely well. It looks like a few units had bull tag increases and a lot of units had increases in cow tags. Is that to decrease herd size because of drought or just to scale back populations to meet current objectives?
manitou1
Member
I don't know that answer, but I suspect it is: 1) to appease ranchers as elk herds get on their hay fields and wreak havoc, and 2) Recent studies show that elk herds compete with mule deer biomass/food in an impactful way... and we all know what is happening to mule deer numbers.
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wy-tex
Veteran member
No, the late season mule deer hunts are not a great idea. They are trying to knock back the population of mature bucks due to the prevalence of CWD in their age class.
Hoping as residents we can get these late hunts shut down and save our deer herds.
Yes, I will apply if they do get signed into place though.
Hoping as residents we can get these late hunts shut down and save our deer herds.
Yes, I will apply if they do get signed into place though.
Hilltop
Veteran member
Not sure I follow you. You disagree they have CWD or disagree that hunting will help remove the diseased animals?
I'm concerned we are taking action that is the equivalent of a sledge hammer for a fly on the wall.
wy-tex
Veteran member
I disagree that taking the mature bucks out of the population will affect prevalence at all. Prions are in the environment, deer will keep getting it, just having less deer will not make prevalence of CWD go down.
The plan is to deduce the mature buck population to draw down the prevalence of CWD in these areas, I do not believe it will work at all.
They were going to try these late season hunts in the Sybille canyon area where CWD first was documented but private land owners told them no to massacring the deer herd so they shifted to the public land areas to try this management strategy on CWD.
I agree 100% with Wy-Tex! Hopefully Wyo res gain up on this and get the late muley season dates closed down ASAP. I live in the heart of the CWD in the US. Colo was the first state in the Western US with CWD. The CPW tried culling deer in this area back in the early 80's. Their culling projects did absolutely nothing to get rid of the prions in the soil and we currently have similar numbers of CWD cases. Even in the original CWD "hot-beds" there are slowly but surely more and more healthy deer returning after the massive culling projects. It's taken years for these numbers to re-build and culling did absolutely nothing to get rid of the low % of CWD in these herds! Years after CWD was first introduced CWD has spread to almost every corner of Colo. It has been sad that the CPW has increased tags and November rut hunts in Colo. I'm pretty sure this is a motive to generate more $ by selling more tags because this will do absolutely nothing to prevent the spread of CWD and rid the soil of CWD prions that will be active in the soil for years upon years. CWD numbers are super low even in the highest CWD regions in Colo. Coyotes, mtn lions, and bears do a fantastic job of culling the few, truly sick CWD animals that are present in super low numbers.
Hilltop
Veteran member
Definitely not discounting either of you guys. I had no idea that was the intention. Guessing the luster of the late tags May be lowered knowing the bucks have a good chance of being positive... Idk?
The average hunter doesn't care about anything other than killing a big buck. The end justifies the means.
It's a dumb idea and I will be attending meetings in full opposition. None of this is supported by science.
wy-tex
Veteran member
No worries at all about them being positive, just don't want a Nov. season to massacre them for all the wrong reasons.
bdan68
Active Member
I believe approval will be April 19-20 at the Commission meeting.
I was at the meeting in Cheyenne tonight. Rather sad that there is probably around 100k people that live in Laramie County, and I think 15 of us were at the meeting, embarrassing really that more sportsman can't find time to show up to something this important.
I voiced my concerns, observations, and opinions. Stayed after and talked to several people in more detail. I can't say I agree with everything that's proposed, but I filled out my online surveys, attended in person, and at the end of the day will leave it up to the professionals.
I'd strongly encourage anyone and everyone to fill out the online survey, and get yourself to an in person meeting!
I voiced my concerns, observations, and opinions. Stayed after and talked to several people in more detail. I can't say I agree with everything that's proposed, but I filled out my online surveys, attended in person, and at the end of the day will leave it up to the professionals.
I'd strongly encourage anyone and everyone to fill out the online survey, and get yourself to an in person meeting!
mallardsx2
Veteran member
- Jul 8, 2015
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I just hope those that reject these late seasons dont apply for the tags.....
FYI you would be a hypocrite if you do.
FYI you would be a hypocrite if you do.
Or you could apply for the tag, draw it, and not fill it. Just because you draw a tag doesn't mean you have to kill something.
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mallardsx2
Veteran member
- Jul 8, 2015
- 3,819
- 3,016
wy-tex
Veteran member
Sorry but I don't support the late seasons and yes I will be applying for a license if they pass. I will hunt it hard and be very picky and maybe not shoot a buck.
Maybe I'll take a 3 pt, been hunting those type of bucks for years now, get them out of the gene pool.
1st we're greedy residents now we're hypocrites. My feelings on 90/10 for E, D and A are leaning way more towards supporting it and I haven't until now. Thanks mallardsx2 for changing my mind.
Here's what I don't understand. Buzz and his wife, me and my son, and a handful of other people I know ate lots of Antelope tags last year, plus I'm sure there's a lot more people that I don't know of that did the same, and people make comments about how wrong that is. Here we are with G&F doing drastic license reductions in the very hunt areas we intentionally didn't kill Antelope in. So what if a few dozen or hundred more Antelope were dead because we filled those tags? Doesn't seem so dumb that us locals seen a problem and wanted to protect the resource now does it?
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