For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Wyoming Range, it's home to one of the most well known trophy deer herds in the wetstern US. I saw this Headline on the Cowboy State Daily this morning. "
Hunting & Fishing Wyoming Range Deer Herd Gone
- Thread starter Ankeny
- Start date
That's bad news for sure. I haven't heard any reports about Eastern Washington herds, but the deep snow came a month early and with all the predators... probably not good news here either. And then there's the mismanagement and overhunting but I digress.
I hunted the wyoming range for spring bear. Spent a few days there glassing for bears. We saw deer everywhere we looked. We were shocked at how much deer activity there was. You couldn't put your foot down anywhere without stepping on fresh deer shit. I don't know what it looked like before this winter, but I'd be real surprised if I was looking at 20% of the norm. I'd say those numbers are greatly exaggerated.
Unless you were hunting Lincoln County (SW corner) you were not in the Wyoming Range…
Wyoming Range - Wikipedia
@tysonpence
Tell these gentlemen where we were hunting in the wyoming range please.
I'm from TN, so I don't know what the area was called. I know we started in the snowies, then drove to the wyoming range and hunted a few days there, and then went north and spent about 3 days in the Bridger Teton area.
Everywhere we went the deer were everywhere. We didn’t have a glassing spot anywhere we went where we weren't watching large groups of deer and saw gobs of sign.
The antelope got wrecked, we saw the piles, but the deer were everywhere.
Tell these gentlemen where we were hunting in the wyoming range please.
I'm from TN, so I don't know what the area was called. I know we started in the snowies, then drove to the wyoming range and hunted a few days there, and then went north and spent about 3 days in the Bridger Teton area.
Everywhere we went the deer were everywhere. We didn’t have a glassing spot anywhere we went where we weren't watching large groups of deer and saw gobs of sign.
The antelope got wrecked, we saw the piles, but the deer were everywhere.
After talking with my buddy, he agrees that all of the deer in that area died and everyone should stay out. There are no deer left. Don't try to draw it for at least a decade. The deer are gone.
Upon further reflection, we may not have even been in Wyoming. May have been Idaho, way out in the Frank, 18 miles up the river of no return tripping over elk sheds. Flat camping spots everywhere and we almost shot 3 deer in self defense. They kept trying to crawl into the tent with us. Everyone hunt there for great odds..
Such a bummer. Same thing here, and I'm east of Wyo a few hours. Worst winter anyone around here has ever seen with over 100" of snowfall with weeks of 50+mph wind and -40 to -70 temps. Unreal... Killed a lot of shit, I know they aren't issuing certain doe tags for our location either. I hope they shut it down for a while.
We had a rough winter here too. Elk looked pretty rugged by about February, I am sure a few succumbed to the winter. Our deer herd suffers pretty much every year, mostly due to FWP's complete lack of management. Our buck to do ratio is shit, the quality of the bucks is shit, and they can get overzealous with doe tags. I would love to see about a 3-4 year ban on deer hunting in MT. It would piss a shit ton of people off, but I would love to see the end result.
I always thought WYO did a good job with their deer herd. Some great units in the state. Hopefully the winterkill isn't as bad as they thought.
I always thought WYO did a good job with their deer herd. Some great units in the state. Hopefully the winterkill isn't as bad as they thought.
