Winter kill UT/ID/WY

[AT Hiker]

And parts of CO but this podcast is specific to the states I listed.

It’s a unique perspective of the winter kill. Essentially it’s one of the worse winters in these areas, beats the mid 80’s and 90’s.
Some units are experiencing a 70% die off of collard adult mule deer. Couple this with something I recently discovered, which is winter mortality can be observed as late as May, due to it taking that long for winter stress to kill them.
My guess, along with the guess of the podcaster, is that fawn mortality will be 100% in some areas. Likely mule deer die offs to increase as well.

However, the places with the highest mortality so far are over objective in elk. This means the elk are eating mule deer out of house and home. Parts of UT, with ample public land, that has a well balanced elk herd are so far reporting 10% winter kill. With the winter and snow pack equally as bad, if not historically worse.

It’s doom and gloom but with a silver lining.

 

[Andy S.]

Very interesting and eye opening for me, thanks for sharing.

 

[LanceS4803]

Good info as I plan to make my annual donation to UDWR.
At some point, I'm going to have to start burning points, but maybe not this year or even the next.
May just do pronghorn this year as the snowpack won't affect them. (Which is probably everyone else's plan too!)

 

[Redfox]

Well on the bright side….. elk taste way better!!!

 

[megalomaniac]

Dying By The Thousands: Miles Of Death As Wyoming Antelope, Deer And Elk Die From Winter Starvation - Cowboy State Daily

Outfitters say southcentral Wyoming antelope, deer and elk herds are dying off in huge numbers and that predictions that half of the antelope in parts of the state could die this winter probably fall short. It’s more likely to be closer to 80%.

cowboystatedaily.com

It may be a once in a lifetime winter kill... may take 7 or 8 years of mild winters to recover

 

[nwsg76]

Wow

 

[UPSman]

Nw Colorado is BAD. Real bad…..talked to friends out there and they have all said that there are dead elk and deer everywhere.

 

[tellico4x4]

Another western storm right now. Just got a notice that interstates in Dakotas are all closed.

 

[AT Hiker]

Wolves have moved down to the desert for the east meals.

Bad part about this situation is the predators are gonna thrive, definitely not going to starve.

Hopefully this moisture trend will continue and the west will be blessed with above average moisture to help this recovery.

 

[OldFart]

I live in Colorado and have a really good friend that lives just E of Craig. One of his neighbors topped a hill and a herd of antelope were in the road. No chance to stop. Killed 17 antelope. Down on Hwy 40, a semi hit and killed 20. The roads are the only cleared places the animals can find. The animals didn't have a chance to migrate as the snows came quick and early. The worst hit are the antelope, then the deer, then the elk. On the news last night it said the CPW (CO Parks and Wildlife) planned to cut tags by 40% in that area. My opinion is that the animal death toll will be even worse by end of April (Mar and Apr are our snowiest months) and the CPW may cut tags by even more.

 

[AT Hiker]

I live in Colorado and have a really good friend that lives just E of Craig. One of his neighbors topped a hill and a herd of antelope were in the road. No chance to stop. Killed 17 antelope. Down on Hwy 40, a semi hit and killed 20. The roads are the only cleared places the animals can find. The animals didn't have a chance to migrate as the snows came quick and early. The worst hit are the antelope, then the deer, then the elk. On the news last night it said the CPW (CO Parks and Wildlife) planned to cut tags by 40% in that area. My opinion is that the animal death toll will be even worse by end of April (Mar and Apr are our snowiest months) and the CPW may cut tags by even more.

No doubt it’s worse than it is, most of the dead animals (namely antelope) are buried under the snow.

A WY friend is telling me trains are hammering the animals too, tracks are usually the only high ground.

 

[tellico4x4]

WY may find out how important NR $ are. With the looming price increase am sure a lot of people had planned on applying this year. If they slash available tags due to winterkill as they should, a lot of NR's who had planned to hunt will be out of luck and that's gonna hit Game & Fish pocketbook. IF they get summer moisture moisture & mild winters it'll take several years for herds to rebound. Price increase next year & no game to hunt will make for interesting NR decisions on what to do. Point creep will soar I think.

Another 18-24" predicted for week from Casper east

 

[tellico4x4]

Snowplow Drivers Hauling Off Wildlife Carcasses All Across Wyoming As Animals Continue to Starve - Cowboy State Daily

As wildlife continues to starve to death in Wyoming because of the harsh winter, snowplow drivers are hauling off carcasses from Interstates and highways across the state.

cowboystatedaily.com

 

[tellico4x4]

Read a book once that mentioned the winter of 1887 I think it was. Supposedly the worst on record. After several years of mild weather ranchers dropped their guard and overstocked their property. One big ranch went into winter with over 15,000 head of cattle and came out of it with less than 2,000! Some froze solid standing up, others starved & some died of dehydration which I wouldn't have imagined. Wolves were coming into towns attacking dogs, horses, people as all the dead livestock & game was frozen solid in which they couldn't eat. Brutal.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

The bad news keeps rolling in. It looks like they're under another winter storm warning.

Cheyenne WY weather alerts, warnings, watches and advisories - LocalConditions.com

Cheyenne, WY severe weather warnings, watches and advisories as immediately issued by the National Weather Service.

www.localconditions.com

 

[megalomaniac]

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/WGFD/media/content/PDF/Get%20Involved/2023%20April%20Regulations/CH-5-Draft-03-14-2023-3.pdf

Here the proposed Wyoming antelope tag cuts per unit. These are just PROPOSED... there is serious speculation cuts will be much more drastic when final tag allocation is set. It's BAD, real BAD.

Cursing myself I didn't go ahead and blow my 15 points last year in the Red Desert and head there after my sons tag in Central Wy.... but I wanted the focus of that trip to be 100% on him.

I was planning on cashing in my points fall of 2024. No point in wasting them now... I may look to hunting internationally in 2024 instead.

Guys who burned mulie points for this year are really cussing.... Maybe even considering canceling their hunts and just eating the $$$ of the tag and points.

 

[tellico4x4]

The bad news keeps rolling in. It looks like they're under another winter storm warning.

Cheyenne WY weather alerts, warnings, watches and advisories - LocalConditions.com

Cheyenne, WY severe weather warnings, watches and advisories as immediately issued by the National Weather Service.

www.localconditions.com

Yep, got a brother that lives in SD & they are getting hammered

 

[tellico4x4]

Don't understand why they wouldn't do away with all doe & fawn tags until herds rebound.

Planning an elk hunt for 2025 but going out next September to scout. Have time to change mind that way.

Red Desert was high on my list for deer & antelope for a long time too....

 

[tellico4x4]

Don Day Wyoming Weather Forecast: Tuesday, April 4, 2023

It’s Tuesday, April 4 – and highways in more than half of the state are closed this morning, as a massive winter storm hit much of Wyoming again. Casper received 27 inches of snow which makes it the snowiest day on record with records going back to 1937. Snow will continue in many areas of the...

na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

 

[megalomaniac]

Like you, I have no idea either why doe/ fawn tags are not eliminated ... I know people want the meat, but when populations get decimated like this, it will take 10 years longer to rebound if females are removed. Just doesn't make sense.