26th Annual Mule Deer Mortality Study- SW Wyoming

[robby denning]

Hey all,
I’m in Cokeville Wy with my son Cash. Wyoming hosts this yearly and I wanted to donate some time and see if this winter was as bad as I suspect. I’ve got the points to draw Wyoming this year but don’t want to spend nearly a decade of points without knowing what I’m getting into. I’ll post on here and my Instagram (robbydenning) over the next few days what I find out. There are less than 1,000 NR deer tags in W. Wyoming now (I remember when it was 5x that amount) so I’m sure there are a few guys out there wondering about the herd. SE Idaho also tends to follow the trend of winterkill in Wyoming so if you’re hunting either place, this thread might be for you. Here’s some pics from our trip today. There are some videos on IG (sorry, Tapatalk took away our video option and it’s too PIA to use YouTube in the field.)

 

[back country]

It’s nice that they conduct this study before the application deadline so you can get some idea of how harsh the winter was.

I’ve never been to it before but have thought about it a time or two. How long does it go for?


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[robby denning]

It’s nice that they conduct this study before the application deadline so you can get some idea of how harsh the winter was.

I’ve never been to it before but have thought about it a time or two. How long does it go for?


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It’s just one day. They do a different area next week closer to Evanston.

 

[Mike 338]

Must'a been a sale on those winshields. Got one just like it.

 

[realunlucky]

I used to live in kemmerer and some guys I worked with there had some monster bucks on the wall. They all say it's been down tending for awhile. I'm kinda scared of what you'll find out there tomorrow as a G tag was my back up plan if I don't draw a Utah bison tag. Wish I would have known and planned ahead enough to headed over myself and donated a little boot leather. Good for you and your son to giving your time and travel expenses for a great cause. Hopefully karma will reward you both. Subscribed for the news--good or bad. Now days non resident are probably only going to get one shot at a region G tag.

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[robby denning]

Must'a been a sale on those winshields. Got one just like it.

Looks like hell, eh?

 

[Mike 338]

Looks like hell, eh?

Couldn't tell 'ya. I don't even see the crack anymore from the dirt. I'm afraid to pressure wash it. I think the dead bugs are the only thing holding the rig together.

 

[robby denning]

Got the horses loaded, and breakfast & lunch from Flying J (almost cheaper to eat at the Gold Buckle!). Headed for Sage Junction for the orientation meeting. I’ll try to go live IG so watch for notification.

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[willfrye027]

Very cool. I spoke with a game warden about an area farther east from you and the winter was average in that area. Very interested to hear what you find!

 

[elkguide]

Got the horses loaded, and breakfast & lunch from Flying J (almost cheaper to eat at the Gold Buckle!). Headed for Sage Junction for the orientation meeting. I’ll try to go live IG so watch for notification.

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Great "SELFIE" to start the morning!!!!!

 

[robby denning]

Good day on the winter range.

Met the Game and Fish people at 900am at State-line Gravel Pit. Group of 20+ volunteers showed up.

Jeff Short gave us the rundown on telling adults from juveniles, bucks from does, etc.

By 1030 we were headed out. Horses headed east, walkers west

Found no dead deer the first hour. Jeff suspected the deer had probably pushed off the higher ground with the deep snow so he led us down into the lower draws. Unfortunately he was right and that’s where we found the dead deer.

We found 16 of which 5 were adults. Jeff found some
That aren’t on this sheet so probably over 20 between the three of us.

Jeff found all the sheds but he can’t pick them up so he gave them to Cash

Most of the group was gone by the time we got back to the trucks, so I didn’t get to hear everybody else’s results. Jeff and his crew have 25 years of data to compare this year’s results to so I’m waiting
for them to publish this year’s final numbers

As Jeff said at the orientation, winterkill has been bad this far south in Wyoming with some of his collared does pushing 50% mortality. Not good news for deer summering in the mountains of Western Wyoming

But that’s deer management in the Intermountain West and much of the Rockies. Winters usually have the final say

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[mtnrunner260]

Very cool you and your son volunteered for this.
Do you know if Jeff shares the overall results at some time?
The SE Idaho, SW Wyoming and NE Utah area seems to have suffered above average winter mortality from what I have seen.
-last question you going to apply for a region tag this year?

 

[robby denning]

Very cool you and your son volunteered for this.
Do you know if Jeff shares the overall results at some time?
The SE Idaho, SW Wyoming and NE Utah area seems to have suffered above average winter mortality from what I have seen.
-last question you going to apply for a region tag this year?

Jeff will put the findings from this study in the data but not sure when WY will have that out. Watch their news page

I haven’t decided to apply yet. It’s a catch 22 as we had a lot of winter kill on these G deer but with now two fawn crops missing (2016. & 2018) the future is not looking bright either


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[LBennington]

I’m definitely not a poster anywhere online, but I read a lot. Guess that makes me a lurker. Maybe I should post sometimes. Robby I wish I would have known you were coming through I live just north of Cokeville I would have bought you guys dinner at the buckle, or at least pizza at the j. For a chance to chat deer with you a bit.

 

[zpooch]

I was one of the walkers. I found 5 but lower on the hill was a game and fish guy and he found 16 covering the same distance.

 

[LBennington]

I didn’t get down to be in on the count Saturday, but it Seems like north of highway 30 there haven’t been too many dead. The farther south you get the worse it gets.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

dang doesn't seem like good news

 

[MuleDeerMike]

Tagging

 

[TheCougar]

Robby,

Did you drive down through Cody area? Wondering how the deer a little farther north and east fared.

The real question within the question: how localized are the regions of winterkill? I always thought a bad winter in one area was a bad winter everywhere. If the western part of the state got hit, what other areas got hit and what got spared? It sounds like certain ranges got hit hard, but other ranges or maybe lower elevations may escape snowpack and give animals a chance to survive.

 

[fishspook]

I love SW Wyoming. 2 bad winters out of 3 has the deer herds suffering. Thanks for volunteering, Robby!