How Can We Save Our Mule Deer Herds?
This has been a big debate for decades here in Utah and across the western states where mule deer reside.
Mule deer are much more sensitive than their cousins the whitetail deer.
Mule deer are picky eaters and if their food gets taken away or eaten by elk then they starve and die when a harsh winter hits.
Here in Utah the mule deer herd has been struggling for as long as I can remember.
I still hear stories about the good ol days back in 1950 when there were deer around every rock and corner.
The population exploded around that time which forced the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to open up hunting to either sex.
In 1961 there were 132,000 deer killed by hunters which was a record for Utah.
Then around 1970 the herd took a turn for the worse and they were forced to go back to buck only hunts.
And then in 1992-93 Utah saw some severe winters which severely damaged the herds.
Since then the herds have been slowly declining.
I hear many different arguments on this subject.
There are a lot of different opinions and ideas on why this is happening.
Some say it's because of over development on their winter range.
Some say it's because the elk herds are increasing and are eating up what the mule deer eat.
It is true that the elk herds have greatly increased over the last 25 years.
Some say that there are or were too many hunters killing too many bucks.
Some say that an overpopulation of predators are the problem.
Some say the harsh winters combined with the lack of food.
While there are many ideas, opinions and arguments I think it's hard to pin it on one thing.
It might be all of those reasons and problems combined together that are causing the decline of our herds.
Before I wrote this article I did some research and found some interesting news articles and also some reports from the Utah DWR.
They state the reasons as over development, harsh winters, predators and lack of food as being a major reason.
Which in my mind makes sense.
One thing is for sure though we need to pin down the problem and get it fixed yesterday.
Mule deer are one of the best big game animals in America to hunt.
And we need to save and preserve them.
Next year Utah is drastically changing the hunting regulations.
They're reducing hunting licenses by the thousands so with high hopes I'm going to be optimistic.
Be safe and good hunting my friends.
Mule deer are much more sensitive than their cousins the whitetail deer.
Mule deer are picky eaters and if their food gets taken away or eaten by elk then they starve and die when a harsh winter hits.
Here in Utah the mule deer herd has been struggling for as long as I can remember.
I still hear stories about the good ol days back in 1950 when there were deer around every rock and corner.
The population exploded around that time which forced the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to open up hunting to either sex.
In 1961 there were 132,000 deer killed by hunters which was a record for Utah.
Then around 1970 the herd took a turn for the worse and they were forced to go back to buck only hunts.
And then in 1992-93 Utah saw some severe winters which severely damaged the herds.
Since then the herds have been slowly declining.
I hear many different arguments on this subject.
There are a lot of different opinions and ideas on why this is happening.
Some say it's because of over development on their winter range.
Some say it's because the elk herds are increasing and are eating up what the mule deer eat.
It is true that the elk herds have greatly increased over the last 25 years.
Some say that there are or were too many hunters killing too many bucks.
Some say that an overpopulation of predators are the problem.
Some say the harsh winters combined with the lack of food.
While there are many ideas, opinions and arguments I think it's hard to pin it on one thing.
It might be all of those reasons and problems combined together that are causing the decline of our herds.
Before I wrote this article I did some research and found some interesting news articles and also some reports from the Utah DWR.
They state the reasons as over development, harsh winters, predators and lack of food as being a major reason.
Which in my mind makes sense.
One thing is for sure though we need to pin down the problem and get it fixed yesterday.
Mule deer are one of the best big game animals in America to hunt.
And we need to save and preserve them.
Next year Utah is drastically changing the hunting regulations.
They're reducing hunting licenses by the thousands so with high hopes I'm going to be optimistic.
Be safe and good hunting my friends.
