joelweb
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Nobody is saying we want Montana managed like Utah. We just want an uptick in quality and some adjustments could be made to increase the survival of mature animals, while still allowing considerable opportunity.
Montana muley management
- Thread starter fowl_minded
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You will notice the upswing in the buck harvest starting near the time the drawings and limited quotas began. Also before that tags were either sex. We did not have a doe season for quite a few years after that.
It was pretty good for quite a few years then of course this long term drought we are still in does not help.
http://onyourownadventures.com/hunttalk/attachment.php?attachmentid=49753&stc=1&d=1444341991
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Hunting Wife
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Regarding the part I bolded. A retired warden/biologist I met a few times was asked how to best help out the local mule deer herd. His response, "Limit them to open sighted 30-30s and two wheel drive trucks that we all used when we had lots of deer."
There is some truth to that though! Look at all the gadgets we've come up with in an effort to guarantee success.
I feel like in a lot of cases if you could dig down to the real issue, the problem most guys really have is that it takes too much effort to find and kill a big buck. The quickest way to shut up 80 percent of those complaining is to ask them how far they walked.
8andcounting
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Spot on ..... Lots of hunters are mad cuz they can't shoot that 24" muley from the pickup anymore like in the old days
Quality is an ambiguous term. What is your definition? No right or wrong, just curious.
have gun will travel
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I think it was 2012 when the mule deer migration was discovered in Wyoming. I think there is a lot we don't know. We owe it to the wildlife we hunt to continue to study and research, what is needed for healthy herds.
So what exactly is healthy as far as age range and male female ratios? And how many times has that standard changed over the past 100 years. These are great conversations were having. I love hearing a biologists view.
So what exactly is healthy as far as age range and male female ratios? And how many times has that standard changed over the past 100 years. These are great conversations were having. I love hearing a biologists view.
belly-deep
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How's that working out for you in Region 2? Would you say there's still "considerable opportunity?" And aside from 261 and 270, are you seeing a noticeable number of mature animals? Or is FWP largely polishing a turd?
Dang near all of R2 is on some sort of restrictions now. If it works as easily as some claim, results should be there.
joelweb
Well-known member
Region 2's problem is overall deer numbers, not deer quality. There are good bucks here, but there aren't a lot of deer. Regions 1 and 2 are different than much of the state because the vegetation is so different.
I primarily hunt Region 3 (also some in Region 4). I generally find a mature buck every year, but they aren't common. Every forky gets popped in mid-November as they stand next to a road with their lip curled.
belly-deep
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The whole states problem is deer numbers and to get the kind of quality people want would mean hardly anybody hunting mule deer
joelweb
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Populations could be higher, but the biologist loves to kill does where I hunt.
Not killing does wont do anything to improve age structure in the bucks. In many areas of the state (not all) habitat quality is an issue. Quality winter range is getting scarce. Not shooting does could result in more deer, but addtional deer will only cause more degradation to already stressed habitat. Deer will graze, but they are as much or more a browser vs elk which graze more. Think about that when your out and about. Look at the high quality winter foods and what they look like. Down here its tough to find a mountain mahogany that isnt over browsed.
Do we want to see more deer or better age structure? We have enough deer to manage for better age structure in the herd.
Theres nothing wrong with MT genetics, but its hard to judge that when 99% of the deer killed are less than 4yrs old. We will never be CO, NV or UT. But we could pretty easily see consistant harvest of older age class deer. Theres a reason private land spits out more bigger deer on average
Do we want to see more deer or better age structure? We have enough deer to manage for better age structure in the herd.
Theres nothing wrong with MT genetics, but its hard to judge that when 99% of the deer killed are less than 4yrs old. We will never be CO, NV or UT. But we could pretty easily see consistant harvest of older age class deer. Theres a reason private land spits out more bigger deer on average
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D
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Also, NOT shooting any does can lead to an older age structure among the doe population. This in turn can lead to a LESS productive breeding group of does, which equates to fewer bucks.
have gun will travel
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So what exactly is a Boone and Crocket doe??? I may have taken one or to before....
belly-deep
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Based off of udder size I would imagine.
