Wildlife Board

I am sick to my stomach as to what I witnessed today. It is bad enough that our Federal government is making knee-jerk reactive legislation, but when it is done on the local level that have a direct effect upon me it makes me so upset that I am nauseas. The Wildlife board went against 2/3's of the citizens of this state in the management of mule deer here in Utah. I am currently not a hunter, mainly due to the intensity of nursing school, there is no way I could hunt and attend school in the fall months, but I was sure planning on doing so once I graduated. Yet as what was decided today it is going to be very difficult to be worth my time, money, and effort to do so. Archery is now on a unit basis, and we now have 29 units, now I may or may not get to hunt the area(s) I wish. This makes it very difficult to invest into the equipment needed when I don't even know if I would be able to use that equipment. A chance that right now I am not willing to take. This is upsetting me more than I thought it would!!!

This kinda thing really should have been left up to biologists.

As far as everything else, it is a proven fact that as the predator population goes down, the prey population goes up.

States in the East have implemented a certain point or better system and have all had great results. It's a tough sell, I know. The research supports it though. Pennsylvania in particular had the option met with much hostility, but the biologists said it needed to happen. Their regulation was 4 pt. or better. Three years later, EVERYONE started harvesting big bucks.

That's all I have for now.

shotgunwill wrote:

This kinda thing really should have been left up to biologists.

As far as everything else, it is a proven fact that as the predator population goes down, the prey population goes up.

States in the East have implemented a certain point or better system and have all had great results. It's a tough sell, I know. The research supports it though. Pennsylvania in particular had the option met with much hostility, but the biologists said it needed to happen. Their regulation was 4 pt. or better. Three years later, EVERYONE started harvesting big bucks.

That's all I have for now.

Maybe whitetail respond better to point restrictions, they are like rabbits back east. As far as Mule Deer goes, it does not work, it has been proven over and over again, plus how will that grow the herd?

I was sitting next to Yonni, there was probably around 100 people there and that is the most they have ever had. A hundred out of 90,000+ hunters, that is pretty sad. It is sad what happened yesterday, but the fight has just begun IMO.

jahan wrote:

Maybe whitetail respond better to point restrictions, they are like rabbits back east. As far as Mule Deer goes, it does not work, it has been proven over and over again, plus how will that grow the herd?

For starters, it lets more bucks reach maturity. I'd also wager that a mature buck can breed more does that an immature buck. Where is your proof Jahan that it won't work or doesn't work? Really, the worst case scenario would be to suspend hunting all together to let the herd grow, but you know that shit won't fly either.

If anything, give Utah rifle hunters a longer season. How else are you going to relieve the pressure of having to shoot something, anything, in three days? Getting a good buck takes time anyway, especially when you can only harvest one.

Willy my brotha. Every western state has at one point tried antler restrictions. Every one has ditched them because they don't do anything. If you go 3pt or better then you end up killing off all the mature bucks that you want breeding the does during the first estrus cycle.

Colorado and Nevada manage on a subunit level. Colorado has twice the habitat of Utah and twice the quality of habitat, IE un-fragmented and private land escapement. Not to mention they are not the second driest state in the U.S.
Like I said in the Central RAC. We are not Colorado. That being said Colorado hasn't increased their herds... I ran a report on their DAU's and only 2 out of 20 something showed an increase... The same number showed a nosedive in the short term trends. Nevada is a train wreck.. They have been LE for years and they cant increase herd size either.

The plan put together in 08 dealt with every one of these issues with the exception of going from 15 to 18 bucks to does. Without keeping 13,000 of us at home.

Each of these 29 units will have it's own special interest group... If you think these groups are going to increase tags once they hit objective, I've got an elk plan for you to review.

shotgunwill wrote:

jahan wrote:

Maybe whitetail respond better to point restrictions, they are like rabbits back east. As far as Mule Deer goes, it does not work, it has been proven over and over again, plus how will that grow the herd?

For starters, it lets more bucks reach maturity. I'd also wager that a mature buck can breed more does that an immature buck. Where is your proof Jahan that it won't work or doesn't work? Really, the worst case scenario would be to suspend hunting all together to let the herd grow, but you know that shit won't fly either.

That shit won't fly either because it won't help. You need to kill predators, habitat work, cut down on automobile incidents, ect. That is what will grow the herd. As far as proof, I don't have the study right off hand, but Jim K. did a study on the Bookcliffs I believe. Like VOR said every state that has gone to point restrictions got rid of it because it doesn't work. Like I said I don't know, maybe it is different with whiteys, but Mule Deer in the West, it doesn't work.

If anything, give Utah rifle hunters a longer season. How else are you going to relieve the pressure of having to shoot something, anything, in three days? Getting a good buck takes time anyway, especially when you can only harvest one.

I agree I think they can do some things differently with the season dates, but that doesn't do anything to help the deer, just control the hunters.

Maybe there is a deer aphrodisiac or something. Birds get off on marijuana seeds, should be something out there to help Bambi...

shotgunwill wrote:

Maybe there is a deer aphrodisiac or something. Birds get off on marijuana seeds, should be something out there to help Bambi...