Regards,
Ltbullken
Freelance Wildlife Population Manager
Animals - If you can't eat 'em, wear 'em!
I and many others observed a peak in mule deer numbers in reg 8 in about 2009...thats when i started hunting, but I was in the bush a lot before then...they are down from that peak in my observations, but their numbers have been steady for the last 4-5 years from my observations, even increasing in the west of reg 4, which is a good sign....again, I do agree that more road de activation needs to happen, up I don't believe their numbers are as bleak as you think....half day of hunting this season early November when my buddy and I shot a 4 pt, we counted 50...there's still areas holding good numbers..
That might help. Just deactivated a lot more roads will also help. Another thing,,,,I'm all for seeing the youth get into hunting but giving them the whole month of September seems a little extravagant when all the other regions only give from Sept 1 -9 for the youth to harvest a mule deer.
Imo make the youth season any buck sept 1-15, since with school starting etc, it's hard for some youth to get out with their families in that short 9 day window, and make that in all of the regions to the south, not just 8...but I agree all of sept for any buck for youth is a bit overboard...
I like the changes I see. We need to make sacrifices if we are to see a recovery. 1 mule deer buck limit has been needed for a while. We still have incredibly liberal seasons compared to most jurisdictions in North America. I would expect to see some tightening of those seasons in the next regulation rotation if we don't see evidence of a start toward recovery in this rotation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNNhzkJ-UU&feature=related
Egotistical, Self Centered, Son of a Bitch Killer that Doesn't Play Well With Others.
Guess he got to Know me
I don't really think having the season for youth all of September makes a big difference because once the shooting starts the deer are spooked. When my sons were that age I was always amazed at the bucks we saw the first couple of days of youth season. By the time the GOS started things were back to normal, far and few between