Kamloops mule deer

[twoSevenO]

Random comments on CO: Lots of non-resident hunters in CO, at one time 40% of the deer and elk licenses sold went to NR...no guides required. All deer licenses are LEH now and you get one deer tag per year....whitetail or mule deer not defined. Mule deer numbers are way down from years back as well. Cougars, coyotes and especially bad winters are to blame. Hunting seasons are typically a week or 10 days long for a rifle or muzzleloader with archery being about 4 weeks long (variations depending on region). You could only hunt one of the seasons. (Pick your weapon and your season, that is it) Seasons were designed to manage hunters as well as game.

Wolves are on the ballot now to be re-introduced. Huge mistake if it happens. Black bear numbers are tiny versus B.C. A very large elk herd was considered detrimental to the mule deer. CO had 8 or 10x as many elk as BC.

I am not totally up to speed down there anymore but we had very good deer hunting over the 35 years I lived there. Way better than B.C.

It still is. I follow quite a few hunters on Instagram from colorado and there have been lots of really nice bucks taken. So i can only imagine the ones that don't get posted. Most people claim public land and not private, but either way, lots of big bucks have been taken this year and i assume its like that every year.

The states are smaller, so if you have decent connections you can travel and hunt 4-5 states, colorado, utah, wyoming, arizona, new mexico .... all closer than for someone from the LM to go to SK to hunt whitetails, and all seem to have phenomenal mule deer hunting from what i've seen on Instagram.

[Brian011]

I think the seasons in region 3,5, and 8 need to be aligned better. Once region 8 and 5 close, everyone comes to region 3. I think region 3 gets hit the hardest and always will as long as the seasons allow for it.

[Bugle M In]

I think the seasons in region 3,5, and 8 need to be aligned better. Once region 8 and 5 close, everyone comes to region 3. I think region 3 gets hit the hardest and always will as long as the seasons allow for it.

100% agree.
And if the Ministry started taking proper steps in wildlife management, this could happen asap.
I really really noticed the difference the first year R5 was closed for 10 days, and it has only gotten worse! in R3

[LeverActionJunkie]

We will never get proper and effective management until we generate and allocate the kind of funds that they do in the states. We simply do not generate enough $$ to sway political viewpoints and compared to the other interest groups competing for resources ie. forestry, ranching, General development, leaf lickin hippie groups we are a drop in the bucket. We are also often our own worst enemies with the endless bickering and general bad behavior in eyes of the greater public. Instead of speaking for the resources, land rivers, animals etc the public sees us worrying about preserving our opportunities ( sometimes not always, at risk of animal numbers) blaming FN groups, and guide outfitters for our lost opportunity to kill. We should be the ones stepping out to voice concern and assist with solutions. We need more Teddy Roosevelt and less poor us & it’s all these other groups fault.

[Wild one]

It will take huge change before BC even comes close to the deer hunting quality of many states or the rest of Western Canada. It would involve a different mindset and management goals. Picking only select parts of a management plan to limit change does not work

Its been discussed on HBC many times over the years and many excuses on how BCs management is working yet Mule deer populations and quality declines. Money for habitat, predator control, and studies is great but if you don’t change the management goals it’s not going to achieve the results many hope for

I have beat this dead horse many times

[twoSevenO]

I wonder if BC would have this problem if we didnt have a strong fishery to manage like we do.

I dont suppose Alberta or Colorado have a very strong fisheries department to lobby the government for money like we do.

[LeverActionJunkie]

It will take huge change before BC even comes close to the deer hunting quality of many states or the rest of Western Canada. It would involve a different mindset and management goals. Picking only select parts of a management plan to limit change does not work

Its been discussed on HBC many times over the years and many excuses on how BCs management is working yet Mule deer populations and quality declines. Money for habitat, predator control, and studies is great but if you don’t change the management goals it’s not going to achieve the results many hope for

I have beat this dead horse many times

I agree with you. It’s the change in mindset we as hunters can help affect. Hopefully in doing so it would help to influence a change in management strategies. We can only control what is within our power. Unfortunately there’s an overwhelming desire to simply keep status quo and increase hunter opportunities as the only goals on the horizon. Again I feel we are often our own worst enemies. Coupled with declining participation in the sport and its hard to see a desirable end game.

[skibum]

The status quo does not exist. We want to keep everything the same as we saw it in 1980 - a frigin elk scared the piss out of me just outside town last weekend, in my life time they were not here, but were probably before.

Game numbers fluctuate - well known that the dudes experienced the great mule deer hunting 30 - 20 years ago as a result of fire and forest practices of the past that don't happen now. There are spots in the states where there is great mule deer hunting, but it looks like the FN's were sheep specialists in the past. Hardly any sheep there now.

Guess what I am getting at, is just because you saw great numbers of deer on a hillside one year, doesn't mean they should be there next year or in 5 years. We want everything to be constant, nature isn't.

I personally witnessed mule deer behavior change as the wolves moved into my best spot - before they would walk around freely, then one year, I would only glass them poking their heads out of the tree line and backing up. (year I shot my first wolf that then showed up later in the morning). I would parallel that with the Yellowstone elk National Geographic story and the willows around the streams.

We want to pattern everything, only works for a little while.

[Bugle M In]

^^^^^definitely ebbs and flows.
Great areas become not so great and then years later become great again.
Only thing is, 30 40 years, well, there ha been a lot of change in that time, especially in the way of development in low areas (winter grounds).
So there are the natural cycles, and there is the man made cycle that only seems to go one way.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Much of Western NA has seen mule deer populations s decline in recent years. The problem isn’t exclusive to just BC

There’s a reason that there is a Mule Deer Foundation... and there’s a good reason why there isn’t a Whitetail Deer Foundation.

SSS