Kamloops mule deer

[Arctic Lake]

I saw this first hand in Region 8 two weeks ago. Whitetail doe with two fawns. Doe was going from tree to tree eating lichen.

Thank You
Arctic Lake

[Bugle M In]

I would often take 2 mulies in the same year , have good hunting spots in both region 3 and 5 and would move when I harvested a deer . The last 2 years I have switched to whitetail to help fill the freezer and have found good success during the rut as the whitetail bucks are very aggressive and come to the horn rattle and buck grunt better than their counterparts

Whitetail have been here a very long time..they will impact mule deer only so much as the habitat has changed to favour whitetails.

I think these 2 posts are a good example of what I think will now happen due to the 1 MD limit.
In a way, having the 1 MD limit will actually make some focus more effort on WT now, which in the long run benefit the MD potentially.
I do however think that the majority of folks only at best harvested 1 MD per season if that.
And those that took 2 a season probably did so annually, year after year, most likely due to close proximity to getting out hunting often etc.
Give it time folks, it should be a big benefit.
And yes, depends on how much the Preds take advantage of this, both wolves and the not so often but should be talked about more, cougar!

[Bugle M In]

To those who don't trophy hunt MD, this thread shouldn't discourage folks to post their successes.
My thought of the day:

[HighCountryBC]

Under-utilized whitetail doe season? Have you ever been to the East Kootenays during the October doe season?

Yes, despite the constant cries, it is an under-utilized season. Whitetail continue to exist in good numbers all over the region. They're the most prolific breeders among NA ungulates and adapt to changes in their environment as well as any species on the landscape.

[Arctic Lake]

[Thats a happy camper ! Good for him ! Arctic Lake QUOTE=Bugle M In;2128912]To those who don't trophy hunt MD, this thread shouldn't discourage folks to post their successes.
My thought of the day:

[/QUOTE]

[HarryToolips]

Yes, despite the constant cries, it is an under-utilized season. Whitetail continue to exist in good numbers all over the region. They're the most prolific breeders among NA ungulates and adapt to changes in their environment as well as any species on the landscape.

This is true, it's amazing how well they adapt......

[HarryToolips]

Yes. I think a lot of hunters took the first buck they saw then held out for something bigger for their second muley.

It will be interesting to see if the ratios improve with the bag limit changes. Personally, I would have liked them to shorten the any buck season to Oct 1-15 at the same time. That would certainly increase the ratios a lot faster.

SSS

I agree, or even shorten it to Oct 1 - 21 like it was when I started hunting 10 years ago......

[Looking_4_Jerky]

Absolutely. Mature bucks are such a small part of the population because most never live to see maturity, the recreational demand is too high. In poor access areas I have passed on countless deer and see a good bunch of them next year a little bigger and a little closer to maturity. If I choose to shoot them because they are legal or I am only hunting for meat or I have my kids shoot them then that natural progression halts. Very basic.....

True story. I shoot small bucks, so I'm coming down hard on those harvesting small bucks, but no question that the decline in mature bucks in the southern interior is all to do with recruiting yearling bucks into successive age classes.

[zippermouth]

Yes, despite the constant cries, it is an under-utilized season. Whitetail continue to exist in good numbers all over the region. They're the most prolific breeders among NA ungulates and adapt to changes in their environment as well as any species on the landscape.

good numbers maybe, but I think the doe season is doing what the managers want and it’s lowering the population. Not sure how under utilized it was, sounded like a shooting range every weekend in October, last weekend (nov 1-2) it was pretty much as quiet as can be. Hunting pressure also seemed to tank vs the weekend before with the closure or does and possibly any mule buck. Hunting pressure definitely has an impact, if not on overall population definitely on quality. But BC just seems to care about not impacting hunter opportunity. We need serious money to go towards our mule deer. Not just minimal funding and guess work.

[Bugle M In]

good numbers maybe, but I think the doe season is doing what the managers want and it’s lowering the population. Not sure how under utilized it was, sounded like a shooting range every weekend in October, last weekend (nov 1-2) it was pretty much as quiet as can be. Hunting pressure also seemed to tank vs the weekend before with the closure or does and possibly any mule buck. Hunting pressure definitely has an impact, if not on overall population definitely on quality. But BC just seems to care about not impacting hunter opportunity. We need serious money to go towards our mule deer. Not just minimal funding and guess work.

Yes and no.
If you look at the Idaho study, their survey was not too much unlike our MD questionare.
Hunters don't like a "crowded" situation due to limited time frame or limited by restriction.
So, it's not a case of us just here in BC wanting ample opportunity for ?"many reasons".

But yes, poor funding, poor management in all aspects and poor accountability as well as "counting" has led to many issues that many of us see now.
As for good numbers, yes, the Does get bred etc, and yes, how many are actually surviving come the next season is a big issue.
But, how much is hunter related and how much is pred related.
Again, poor management to know what is really going on, and piss poor habitat come winter time.