Mule deer study in the Okanagan

[tracker]

I am all in for better mule deer populations , so the cats will do well also.. mark ,your inexperience about cat hunting shows ..

[LBM]

This study is a far cry from your average rinse and repeat merry go round.
A person would ask what will they do with the data, why go thru the trouble because "it's just another study"?
The key is that this MD project will/should produce concrete evidence of where and why MD are declining versus just another theory.

That hard data can carry a lot of weight when trying to influence Gov and industry on policy that will limit the negative effects on MD.

It will show what is happing now but may not show what caused the declines so many years ago.

[LBM]

Transient toms are the kitten killers...established dominant Tom has his girls.
Large cat biologists suggested that to crash a cougar population you kill females and dominant Toms. The transient Toms will contribute by killing any kits or at least the male kits during the chaos of the missing Dominant Tom. And then it starts all over. Many areas harvest is heavy enough that a Tom never can establish himself. It is all transient Toms but all the she’s get knocked up anyway. A cat doesn’t need to be very old to breed successfully.

BC manages for high cougar populations by protecting females.

I would tend to disagree, maybe in your region but B.C. doesn't protect females in all regions and your other theory doesn't seem to work either.

[LBM]

To be clear, we trailed my cat for 5-10 kms. and there was no sign of kittens, the tits were dry. Even if she did have some hiding somewhere, they would become food for others, the intent of my hunt was pop reduction, or predator control.
Each to their own though.

Again wow and we wonder why they are trying to shut hunting down, and I agree with Tracker on what seems to be your lack of Knowledge on cats.

[LBM]

I'm not a biologist, but, when I do reach out to them with my concerns, what I hear is... the ratios are good, the harvest trend is static.

I sent this note along to Bugle M In earlier. Seems appropriate now. Again, I am not a biologist...

"In summary, my concern is…… somewhere between 5 and 10 years ago, we saw elk/deer populations decline. For a variety of reasons (urbanization, highway/railway kill, winter snow, high fences, interrupted winter range, whatever). And, we saw an increase in predators. All predators. With ungulate populations trending down, and Government only managing by ratios (Bulls/bucks to cows/does and cow/doe to calve/fawn) we weren’t paying attention to the actual population decline.

And (my assumption/theory) predators, increasing in number, took the ungulate population so low, it is and will, have a hard time to recover.

When Government manage by ratios, they look at harvest numbers of bulls and bucks. When the bull/buck harvest goes down, Government assume a population decline. But, they don’t pay attention to how long (hunter days) those harvests took. Every good hunter, is going to work harder and harder, to get his kill. So we prop up the Government theory that population numbers are ok, because they equate harvest to population and operate on the basis of ratios. Every committed elk or deer hunter knows, it is not the same out there as it used to be."

The decline started a lot longer then 10 years ago and wasn't from predators.

[LBM]

In one of your earlier posts you mentioned 10 cats in the Pickering. My cat hunter contacts are saying they (and others they know) took 32 in the bottom end of the Bull/Pickering. Even if, that is an inflated statement, it still represents a lot of cats. Cut it in half, and that is still a lot of ungulate consumption.

Have you noticed recently (last couple of years) that the sheep are not grouped up in November and December like normal? I think they're being chased so much they get completely disbursed.

The data is not complete yet for region 4 for some is still open along with some that may still be taking by the ministry. But as of now the numbers are 17 for region 4-21 and 25 for region 4-22 don't no what part of the region they came from
Is this good management or conservation practices NO all wildlife has to be managed. This will cause future problems, and some have all ready started.

[horshur]

I would tend to disagree, maybe in your region but B.C. doesn't protect females in all regions and your other theory doesn't seem to work either.

Not my theory...science. But of course some populations are sinks and others sources which complicate things.

here have a read
https://www.researchgate.net/publica..._mountain_lion

[LBM]

Not my theory...science. But of course some populations are sinks and others sources which complicate things.

here have a read
https://www.researchgate.net/publica..._mountain_lion

I meant to say for all of B.C.

[horshur]

The data is not complete yet for region 4 for some is still open along with some that may still be taking by the ministry. But as of now the numbers are 17 for region 4-21 and 25 for region 4-22 don't no what part of the region they came from
Is this good management or conservation practices NO all wildlife has to be managed. This will cause future problems, and some have all ready started.

What future problems is this going to cause? Come on Dale post up some science to back your vague, don't really say anything comments.

[Tim Tam Slam]

Hey All,

since my my last post I’ve been in communication with a bunch of social media I fluencers and they have started to spread the word about this research project. Ourea gave me some great information and I was able to get in contact with jesse about the project.

Good news to report! I sent the information to BHA and they are going to bring it up at tonight’s Pint Night and look for more volunteers from bHA to help champion getting funds, etc. to keep pushing the project along! Hopefullu bhA will also contribute more funds to this BCWF project and become an official sponsor.

considering it’s the boundary herd, it is data relavent for both Washington residents as well as the Okanagan. maybe some $$$ from bHA in the states will come towards this project as well.

happy to see more and more exposure on the project. Jesse had mentioned the fawns are taking a pretty hard hit already from the ones they’ve captured.

to repeat what Ourea said, you can go to BCWF to get the most recent updates, the BC Outdoors mag had a good section and update of the current fawn and doe survival rates from the deer they collard last year.