Mule Deer Fact Sheets: BCWF Wildlife Committee webpage

[BCWF]

The BCWF Wildlife Committee webpage has been updated with a series of six "Mule Deer Fact Sheets" originally published by the Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies and their Mule Deer Working Group. The fact sheets are available for download in PDF format and cover a range of topics including:

• Relationships Among Mule Deer and Their Predators
• Understanding Mule Deer and Winter Feeding
• Highway Effects on Mule Deer Movement and Survival
• Competition Between Mule Deer and Elk
• Carrying Capacity: How Many Deer Can We Have?
• Understanding Mule Deer and Antler Point Restrictions

​Click here to visit the BCWF Wildlife Committee page.

[coach]

Great stuff. Thanks for the link.

[Mikey Rafiki]

Great information on there; the science and research is solid. It's too bad that misinformation and knee jerk reactions are still what prevails.

I would love to see some of this stuff published in the hunting regulations. It seems like that would be a great way to reach more of the hunting population and focus energy on some real solutions.

[Brez]

The wording alone, speaks to bias of the author(s).
Most of this is not news, and I expected a more informative and revealing report.
More specific research is referred to to support their agenda while vague references are made on the opposite side of the argument
This does not hold any water for me - one way or the other

[GoatGuy]

The wording alone, speaks to bias of the author(s).
Most of this is not news, and I expected a more informative and revealing report.
More specific research is referred to to support their agenda while vague references are made on the opposite side of the argument
This does not hold any water for me - one way or the other

If you're interested in increasing your knowledge of mule deer conservation and issues 'the book' is $22 USD. It cites a couple hundred papers (which the fact sheets are based upon). The fact sheets are a very condensed version of mule deer management and conservation issues.

Follow the link:

http://muledeerworkinggroup.com/index_files/Page771.htm

I'd lend you mine, but it has disappeared along with numerous other books. It's a good buy and can really help hunters understand mule deer.

[Brez]

thanks, GG I will pick it up. I've been meaning to look into the science behind our wildlife management. That's a pretty big list of contributors from all over Northwest continent. Only trouble I have is that there is only one rep from B.C. only one rep from Alberta - of which both provinces have a tremendous variety of habitat - yet there is a rep from Yukon and Hawaii.
I will read the book and related material by Val Geist (again) and see if I'm out to lunch or not.
It's not that I disagree with the facts sheets, it's just that the way I read them, it seems that there is a message being sent and not just facts. Could be just me.
thanks again for the tip

[GoatGuy]

thanks, GG I will pick it up. I've been meaning to look into the science behind our wildlife management. That's a pretty big list of contributors from all over Northwest continent. Only trouble I have is that there is only one rep from B.C. only one rep from Alberta - of which both provinces have a tremendous variety of habitat - yet there is a rep from Yukon and Hawaii.
I will read the book and related material by Val Geist (again) and see if I'm out to lunch or not.
It's not that I disagree with the facts sheets, it's just that the way I read them, it seems that there is a message being sent and not just facts. Could be just me.
thanks again for the tip

Unfortunately we don't have the funding or capacity to 'research' wildlife, never mind manage it.

When we look 'over the line' to Washington, Montana, Utah, Idaho, etc - those jurisdictions often have enough money and people to conduct more research/inventory for one species than we do for our 'meat and potato' species combined. Washington state probably does more deer inventory in one year than BC ever has.

Just coming up with enough $ to send a rep from BC (who is a deer expert) is a challenge, never mind having funding to go out and actually do some work. It's truly a sad state.

A properly funded and staffed wildlife program should be our top priority. That is definitely the bottleneck.

You won't be disappointed in the book.

[adriaticum]

Unfortunately we don't have the funding or capacity to 'research' wildlife, never mind manage it.

When we look 'over the line' to Washington, Montana, Utah, Idaho, etc - those jurisdictions often have enough money and people to conduct more research/inventory for one species than we do for our 'meat and potato' species combined. Washington state probably does more deer inventory in one year than BC ever has.

Just coming up with enough $ to send a rep from BC (who is a deer expert) is a challenge, never mind having funding to go out and actually do some work. It's truly a sad state.

A properly funded and staffed wildlife program should be our top priority. That is definitely the bottleneck.

You won't be disappointed in the book.

Why is that GoatGuy?
What's so different about Washingtonians that they spend more money on deer research and conservation?

[Brez]

Yeah, it's a shame and we've been griping about it for over 30 years that I know of but it seems that it will not change in the forseeable future. Most other jusrisdictions seem to recognize the economic benefits of hunting and fishing, but not so much here.
That's politics for ya.

[GoatGuy]

In the US they have multiple funding mechanisms for wildlife (and fish) management. The Pittman-Robertson Act (1930s, ammended since) is an 11% excise tax on firearms, ammunition, archery equipment sales (Dingleberry Johnson is the fishing surcharge). It is federal money, and there are caveats but it is easily accessible (states must match a proportion). Lifetime is over $2.5B iirc. Some states also have outdoor taxes on sales of outdoor related gear. All states have dedicated funding where all hunting licenses and fees go straight back into management and many have redirects out of general funding.

In BC we have................ nothing. Our funding is just what politicians (the treasury board) decides is a politically convenient way of redistributing funds. It appears the shortfall is around $6M from hunting license fees/surcharges are going to pay health care and education bills although we've never been able to get a firm number due to a lack of reporting and poor internal controls. HCTF gets a bit of a surcharge but it's a drop in the bucket.