Fresh Sign: News, Facts, and Fun

Emergency Feeding Implemented

There are many states that have decided to coordinate efforts to feed starving deer throughout the west due to extreme winter conditions. Efforts have been underway in northern Utah, Idaho and Colorado. Authorities are hesitant to launch a winter feeding program as there are consquences to doing so, but in extreme conditions in certain parts of the west programs have begun. Feeding must be done correctly to allow for proper food digestion, but it also creates a bad habits for deer and may keep them longer on the winter range looking for handouts as well. However, due to the conditions in some parts, winter mortality will affect herd conditions to such a level that feeding is a must.

Biologists say Colorado is experiencing brutal weather in many areas, with Gunnison Basin listed as the worst. Snowpack levels are among highest ever recorded with many weeks of winter remaining. At the same time, nighttime temperatures are falling as low as 35 degrees below zero. Pronghorn antelope and mule deer are hardest hit. Emergency feeding is underway for approximately 6,500 deer and 500 antelope at 105 locations on federal and private lands.

About 2,500 elk are being fed weed-free hay dropped from helicopters. Though elk are faring better than deer and antelope, some biologists worry about fewer births and greater calf mortality next spring.

According to some experts, feeding is not the answer, but just a temporary band aid. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation cautions that in general, some winter mortality is normal. It’s nature’s way of balancing herds with their habitat. But when too much winter range is lost to urban development or invasive weeds, a harsh winter can be a catastrophic reminder of our obligation to conserve land. Wildlife habitat is being lost at alarming rates as cities sprawl and ranchettes consume open spaces long used by wintering elk and deer. If we don’t act urgently to protect habitat, eventually the balance will tip so far against wildlife that severe winterkill will become the norm, not the exception.

Fortunately for the winter of 2007/2008, concerned sportsmen and women along with cooperating famers and ranchers have contributed thousands of dollars to help in the emergency feeding programs. How much of an impact this will have on the 2008 hunting season will be determined as hunting licenses and opportunities may be decreased in some areas due to the harsh winter mortality rates.

Wolf Delisting Rule Target Date of March 28

As you read this updated news on the delisting of the wolf, there is a good chance that the target date of March 28, 2008 will go through. However, that is a big if as pending lawsuits could delay the effective date of the final rule. On Thursday, February 21, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services filed a rule that would remove gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains from the federal endangered species list. The rule was then posted in the Federal Register on February 27, and will go into effect 30 days later on March 28. If the rule takes effect, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana will take full management responsibility for wolves. Each state has an approved wolf population and management plan that will maintain population and breeding pair objectives and allow wolves to be managed as a native species similar to other big game.. The Fish and Wildlife Service will continue to monitor wolf recovery for five years after the delisting rule takes effect. The Service would consider putting wolves back on the endangered species list if populations drop below 10 breeding pairs or 100 wolves in each of the three states – Idaho, Montana and Wyoming – and would be reviewed should populations drop below 15 breeding pairs or 150 wolves for three consecutive years. Wyoming must maintain seven breeding pairs outside Yellowstone National Park. Any major changes in state laws, diseases, or other concerns could also cause relisting.

Biggest Mule Deer in 35 years!

In the previous issue of Hunting Illustrated (Best of 2007, Feb/March 2008) we featured the much hyped Kyle Lopez buck. At the time of printing, the buck had not been officially scored. It was also stated that the buck was the largest non-typical mule deer taken in the last 20 years with its green score of 303 5/8 B&C. The exciting official score has now put the Lopez buck into an even higher class. With an official score of 306 3/8 net B&C, the buck is now the new #2 all-time for Colorado and a pending 12 or 13 in the world. It also surpassed the Artie McGram buck taken in California in 1987. The last buck to score higher is the Colorado state record that scores 306 7/8 taken in 1972. This makes the Lopez buck the biggest mule deer taken in the last 35 years!
For those of you who came and visited us at our booth at the Hunting and Conservation Expo in Salt Lake City were able to see Kyle and his buck in person.

Did you Know
Brought to you by Boone & Crocket

Did You Know…that there are approximately 832 non-typical mule deer listed in Boone & Crockett that make it over the all time minimum score of 230. Compared against non-typical whitetail that make it over the all time minimum of 195, that amount is an impressive 2,959. However, there are only an estimated 302 whitetail deer that score 230 or better listed.

Wolves Spread to Oregon

Another Idaho wolf has wandered into eastern Oregon – this one a radio-collared female wolf from the Timberline Pack. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists just found the two- to three-year-old wolf in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest near the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area. The biologists had received reports of wolf activity in that area and were searching for missing wolf radio-collars from Idaho. Idaho Fish and Game biologists had put a radio-collar on the wolf – identified as B-300 – northeast of Boise in August 2006. Oregon biologists observed only a single wolf. But it was the fifth confirmed wolf to be found in Oregon. In March 1999, a radio-collared female was captured near John Day and returned to Idaho. In 2000, a collared wolf was found dead along Interstate 84 south of Baker City, and a wolf without a radio collar was found shot between Ukiah and Pendleton. In July 2007, a mature female wolf was found dead from a gunshot wound in Union County. All four wolves were from Idaho.