wmu138 mule deer numbers down?

[cujo1969]

Not seeing many mule deer around don't know if its cwd or more tags last year.

[KazIce]

I have a mule deer tag in 160 and I was speaking with my friend who lives out there and they said they haven’t really seen any mule deer this summer, a first.

On a property north of his they found 5 different dead deer frozen in the snow at spring time.

I think it’s CWD related; but last year was a tough drought so that could have also shifted things too.


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[stirfry1]

Noticed the same thing.

Wouldn't be a good time to draw for a buck!

[slough shark]

Not quite 138 but 1 visited my sister around travers reservoir and there seemed to be a lot of deer like normal there although they are protected by little bow resort and the camp.

[mongo]

Originally Posted by cujo1969

Not seeing many mule deer around don't know if its cwd or more tags last year.

Gov has given out over 400 doe tags in the last 4 years... no zone can handle these numbers without seeing large declines.

[MountainTi]

https://www.albertarelm.com/cust.Dra...istorical.page

This is why there are no mule deer left

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

https://www.albertarelm.com/cust.Dra...istorical.page

This is why there are no mule deer left

I hunted across the highway around carmangay in wmu 132 in year 2021 for mule deer and there was about 300 deer in that little local area off the little bow river...

This year ZERO and thats this summer and fall before the rifle season opened...my dad even confirmed it with some of the local Farmers ZERO fking deer alive.

[trapperdodge]

Some very tough winters as well.

[dshaw]

All in the name of CWD. Our fine government used hunters to cull the mule deer herds to slow the transfer of CWD further west. Breaking news..... it didnt work and now we have hardly any deer in some zones. Another zone south where I am is seeing the same thing. Other than the big ranches there are not a lot of deer around. Its going to be a few years before we see decent numbers again, maybe longer.

[58thecat]

Funny I just got back from down south close to the areas mentioned. Never seen huge bucks but mule deer were very plentiful, many times coming in to calls which was fun but wrong species.
Those long draws or coulees hold some good deer. We watched from 1km away hunters walking, staying more or less on the beaten trails and the one time I put up the Binos only to see a respectable buck 500 yards away in a deep coulee sunning himself as hunters walked around.


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[crwhite]

I've hunted 132 for the last 20+ years. Usually a little closer to Claresholm. On any given trip I used to track the deer seen throughout the day, often hitting numbers as high as 150 mule deer and 30-40 whitetail. We were out this past Saturday and saw 11 mule deer, and 3 whitetail. I know they are pretty good at hiding, and I don't consider myself an amazing hunter, but I can usually find deer in that area.

In speaking with a fish and wildlife officer recently, he said they are speculating it's CWD, but I haven't seen carcasses or bones in any of the areas we frequent...

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by crwhite

In speaking with a fish and wildlife officer recently, he said they are speculating it's CWD, but I haven't seen carcasses or bones in any of the areas we frequent...

Was he eating crayons when you were talking to him?

Maybe the thousands of mule deer doe tags handed out in 132 the last 4 years has something to do with it.

[slough shark]

Originally Posted by whitetail Junkie

Was he eating crayons when you were talking to him?

Maybe the thousands of mule deer doe tags handed out in 132 the last 4 years has something to do with it.

That’s definitely an issue when they hand out tags like that and probably the biggest cause. One zone that I hunt (202) has has that happening for years however last year I noticed a huge drop off in population for the previous year and this year is no better. 2 winters ago they had a hard winter and the fact that mulies have a cwd rate of close to 50% there doesn’t help things. This year they throttled back the tags a solid 80% so hopefully that starts the recovery.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by whitetail Junkie

Was he eating crayons when you were talking to him?

Maybe the thousands of mule deer doe tags handed out in 132 the last 4 years has something to do with it.

Talking around down south people are seeing less big bucks in some areas and better numbers in others, too many tags lowering numbers in areas that have high numbers of cwd?
Not the conservation officers fault as they are the boots on the ground and not the decision makers.


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[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by whitetail Junkie

Was he eating crayons when you were talking to him?

Maybe the thousands of mule deer doe tags handed out in 132 the last 4 years has something to do with it.

Kill all the does with an overabundance of tags isn't good conservation and a good way to decimate the population
Was born and raised in 166. Still hunt out there most years. Still have family and friends out there. I know exactly what is happening out there regarding deer numbers.
Same thing is happening out in Caroline here with the whitetails. Population has taken a nosedive. That's what happens when every Tom, Dick, and Harry can shoot 3 does for $60.
At least they dropped the supplemental tags down to one this year.....It's a start