Wyoming Winter Kill

[Woodcarver]

Yes, our winter range lands along the Front Range Mountains and foothills in Colorado are open with only occasional snow that comes and goes. Northwest Colorado and Utah are worse off.

Out in the flatlands east of the Springs, we've seen very little snow to date. If we don't get some in April, or some good soaking rains, it's shaping up for another bumper crop of tumbleweeds.
North of the Palmer Divide, the moisture line has angled up into NE, leaving the prairie dry. Ag in eastern CO and western KS really struggled to get a crop worth cutting in 2022. Another year like that will really impact a number of farmers, even some of the bigger ones. That will impact the deer, antelope, and bird populations. A lot of CRP was cut last year. Without moisture, it doesn't grow back, and more will be cut this year.
Too much snow in the mountains, not enough on the flatlands. Only positive for the excess in the mountains is the lakes on the Colorado River might rise a few inches instead of the steady drop that's been occurring.

 

[Scott CWO]

NE Plains are wet this winter and spring compared to SE Plains. So far, so good in NE. NE also has thousands of irrigated crop circles so more drought resistant than SE Plains.

 

[Surgeon1]

I live in the Snowy Range (SE WY) some of the best snowmobiling in the entire country and we have
had a very hard winter! The winter elk grounds have been dry for 4 yrs so feed has been scant and mortality is very high! Antelope have been hit hard for all 4yrs and deer numbers are into a 10+yr decline. And the economy here in Wy has been killed by the democrats and left wing crazies by killing our coal, gas and oil industry. To say we are in trouble is a mass understatement!
Pray for our wildlife, our state and The United States of America as there are political forces and natural forces that are killing us!

 

[uplander01]

Mother Nature doling out some hard blows to the future of hunting in the rocky mountain region. Sad, very sad.

 

[Newboomer]

Mother Nature doling out some hard blows to the future of hunting in the rocky mountain region. Sad, very sad.

What is the situation in the elk refuge in Jackson Hole?

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Out in the flatlands east of the Springs, we've seen very little snow to date. If we don't get some in April, or some good soaking rains, it's shaping up for another bumper crop of tumbleweeds.
North of the Palmer Divide, the moisture line has angled up into NE, leaving the prairie dry. Ag in eastern CO and western KS really struggled to get a crop worth cutting in 2022. Another year like that will really impact a number of farmers, even some of the bigger ones. That will impact the deer, antelope, and bird populations. A lot of CRP was cut last year. Without moisture, it doesn't grow back, and more will be cut this year.
Too much snow in the mountains, not enough on the flatlands. Only positive for the excess in the mountains is the lakes on the Colorado River might rise a few inches instead of the steady drop that's been occurring.

Western Kansas and the northern Oklahoma are dry, dry. Red flag warnings in OKC today and they are dealing with windswept grass fires.

https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

 

[Shootist43]

How sad.

And the "greenies" think that hunters are cruel.

 

[JimP]

How sad.

And the "greenies" think that hunters are cruel.

They don't care if it is a natural death, be it by a very slow death by starving or a painful death by a wolf. They just don't want a person going out and shooting one where another group of humans can benefit from the meat.

 

[Jettech]

Of course i been putting in for several years to draw in southwest part of wyoming and now will probably end up drawing after all this happens. guess I will find out come May if I do and probably have to put in a bunch of work if I do.

 

[Gemsbok45]

I know they are feeding Utah now.

 

[JimP]

I know they are feeding Utah now.

Only a few areas in northern Utah

 

[Mekaniks]

Of course i been putting in for several years to draw in southwest part of wyoming and now will probably end up drawing after all this happens. guess I will find out come May if I do and probably have to put in a bunch of work if I do.

I am likely in the same boat.... I put in for antelope around Thermopolis

 

[Wade J VanGinkel]

My daughter lives in Craig Colorado. This is her front yard still as of yesterday.
Was going to burn her 22 antelope points but will likely wait a couple more years now.
We've got a stack of Wyoming points due deer and antelope also but gonna wait a few more years
after this happened.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Wyoming and surrounding states will get another snow dump today and Monday. One to two feet of snow in some areas.

 

[Badjer]

This thread makes me feel sick. I had been building pronghorn and muley points for a few years as a non-resident. I finally booked last year for this fall....

WY has been raising and raising non-resident fees. These winter kills will stop even more out of staters from hunting the cowboy state. I know a few myself that won't go there anymore. Bad for future wildlife for sure.

 

[Firebird]

Remember when that crazy cold snap decimated game animals in Texas?
It didn’t kill ALL of the animals and hunting wasn’t shut down completely and it didn’t equally affect the entire state or all species of game.
Wyoming and other western states will be much the same. Some areas will take it hard while others will hardly notice a difference.
it is sad-but it is still western hunting and the opportunity to go spend time in a different place with friends still maintains high value.
I think I will still put in for deer just so I can go have a hunt. I don’t need to kill anything and even at low ebb Wyoming still offers better opportunities than I have around home. Antelope will be the same, I’m willing to pay for the chance to hunt wether I shoot or not. My girls who haven’t hunted them before will accrue another point until a better year comes for them. I still love to be there and do what I love and I won’t give up because of high fees or low numbers. I can only do Africa or Texas or Wyoming every few years anyway, maybe that makes them more special.
This has been a record snow and cold year, I’m sad to see the animals die off this way. I’ll be there with my boots on, come hell or high water!

 

[JimP]

I was planning on just buying points again this year and then looking hard at deer and antelope in 2024 or 25.

I'm getting too old to wait much longer.

 

[Waterbuck2008]

Pronghorn numbers were looking significantly depressed before this winter where I guide east of the Bighorns in north central Wyoming. Disease, drought, and high antlerless harvest over the past several years combined to take the population from overabundance down to a finite, dwindling resource. I can't be optimistic for the next couple years after this winter, but they'll return. The plains mulies probably haven't fared much better, from what I've seen, for similar reasons. The positive is that it's big country, and pockets of healthy herds are still out there. Sorry to be negative; hopefully, years of plenty will be ahead of us.

 

[CoElkHunter]

My daughter lives in Craig Colorado. This is her front yard still as of yesterday.
Was going to burn her 22 antelope points but will likely wait a couple more years now.
We've got a stack of Wyoming points due deer and antelope also but gonna wait a few more years
after this happened.

View attachment 526320

We hunt elk in GMU 4 north of Craig. I’m sure the winter kill this year will be severe, more so for deer than elk, but still significant. I read an article recently from the Colorado DOW where a bull elk found near Maybell had to be euthanized because it could no longer stand up. That’s one of their traditional wintering grounds when heavy snow pushes them out of the mountains. Not a good omen for their population status for the next several years.

 

[lockingblock]

Maybe it’ll drive out the CA transplants in WY and MT and put property prices back near normal.