I would not put a lot of faith in the CPW finding the cause.It took them 10+years and multiple studies to come up with the same conclusion as us hunters concerning deer numbers. They were simply killing too many deer in hunting season.
Boy ain't that the truth. I was involved in that fiasco. Needless to say, what the biologists in the field say, does NOT translate into what is decided in Denver and within the Wildlife Commission.
I have been also saying that what we saw happen with mule deer could well happen with elk. In the 1960's the state had 1.1 million deer. Today we have 450,000 deer. That 1.1 million represented an over population and the CPW went to great lengths starting in the late 60's to reduce deer numbers. I was hunting in the early 70's and here is an example for the Uncompahgre Valley and Gunnison Basin deer seasons. I know many won't believe this but I have my and my dad's deer licenses from the early 70 's to prove it:
--Draw an early Sept rifle hunt if one was lucky enough.
--Buy a OTC archery license.
--Buy a regular rifle buck tag for almost any unit in the Uncompahgre Valley or the Gunnison Basin, and the CPW would offer to sell a doe tag,and if you did buy one, throw in another buck tag--for free.
--Draw a December buck tag if you were lucky enough (it wasn't actually that hard).
That's six deer licenses if you you worked your cards right.
35 years later nobody--not just Colorado--can figure out what has happened with mule deer. Other states have had extensive studies and none of them have identified a smoking gun(s).
I think it is still habitat related. Excessive numbers of deer and excessive numbers of elk have hurt winter and transition habitat. I also think elk have out-competed deer for browse and graze. And there is livestock grazing. Lots of elk means lots of competition with cattle (and some sheep).
And then there are predators whose numbers have probably increased over the past 30 years.
