Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Mule deer numbers

Our deer numbers are seriously down. Years ago you could see hundreds of deer between Lewistown and Winifred now maybe 50. There are significantly less this year than last. I have asked many locals thru the year if they are finding carcasses but everyone says no. Anyone have an explanation? The amount of game in central Montana is in serious decline and I don't see it changing soon. Give me your thoughts.

I've been mule deer hunting in the West TX sandhills area for 20 years, the last 8-9 our ranch has been enrolled in the MLD program here. One of the requirements of the program is to do annual surveys. Sometimes we spotlight, sometimes the landowner will fly it, and sometimes both. Our numbers are about half of what they were 10 years ago due to lingering drought throughout that time period, and it was an area of low deer densities to begin with.

Mule deer numbers are down here too, I have been watching a decline, but have seen some improvement.
Some of the decline can be explained by the Wolf population, which is really hard on Mule deer when I can find several dead Mule deer a day.

Then I think the quality and quantity of the browse has been in decline because the lack of wildfire, or controlled fire, especially in wintering area's. I see some improvement in the fire area's, but you can't just shoot them all lol, it seems hard to grow Mule deer.

Some biologist's suggest there won't be any Mule deer in the future, Val Geist recently passed away, likely the foremost authority on the subject regarding Mule deer, he wrote a number of books and his views can be found online.

I hunt a friend's ranch in eastern Montana. It is a fantastic place with a river, irrigated crops and alfalfa fields. Hunting is tightly controlled and there are only 3 bucks a year taken. And we only shoot the top end bucks.

My nephew and I took great muley bucks the first 2 days of the season. We saw the most young whitetail bucks we had seen in many years. We went home empty in 2019 and didn't draw deer tags in 2021.

I know this is an artificial situation compared to public areas but it shows the effects over harvest can have. The problem is too many tags, both resident and non resident and people shooting smaller or immature bucks. I also don't understand any doe tags being given out at all.

I'll not argue some habitat and climate issues exist, but FWP has to adjust tags to match what's good for the herd, not their bottom line.

This is exactly what the MLD program in TX does, matches the tag allocations to the landowner with the census' taken every year. Ours is 65,000 acres of private ground, max # of bucks killed in one year is 5, zero doe tags ever. There is no agriculture here, just a working cattle ranch with lots of water (windmills). Ours is a drought problem, not overhunting.

We could all do our part and leave the long range rifles at home, go back to iron sight 30-30's.

Much truth there, LR hunting, IMHO, leaves too many animals in the field, wounded or unrecovered. I know, there are a few who take the time and effort to practice and truly become LR experts but the majority go afield with $$$$ equipment, a phone, an app and call themselves LR hunters.

I think that mountain lion numbers are up across the mule deer ranges having a significant impact as well.

Seen lots of mule deer does with twins this fall in Eastern Oregon, not that many bucks. But wolf population is taking their toll on deer and elk.

We have serious mule deer decline in Oregon. They keep blaming habitat loss. I think the true problem is preditation. We have too many preditors cats and wolves plus coyotes. The state outlawed hunting with dogs. I don't think it will ever improve.

Can't you find somebody that will shoot em
in the ear or the guts and SSS ?
Or is that illegal there ?

The winter kill here last season was very bad. The number are WAY down.

They were already way down from the extreme mismanagement or Wyoming Game and Fish (all about selling tags and bringing in money, animals be damned. ) and then the winter we had hit them even harder. They were already way down from CWD and Hemorrhagic fever but the G&F Department never cut back or stopped selling tags. They want their money. The Biologist has been recommending a huge cut in the tag numbers for 10 years and the bureaucrats in Cheyenne simply ignore him. Can't have high pay or new trucks if they do that.

15-20 years ago I used to see them on my land and all around this area we had thousands. Today you have to HUNT HARD for find 3-4 over a 20 mile area.