April 4, 2023 |
Photo – Herd of Pronghorn – Bigfoot99 file photo
Winters are never easy on Wyoming’s big game animals.
This year has been no different. Higher-than-average snowfall events and lower temperatures have produced some big storms. Snow events have produced deeper accumulations and colder weather has not allowed for a lot of thawing.
Wyoming Game and Fish Wildlife Management Coordinator Martin Hicks said his agency is keeping a close eye on pronghorn antelope and mule deer populations. He said he was pleasantly surprised to see that 74% of the pronghorn being monitored survived the winter. Hicks said Carbon County hasn’t experienced the same level of die-off as neighboring areas.
Hicks said this season wasn’t as hard on the animals as the winter of 2020. He said a large portion of the pronghorn population were trapped in the Shirley Basin by snow, resulting in many of the animals dying.
Hicks said preliminary observations show young and old mule deer were impacted the hardest by the harsh weather. He said healthy adult animals appear to have survived with minimal losses. Despite the positive news, Hicks said Game and Fish will be issuing fewer hunting licenses this year.
Hicks said Game and Fish will respond to the situation by issuing fewer female pronghorn and antlered mule deer hunting licenses for the Platte River Valley in 2023. He said the full effects of this winter won’t be known until biologists do a head count next year. Until then, Wyoming Game and Fish is estimating how many animals perished in the snow.
Hicks said the hard winter is a double-edged sword. Many animals will not survive, but that means less competition for valuable food sources in the spring. Fewer mouths to feed means more animals heading into next winter with the highest chance of survival.
Hicks said our area has been in a drought for the past four years. He said the area needed this winter’s big snowstorm, despite the negative effect on wildlife.
