Wyoming Range Winter Wrap-Up with Jeff Short
Robby hosts Jeff Short, Wildlife Biologist for the Wyoming Game & Fish. Jeff is a previous guest on the Rokcast. Last summer he shared his research on Antler Point Restrictions. On today's episode, Jeff and Robby go over the recently released data on the survey of the Wyoming Range mule deer. Wyoming recently released the official report on the 2022/2023 winterkill on the Wyoming Range. This report indicates nearly two-thirds of that herd was lost to that winter, dropping from 30,000 deer to 11,000 deer between surveys conducted in February 2023 and February 2024 They define Wyoming Range Boundaries and discuss why the survey was conducted two years in a row. The survey showed fawn:doe ratios dropped to 34 while buck:doe ratios fell to 24. Jeff talks about what it will take to recover this herd and the fact that deer on the winter range now have already started their recovery with good body fat levels and range conditions. If you'd like to read more on this topic, see the article by Mark Heinz at the Cowboy State Daily here Game And Fish: Two-Thirds Of Prized Wyoming Mule Deer Herd Killed Last Winter | Your Wyoming News Source (cowboystatedaily.com)