Sunny weather good for deer, bad for hunters

Hunters in Mineral County have been finding it hard to find deer and elk at the beginning of the season this year, but as the weather changes, conditions will likely improve.

Fish Wildlife and Parks Game Warden for Mineral County Mike Fegely said that the nice weather at the beginning of the season has likely played a large role in the apparent scarcity of game early in the season.

He explained that since there was a great deal of rain this year, there is likely still a good deal of water and grass available for animals in higher elevations, therefore the population is still spread out.

That combined with the clear beautiful days at the beginning of the season has given deer, elk and moose plenty of room to graze and may have given hunters the impression that there is a dip in population.

Fegely said that with the recent rains and higher elevations snow, hunters in Mineral County will likely see their luck change. As the weather in higher elevations continues to worsen, game will seek refuge in lower elevations with milder climates, effectively increasing the density of animals in the area.

The blue-bird days that started off this hunting season are reminiscent of last year’s season, Fegely said. He added that he fully expects things to change as winter approaches.

Many hunters are concerned that the overpopulation of wolves as a predator has decreased the populations of game this year.

“I get a lot of wolf reports. Pretty much in any drainage in Mineral County right now, it would not surprise me for someone to say that they’ve seen a wolf. I’ve seen wolves or wolf sign in just about every drainage I’ve been in so far this year,” Fegely said.

Fegely said that while there are high populations of wolves in the area, the population counts of game animals show that it has had a minimal effect on population.

“It’s kind of a common theme that I’m hearing from people is that there are too many wolves and the game population is dropping. But at this point we don’t have any data to support that,” Fegely said.

Fegely said that hunters should most likely expect to see wolves or some sign of them, mostly because of the way they behave.

“Wolves travel a lot, they’re very mobile. They do stick to packs for the most part, but those packs can have humongous ranges,” Fegely said.

He said that another factor leading to a poor turnout for the hunting season so far is that deer are not completely into their mating season yet. He said that when bucks get “into the rut” they will start to move around more and hunters will have better odds.

“You’re going to see more deer as the rut goes on, it’s just the way it is every year,” Fegely said.

Fegely also urged hunters to follow regulations and obtain the proper tags and permits before harvesting an animal.

He found an illegally killed moose shot on Cedar Creek Road recently, that was likely killed on Oct. 19. Fegely said that the hunters only took the moose’s quarters, and sawed off each antler individually.

“They wasted a good portion of the meat,” Fegely said.

He encouraged anyone with information about this, or any other illegal hunting activity to contact the authorities at 1-800-TIP-MONT. Callers can remain anonymous and if information they provide leads to an arrest or conviction they may receive a reward of up to $1,000.