Montana mule deer rant

'Bout sums it up for why we won't be seeing positive changes in the Treasure State when it comes to Mule Deer anytime soon.



"According to the survey – 85 percent of hunters think overall opportunities to hunt mulies are better than average. Sixty percent of the respondents even rated the opportunity to hunt mature bucks as being better than average. That’s up about 50 percent from the last time the survey was held in 2011....About two-thirds of hunters responded that they “support” or “strongly support” hunting mule deer bucks during the RUT. Overall, on a scale of 1-5, 75 percent of those answering the survey rated mulie management in the treasure state as “satisfactory” a rating of 3 or higher. Twenty-five percent felt dissatisfaction."
 
'Bout sums it up for why we won't be seeing positive changes in the Treasure State when it comes to Mule Deer anytime soon.



"According to the survey – 85 percent of hunters think overall opportunities to hunt mulies are better than average. Sixty percent of the respondents even rated the opportunity to hunt mature bucks as being better than average. That’s up about 50 percent from the last time the survey was held in 2011....About two-thirds of hunters responded that they “support” or “strongly support” hunting mule deer bucks during the RUT. Overall, on a scale of 1-5, 75 percent of those answering the survey rated mulie management in the treasure state as “satisfactory” a rating of 3 or higher. Twenty-five percent felt dissatisfaction."
Jesus… Well, they’re gonna get what they ask for- a forkie tag in every pocket.

But something needs to be done about overall herd and habitat health. The does are getting hammered, too.
 
'Bout sums it up for why we won't be seeing positive changes in the Treasure State when it comes to Mule Deer anytime soon.
Well bottom line hunters are lazy, rut crazed bucks are easy, elk are hard and require work. If management is this great I propose a two buck limit and since only 38% of hunters want to doe hunt cut anterless tags out.
Problem solved residents can smoke their two forkies and tie them to the top of the car and drive back West to brag to their buddies about how great the season was.
Good luck getting anything changed there with this kind of survey results on file. Isn't going to happen period!
 
Best chance at seeing any change is pushing the overcrowded issue and season a structure split it’s just normal here to smash deer thru the rut with your rifle. The crowding apparently is new
 
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A couple things,
1. Management shouldn’t be based on what hunters want, that should be a very small part of the equation. We have gone beyond what the deer herd can withstand.
2. I don’t know if the questions were ever posted but that survey is set up for predetermined answers. The questions were like asking a toddler if they want to eat ice cream. After getting my hands on a survey those results are not one bit surprising.
3. Locally I have not talked to a single person that was satisfied with last years hunting season and haven’t been for a long time. The ranchers that don’t like deer are saying they have never seen anything like it. Hunters may shift blame in the wrong direction but no one is happy in my part of the state.
4. Nothing is going to change. It’s a waste of a great resource that will be lost to private land pay to hunt for any quality. Private land is the only thing that will keep deer on the land scape to some extent.
 
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