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Deleted member 16014
Guest
I heard it was all the weed spraying...
sbhooper
Well-known member
Interesting. I guess the deer that I saw all around oil wells in Wyoming did not read the study. Maybe the big predators overwhelm their fear of the oil fields.
Did you read the study? Can you describe your method of data collection on the responses of wintering Wyoming mule deer to hydrocarbon extraction activities?
I heard it was all the weed spraying...
That's right. We were all just a bunch of idiots for even suggestion something besides weed spraying could possibly have an effect on deer.
sbhooper
Well-known member
I don't know what your point is, but, yes, I did read the study. My comment was from personal observation. I did not say wrong or right, just what I observed. Possibly the push from wolves and bears makes the fear of the oil field somehow of less importance.
My point is that you appear to be comparing the results of your casual observation from a drive down the road in WY to the results of this study, and concluding that deer do not respond the same way to development in WY as they do in CO.
The deer around Farmington,NM are pretty much gone in the last 5 yrs, Except the migration ones from CO.
Sad a trophy area at one time,even with some drilling.Now there are roads and pits and wells every few hundred feet.
Funny thing when they can slant drill these days form one pad.
Sad a trophy area at one time,even with some drilling.Now there are roads and pits and wells every few hundred feet.
Funny thing when they can slant drill these days form one pad.
Zach
Well-known member
PM sent.
I wonder(without have read the study yet)what affect the point creep and popularity of the NW units has on the populations with every tom,dick & harry driving the dragon highway looking to shoot a Monster Muley...
davinski
Well-known member
I heard a good speculation about the decline of deer in CO. I don't know how related it is to the drilling discussion at hand. But the gent said that deer and elk can live in generally the same area for 11 months out of the year. The exception comes when the elk are dropping their calves, then they run the deer off.
At that point, the deer are stressed, also dropping their fawns, and chased into unfamiliar territory. Then predators have a heyday.
How much drilling, travel routes, elk and predator population plays into all of that, I have no idea. I don't even have enough wildlife biology knowledge to be dangerous. But it was a take on the deer decline that I hadn't yet heard, and it seemed logical.
All I know is, the deer population around me is still hurting and showing no signs of improving. But gas wells are some of the places I see the most deer.
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At that point, the deer are stressed, also dropping their fawns, and chased into unfamiliar territory. Then predators have a heyday.
How much drilling, travel routes, elk and predator population plays into all of that, I have no idea. I don't even have enough wildlife biology knowledge to be dangerous. But it was a take on the deer decline that I hadn't yet heard, and it seemed logical.
All I know is, the deer population around me is still hurting and showing no signs of improving. But gas wells are some of the places I see the most deer.
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It's all about the habitat.
Stillhunterman
Member
Agreed. Unfortunately the subject matter concerning 'habitat' is huge, widely varied, and susceptible to many influences, changing the dynamics spacially and temporally. Too often, we hunters become our own worst enemies. We use personal observations to develop and determine our own 'philosophies' as to what is happening to and what is best for our mule deer herds. The science is often refuted with -or worse, not even considered- by our own 'personal beliefs'. If it doesn't jive with what we're seen or have seen, it ain't true... Then we extend those personal beliefs with vim and vigor to be implemented by the various game agencies for our own benefit, certainly not for the species we love to hunt.
No doubt there are many influences, man made and natural, that effect the health and productivity of our mule deer, including the topic of this thread, but the science understanding those influences is moving too slow, in my opinion, and the understanding of how these various studies relate to others providing a much bigger picture isn't being done on a wide scale.
It's a hard row to hoe for sure, and I hope things can improve sooner than later. One thing I believe to be true is that the ecological complexities are always outweighed by the social complexities. Always.
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Deleted member 22670
Guest
Here is an article I saw in the Sentinel this morning:
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/study-deer-steer-clear-of-energy-rigs/
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/study-deer-steer-clear-of-energy-rigs/
