Where are the mule deer

Where are the mule deer

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
I have hunted mule deer from the Colorado Rockies through the mountains of the Northwest and heard credible reports recently that the populations of these magnificent animals have been seriously compromised. Marc Warnke is the co-owner of a service called Got Hunts and is an avid professional big-game hunter. During a recent conversation I asked him a question." There is a decline in new their populations and a couple of things come to my mind. One is that depredation by wolves is a factor and second a loss of habitat. I have thoughts that may not be politically correct but so what. I think both of what you said have an impact but coming from a guy, and I have killed for 200 inch mule deer with a bow. I have hunted them everywhere they walked, I have spent 15 years chasing big Mule deer, it's my specialty, I have been on the cover of Trophy Hunter, I have been on the cover of Eastman's, I have hunted them everywhere and where good mule deer exist, is where good management exists. The whole reason I took up both hunting was because I didn't want to have to see a guy on the next hill. I didn't want to go in and hear gunshots screaming up every hill side that I was hunting because I didn't want to share the woods with a bunch of other human beings. The reality is that there is so much hunting pressure and the way that we are managing, I don't think we are managing deer well. Especially, disacknowledging wolf depredation and loss of habitat. Those all have huge impacts on our populations.
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