The past winter was a harsh one for wildlife in Southwestern Wyoming.
The weather was so harsh, the Wyoming Game and Fish plans to reduce the number of antelope licenses available in some areas during the upcoming hunting season. Some hunt areas may have half the number of licenses available compared to last year according to proposed quotes released by the WGFD. The quotas have not been finalized and are subject to change until WGFD commissioners finalize the hunting seasons next month. However, WGFD officials warn those license quotas may decrease as biologists gain access to areas and gather more evidence about how winter has impacted game species.
"There's still a lot we don't know about winter severity with these herds," Patrick Burke, a WGFD biologist, said last week.
In many cases, the winter severity hasn't been accounted for in the post-winter population estimates. As of last week, several places throughout the WGFD's Green River Region were still inaccessible to biologists and others keeping track of animal herds.
Hunting associated with antelope on the eastern end of the Green River Region will be the most impacted according to proposals drafted last week. The Type 1 antelope licenses, which allow for the harvest of any antelope in Hunt Area 53, are proposed to be cut in half, from 200 to 100, due to the impacts of winter on the Baggs herd. Additionally, Type 7 licenses that allow for harvesting a doe or fawn on private land are proposed to be eliminated entirely because management goals on private property have been met, which eliminates another 25 licenses.
Other areas have proposed reductions in Type 1 licenses as well. Hunt Area 57's Type 1 licenses are proposed to be cut from 400 to 200, while Hunt Area 59's Type 1 licenses are proposed to be reduced from 100 to 75. The Bitter Creek herd that inhabits much of those areas is 7% below the WGFD's population goal, but winter mortality was not fully factored into that estimate.
A few herds are within their population goals. One example is the Sublette herd, which is primarily hunted in Hunt Areas 92, 93 and 96, and occupies most of the Green River Basin. This herd is within the lower level of its population goal and has an estimated population of 43,200. There aren't any changes proposed for the quotas in those hunt areas, but Burke said that may change if winter mortality rates are significant.
The winter has impacted other game species as well. Jeff Short, the WGFD biologist in Uinta County, said a major problem with the weather is a combination of the snowpack in the mountains, a lack of early winds that would blow snow off of ridge tops and a lack of sunlight that would otherwise melt off snow on west and south-facing slopes. Those factors combined to make survival more difficult for game animals.
"A lot of these winter ranges don't look like winter ranges at all this year," he said. "So, animals have really struggled and when they can, they always try to move to new areas, but that's always limited."
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