Idaholewis
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FredB said:I grew up in Idaho, hunting unit 33. It used to be that in the winter, you could drive a few miles through the east end of Garden Valley and count a couple hundred mule deer. (mid 70's) You might see a couple whitetail, or you might not. As the human population exploded, the whitetail population also climbed. They could abide human presence, while the mulies wouldn't. Now, there is a strong whitetail population in the valley, which is a blessing and a curse. They add another hunting opportunity, but they also live and eat in the mule deer wintering grounds all year round. Now there just aren't as many mule deer, or near as many big mule deer bucks. Personally, I view the whitetail as more of an invasive species in unit 33. I wish the ID Fish and Game could see that.
We are predominately Whitetail up here in unit 1, We have a decent amount of Mule deer, but you have to go High to get in to them, it takes a TON of Snow to Drive these Mule deer down, 2 foot of Snow and you cannot easily drive up in these Mountains Where the Mule Deer are, and 2 ft of Snow still isn’t enough to Push them Down, usually by the time we get the 3-4 Feet of Snow it takes to make them Move Down out of the High Country The hunting season is Closed. If a guy had a Snow machine of sorts, and Ambition to do it, i have always said that i bet a guy could kill a Giant Mule deer in this Country. There just aren’t many folks around here that put much effort in trying it
If you look in the Idaho Record Books For Whitetail there are more entries from here in Bonner County than anywhere else in the State, But poor management over the years have taken it’s toll, We get more and more hunters flooding in every year, And with a Whitetail Deer Tag you can Kill any deer, Doe or Buck, Every Little buck that pokes his head out gets Shot. It was an AWESOME sight Years ago to go for an evening Drive in September and See Giant Trophy Class Whitetails at Dusk in the Backs of Big Farm Fields, That is a thing of the WAY WAY past, That hasn’t been seen here in MANY years now. How do you Grow Big Bucks when you allow the Little Guy’s to get Shot up year after year, And the Big Bucks that are left get HAMMERED in the Rutt which Happens in Centerfire Rifle season, This has been going on here for many years, Most claim the BIG Downfall started when they opened Deer Season the Same day as Elk. It has taken several years, but the ill effects are REALLY starting to Show Now, You just don’t see NOWHERE NEAR the amount of Mature Whitetail Bucks that you use to. Hopefully Idaho Fish & Game makes some Changes here in the interest of the Deer, instead of how to make more money