Mule Deer Outlook 2024
Mule Deer Outlook in Eastern Montana 2024
By now Mule Deer hunting in Eastern Montana is far from a secret as it is the last place in the world with this type of general tag season for residents and very easy draw for non-residents. On normal years, not only does it hold the numbers, but a few great bucks were taken on certain years. I wish that were the case going into 2024, but Mule Deer are still in terrible shape. As of February of 2024, winter has been fairly mild with not too much snow, and the ground is getting very wet with thawing temps. We will have to wait and see what the spring and summer months bring to see if we get a little bit of an uptick for Mule Deer fawn recruitment and some much needed fat reserves on the ones that are still here. The biggest benefit is FWP passing no Mule Deer doe permits on public ground, but that does not rule out private lands in the Block Management Program. This may be the most lopsided Buck/Doe ratio I have personally ever seen and might get more out of whack with buck only permits for public ground. Buck/Doe ratio used to be an important measure for wildlife biology, now I am supposed to believe one buck can breed several hundred does during the November rifle season, I cannot explain that one.
The droughts of 2021 and 2022 followed by a rough winter that never seemed to end in 22-23 were very hard on our Mule Deer. Follow this up with the amount of hunting pressure this area receives with no adjustments in management, Mule Deer herds took it tough, and I think most locals do not remember deer being in this rough of shape. I would be more concerned about the two years of severe drought than I would about any previous winter. After the winter of 22-23, some much needed spring moisture hit with full force. I think we counted 9 days straight of rain in the middle of May of 23, but the rain shut off in June. So far environmental conditions look good going into March of 2024 but we still have a mountain to climb to get back to where we were in most of the 2000’s and majority of 2010’s. To put in perspective, I would take the deer herd of 2012 (one year after the worse winter anyone can remember) over our conditions today.
With all the spring moisture in 2023, we are starting to see some sweet clover, and if we get a fair amount of moisture in 2024, I am guessing sweet clover patches will expand. Sweet clover has been nearly nonexistent sine 2020. Sweet clover is a huge indicator of what can come in the fall and is also a DIY hunters best friend, because sweet clover is not just on private ground, if anything more can be found on rolling hills and draws on public ground. If sweet clover stays healthy through September, the public land hunters and Mule Deer health really benefit. We will talk more on sweet clover on a later date, but the longer sweet clover lasts and does not dry out or get eaten by grasshoppers, the healthier deer are going into fall. I have never seen sweet clover in August with skinny deer. It is also a huge honey producer for the state of Montana, buy local!
By the end of 2022, locals were really starting to show sympathy for the overall health of most of our mule deer in region 6 and 7. There were certain pockets of densely private land where they held up better, but overall, both numbers and quality were far lower than what we were used to. Not all of this was caused by weather, the overall rise of landowners who have joined block management have really played a number on herd health as these deer are getting less and less ground to find sanctuary in certain areas of both Region 6 and 7. With the exception of some mainly private areas, I can count on one hand how many Mule Deer actually stay on one private ranch and do not spill over onto public ground sometime from Summer to Winter.
A big topic that is talked about today is Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). This has become a huge topic of concern and quite political as well. I am not sure I have any definitive statement or position on it, but I would like to see more questions asked by those that are supposed to be looking out for our Mule Deer. Not going to say I doubt the science in defining or understanding what CWD is, but I have questions and concerns in our response to it. Going by a lot of data I see, I cannot help but rule out nothing can really be done by man to prevent anything. Mother nature has always played a bigger role in population management than mankind has, and it cost nothing. If money is still being spent on research, why are we jumping to the conclusion side of science. You may have noticed, CWD is my least favorite topic to talk about, we will reluctantly bring up some discussion pieces later, because it is the biggest topic in the west and big game management.
As everyone knows, Montana has been managed as an opportunity state and I am not sure if this same practice is going to be sustainable to maintain a healthy mule deer herd. Over the last ten years, there have been some dramatic changes out here. Some of them started with covid and an absolute boom of pressure, more and more block management, more modern technology, severe drought followed by hard winter and an increase in human population throughout the state. Combine these with no changes in the management practices done by the state and it seems the last thing on anyone’s mind is seeing healthy deer in Eastern Montana. I would rather see healthy deer in areas I cannot hunt, than to not see them at all.