It’s no secret that winter conditions have severely affected big game species across the west. After record snowpack in states such as Colorado, Wyoming and many others, wildlife officials have been busy monitoring populations and making the necessary adjustments to available tags for the 2023 hunting seasons.
The latest to make the grave announcement regarding available tags is the state of Nevada.
If you were to take a guess as to what the perfect storm for degrading wildlife populations would look like, it likely contains multi-seasonal ingredients. In Nevada’s case, the recipe looks something like one part summertime drought and a dash of excessive winter snowpack.
The result of this diabolically perfect storm is devastating losses for the state’s mule deer and bighorn populations. Urban growth is another factor that’s beginning to affect the state’s wildlife, as homebuilders scramble to build new homes to keep up with growing demand, often building in prime winter habitat and migratory corridors.
This past winter saw watersheds from across the state report snowpack increases varying from three to five times the median usual snowpack. The Spring Mountains in the southern portion of the state reported a 500 percent increase in their median snowpack.
Of those monitored by the state during December, February and March, most herds experienced fawn losses of between 40 and 55 percent. With an estimated 68,000 mule deer still on their feet, that number is the lowest it has been in over five decades according to biologists.
“They’re kind of a canary in a coal mine, like the sage grouse,” state biologist Cody Schroeder says.“They don’t just provide things for recreationalists to look at and people to hunt. They are very much part of the ecosystem.”
The mule deer aren’t the only ones who are struggling. Nevada’s desert bighorn sheep have also been affected by the same conditions afflicting the mulies. The sheep’s vulnerability to disease transmission from livestock, is another factor to contend with as biologists report increased mortality in lambs and adults from respiratory conditions.
The bighorn population is down to roughly 7,100 sheep, a 29% decrease from previous estimates recorded in 2019.
The First Cut is the Deepest
State lawmakers have been forced to make steep cuts to available bighorn tags. As one of the most sought-after regions in the country to hunt sheep, typically because of the abundant availability of tags, 2023 will mark the biggest reduction in available bighorn ram tags in state history.
Nevada’s mule deer tags have also been slashed like a going out of business sale, with the state only issuing 11,000 tags for the upcoming season, a steep 40 percent year-over-year reduction.
Nevada continues to grow as a stellar destination for big game hunting and the growth in tag applications illustrates this fact perfectly. As hunters continue to chase new hunting opportunities in states like Nevada, unfortunately for most looking to affix a tag on a bighorn or mule deer, they’ll have to wait.
While hardy species such as elk and antelope are in good shape, we’ll have to let wildlife managers do what wildlife managers do. And that is to rely on sound science and data from the field to make informed decisions regarding available tags.
Much like all of the big game species we enjoy pursuing across the country, each one of those opportunities has been made possible by sound legislation and management practices.
Patience is a virtue and something we’ll need, along with some help from Mother Nature, to get back to where we were in certain parts of the west.
