OCR Text |
Show Habitat Seen As Major Determination In Outcome of Utah's Deer Hunt Crop (EDITOR'S NOTE This Is the first of two articles dealing with Utahs deer herds. This Informatloa was complied by officers of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and con-centra tea" mainly on the south-central Utah area, which is of vital Importance to the deer hunting industry herds). It would be a pretty safe bet that if the average south-central Utah male citizen were questioned as to his whereabouts on the night of October 18, 1974, his answer would show that he was involved in some type of activity concerned with the annual Utah deer hunt Probably nowhere else in the USA does a deer hunt and its myriad of related activities command the attention of a greater proportion of the populace than it does here in this area of the intermountain west And the reason is quite clear: Utah holds the record for being the number one mule deer hunting state in the nation and this is true even today. It should come as no surprise then, least of all to those charged with managing this big game resource, that periods of low deer numbers, restrictive seasons and resultant lower hunter success usually produces outcries from sports-' men concerned that their favorite game animal is being depleted. The accusations of mismanagement usually center on the Division of Wildlife Resources (formerly Fish and Game) and occasionally the whole thing ends up in the state legislature as it did in early 1974. In case they ever forget, it's years like 1973 and 1974 that leave no doubt in the minds of deer biologists and game managers that the mule deer Is still No. 1 in the hearts of Utah sportsmen. In reality, no Utah game management official has forgotten this fact because our stated deer management goal in Utah has, for many years, been to manage for the maximum number of deer consistent with available habitat. Habitat Critical Habitat is essential for any wildlife population to exist. A pheasant must have grain fields, alfalfa .fields, marsh edges and ditch banks. For Jack-rabbits it's rabbi tbrush and sagebrush. flats and for a robin It may be backyard shade trees and nearby green lawns and gardens. But, even though each animal's relationship with it's habitat may seem rather casual and flexible, biologists have long since discovered that wildlife, with some exceptions, require quite specific and rigid habitat conditions in order to survive. They've also found that if any of these conditions are significantly altered, then the animal itself is affected usually adversely. Deer also need a specific set of habitat conditions in order for them to survive and reproduce. Basically they need food, cover and water on both their summer and winter ranges and they require enough to enable entire herds, each numbering in the thousands, to survive. At the turn of the century Utah had no deer herd. This often comes as a surprise to those who have assumed that deer have always been around in large numbers, especially in the "good old days", but early pioneer and trapper records leave no doubt that deer were a scarce animal in most areas of Utah. The main reason for this, historical biologists have found, is that habitat conditions were not favorable to the mule deer-rather habitats were better suited to buffalo and antelope in the valleys and bighorn sheep in the mountains. These are the big game species the earliest settlers and trappers f round in the middle to late 1800's in most of Utah. Man Brings Change But these species began a rapid decline as pioneer settlement took place. The (Continued On Page 5) Habitat A Major Determination ! (Continued From Page 1) Simary reason was a change In bltats brought about by the growing herds of livestock brought In by the rapidly expanding settlements of the white man. Further, these wildlife species were considered ententes of livestock. There was a conscious attempt to eliminate them and by the early l00's no buffalo remained and only small and remnant groups of antelope and bighorn survived. But, In turn, the small, scattered herds of deer in the state soon began to And habitat conditions much more to their liking, and, as buffalo, bighorns and antelope declined, deer began to to- ; !j crease. 'I Next Week: A mule deer ' ! "explosion" . j |