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Changes may be coming to hunting regs

By
KateLynn Slaamot, NLJ Reporter

A unanimous recommendation that would split white-tail and mule deer hunting licenses in the state has been forwarded to the Travel, Recreation, Wildlife, and Cultural Resources Committee of the Wyoming House of Representatives. The governor-appointed Wyoming Wildlife Taskforce wants the committee to consider the recommendation, which was approved by the taskforce at its April 28 meeting, during its interim study period. 
According to the taskforce’s website, the 18-member group was organized to “study top-priority wildlife policy issues facing the state related to the allocation of hunting opportunity, sportsperson access and other issues. The topics will be identified by the taskforce members for study over an 18-month period with the goal of presenting conclusions and recommendations to the Wyoming Legislature, Game and Fish Commission and governor to support decision-making on Wyoming’s wildlife resources.” 
As state statute currently stands, both white-tail and mule deer species are referred to as simply “deer,” with no differentiation between the two. The letter drafted by the taskforce, dated May 6,  asks committee members to consider drafting legislation that would differentiate between the two as two distinct species, addressing “this definition change wherever it may appear in Wyoming Statutes.” 
According to Brian Nesvik, director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and member of the taskforce, it is time to recognize white-tail and mule deer as two different species and issue hunting licenses and manage them as such, rather than the current general licenses that allow for hunting either species with one license. There are also limited quota licenses offered in Wyoming. 
“The fact of the matter is they are distinctively different species.  … The time has come for us to recognize with the license types two completely different species in our state,” Nesvik said, noting that it’s no different than differentiating between moose and elk and other various species hunted in the state with separate licenses. When the existing statute was written, defining both species as just “deer,” there were also fewer white-tail deer in the state, according to Nesvik.
Taskforce co-chair and executive director of Muley Fanatics Foundation, Joshua Coursey, said this statute change would allow Game and Fish to meet its management objectives specified to each species. 
“They’re just two … completely different critters and deserve and warrant the management of their own,” Coursey stated. 
Sen. Ogden Driskill is also a member of the taskforce and said it is imperative to manage both species separately because of the distinct needs of both.
However, Joe Sandrini, a local wildlife biologist with the Game and Fish Department, said that both deer herds are managed just fine with the existing framework. 
“We already manage the species separately by delineating the areas, timing and species for which various deer licenses are valid through (Game and Fish) Commission regulation. This allows maximum flexibility in management and public input,” Sandrini said.
Sandrini added that he was part of a Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Deer Licensing Working Group, in 2007 that studied the issue in depth. In addition, the issue has been researched before by Game and Fish, and the recommendation has consistently been to stick with the current framework. 
“This topic has been looked at in depth at least three times since the late 1980s, and once before that. Each time, the recommendation has been to use the system we now have in place because it works, is flexible and is really without much controversy at all,” Sandrini said. 

Sandrini said that the findings of one such look into the issue, Cleveland et al. 1987, “recommended hunting both species together, or separate, under the existing statutes and regulatory framework set by the Commission.” Sandrini said this gives flexibility to the manager of each hunting area. 
In addition, Sandrini has concerns that splitting the licenses by species could result in an imbalance in the licenses purchased for each species due to the higher demand for mule deer over white-tail. With the existing licenses, while most hunters prefer mule deer, they will settle for a white-tail. If licenses are split, Sandrini is concerned that far more mule deer tags will be sold over white-tail. 
“If you have two separate licenses, the demand is there for mule deer. It’s not there for white-tail. So, mule deer licenses will be in high demand, oversubscribed, have to go limited quota, etc. The problem we’ll have with white-tail licenses is we can’t get rid of them,” Sandrini said, noting his analysis of the situation in 2007. 
“That affects, at least in the northeast corner of the state, my management ability, because the primary way we manage game populations is with recreational hunting,” he continued. “So, now, if I can’t draw the white-tail hunters I need up here, I can’t get the harvest I need.” 
Sandrini also said that hunter crowding could be affected in predominant mule deer areas. 
However, Nesvik remained confident that steps could be taken to incentivize hunters to purchase white-tail deer licenses. 
Nesvik also said that should the committee decide to draft legislation in response to this recommendation and it passed committee into the general Legislature, hunters need not worry about their opportunities to purchase deer licenses. 
While there may be concerns of the split impacting draw odds in the limited quota licenses since hunters would put in for a draw for both deer species, Nesvik maintained that over-the-counter licenses would still be available to hunters as well — they would just be species specific. 
Nesvik also recognized other valid concerns that hunters may have, including the fact that hunters enjoy having the opportunity to hunt both deer on one license — mule deer earlier in the season and, if unsuccessful, white-tail later on. 
However, Coursey said that he believes hunters could, in fact, purchase both species-specific licenses if they wanted to have the opportunity for both, and they would even be able to fill both tags.
“This would allow for an individual that was wanting to hunt white-tail or mule deer to harvest both by having a license for each,” Coursey said. 
Driskill, on the other hand, admitted that the decision isn’t really up to the taskforce, nor are the taskforce, Legislature or Game and Fish taking “hard action.” The Game and Fish Commission would have to make the decisions, taking public input into consideration. Driskill said all they are doing is putting more options on the table. However, he feels mule deer hunting would need to be limited for a period of time for the proposed statute change to be effective. 
Driskill’s concern lies in enhancing declining mule deer herds rather than just apportioning licenses for existing declining populations. While the proposed statute change simply recognizes mule deer and white-tail deer as two separate species in the way licenses are issued, he feels more would need to be done by the Game and Fish Commission to regulate mule deer hunting until herd health is up to snuff. Driskill doesn’t see a need for limited white-tail deer hunting, however. 
“We love our open spaces and our game. How can we enhance those, because that is everything we all love about Wyoming,” Driskill said. 
If mule deer licenses are limited for a time, he said, mule deer herds could grow to healthier numbers, which would result in more and better mule deer hunting opportunities for years to come. 
“It’s pretty hard to get a handle on trying to stabilize numbers when a guy can buy a general license and there is no restrictions whatsoever on what he kills,” Driskill said. “You really can’t manage two separate species with one license; there just isn’t an honest way to do it.” 
Rep. Chip Neiman said he understands the benefit to splitting licenses in the state. He also said that with the demand for mule deer, especially from out-of-state hunters, Wyoming would be wise to manage it well. However, he said that he doesn’t understand how it can be better to manage wildlife if hunters are just allowed to purchase both tags anyway, potentially resulting in double the number of deer being killed. In addition, he mentioned that there are already some limits, such as not being able to hunt mule deer after a certain date in the season.
“That’s an attempt to generate more revenue, because now I got to buy two tags when I could have bought one,” Neiman stated. “If you’re trying to preserve them, you would do it a limited quota.” 
As for Sandrini, he claims that the taskforce shouldn’t even be stepping into the arena of wildlife management to begin with. 
“This move by the taskforce has taken them into direct wildlife management, which is something they were not tasked to do.  … The pros and cons were neither well covered nor discussed. Rather, it sort of went on through without the necessary considerations of the significant ramifications it will have on hunters and landowners and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Not to mention the need to create more, really unneeded regulations, to implement such a change,” Sandrini said, noting that separating licenses would result in greater regulation complexity as a different set of regulations would be necessary for each deer license. 
Nesvik, however, feels the change would simplify regulations. 
“It’s a lot more straightforward,” Nesvik said. 
While Sandrini feels the taskforce’s recommendation oversteps its bounds, Driskill said he feels that both the Game and Fish Department and Commission are sluggish in creating necessary change in the way wildlife is managed in the state, resulting in the need for a wildlife taskforce. 
Driskill said he also feels that there is no way to responsibly manage wildlife under the current system. 
“If you’re not going to separate the species, it flat flies in the face of responsible game management,” Driskill said of Sandrini’s claim that the current framework operates just fine. Driskill also said that some hunting areas in Wyoming already sell separate white-tail and mule deer licenses. 
When asked his stance on the issue, Rep. J.D. Williams, a member of the Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee, said he supports a statute change. 
“My understanding of the intent of the taskforce recommendation was to update existing statute so that these two genetically separate big game species were licensed separately, as are all other genetically different big game in the state. As whitetail populations have grown, the ‘deer’ licenses that were historically for mule deer, have become more complicated, with many types of licenses for some areas that are habitat for both species. The primary opposition was from conservation minded, trophy mule deer hunters who were concerned an unintended consequence of such a change may increase the harvest of fragile mule deer populations. Our committee discussed this topic at length with quality testimony from the public and the Game and Fish Director. I am confident the transition would be fairly smooth and simplify the existing practice if and when the concerns of all stakeholders are addressed. As Mark Twain opined, ‘The only person who likes change is a wet baby.’” Williams stated in an email. 
One of Sandrini’s primary concerns is hunter satisfaction. It’s already difficult to “recruit, retain and reactivate” hunters, according to Sandrini, and he is concerned this statute change could exacerbate the issue. 
Some local hunters weighed in with their thoughts on the proposed change. 
Everett Dean has been hunting in Wyoming for over 40 years, and he admitted he doesn’t see how splitting the licenses would benefit hunters or wildlife management. 
“I guess I can’t see how splitting the deer species and offering two separate general tags is a better way to manage them, as twice as many deer could ultimately be taken every year. So, there will be less deer to hunt,” Dean suggested. 
He also noted that the potential for limited licenses concerns him because general tags are his only way to hunt — he rarely draws what he puts in for. 
“A general deer tag is a big deal to me — I love to deer hunt. It’s my favorite, and I plan to continue hunting them for as long as I possibly can,” he said. 
Craig Ausmann is also an avid hunter, and he admitted that he doesn’t understand what the statute change would accomplish. 
“As a sportsman, I would have to ask what the rationale behind the statute change actually is.  … If the taskforce charge is to study the allocation of hunting opportunity, as it was stated in the letter to the Legislature, … I don’t believe changing the statute from deer to white-tail or mule deer specific would accomplish the task of hunting opportunity,” Ausmann said. 
Ausmann said he appreciates having the opportunity to hunt either deer under the existing general license and that he wouldn’t have that opportunity under this change unless he was able to purchase both. He also said that he doesn’t want to purchase two licenses because he has no need for two deer. 
In the end, it seems uncertain exactly how this statute change could affect deer hunting in the state if legislation is indeed drafted and passed through
the committee and then through the Legislature, and Driskill claims that it would take years for additional regulations and action to be taken by Game and Fish, if any ever occur at all. 
To find out more about this and other recommendations by the taskforce, visit its Google site by searching for  “Wyoming Wildlife Taskforce.” The public will have the opportunity to comment on recommendations being studied by the Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee at its meeting on Aug. 30 and 31 in Thermopolis. Visit wyoleg.gov for more details. In addition, if legislation is drafted and passed on to the general legislative body next session, the public will have further opportunity for comment then.

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