Oregon cuts mule deer, pronghorn tag numbers

BAKER, Ore. — Oregon wildlife officials have cut buck deer and pronghorn tags from 25 percent to 50 percent in units in Union, Baker and Malheur counties to conserve populations following a harsh winter.
Hunters who already have applied for one of the controlled hunts effected may change their hunt choices free of charge until June 1. Controlled hunt application change request forms can be obtained online, then mailed, faxed or handed into an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife office.
Hunt choices can not be changed through the online sales system.
Temperatures in Baker County never reached freezing for 28 consecutive says this winter and hit as low as -23 degrees.
Early spring surveys normally tally 35 or so fawn mule deer per 100 adults. This year, 11 fawns per 100 adults were counted on average, with some units as low as 8 per 100.
Rocky Mountain elk fared better due to their larger size, so there are no reductions in elk tags.
“We saw some elk mortality, as we always do, but it was not significant,” said biologist Brian Ratliff.  “Due to their size, elk can generate more body heat at less energetic cost and they can get through crustier snow easier than smaller ungulates like deer and pronghorn.”
Hunters should expect to see fewer yearlings (spikes and 2-points) this fall. Those ages classes make up about 33 percent of Baker County’s harvest last year.
“The deer went as low as they could possibly go,” Ratliff said, referring to deer’s annual migration to lower-elevation winter range to survive the winter. “I saw them in places I’d never seen them before. But there was no forage for them that wasn’t covered by snow and it was just really tough on fawns.”
Ratliff says it may take a few years of good fawn production to bring back the population.
The above-average snowpack and improved range conditions from all the water this year will help with fawn production and should benefit mule deer and other wildlife populations in the long term.