for "Bonded"

for "Hooters"

for "Night Patrol"

for "On a Dare"

for "Best Journal (Overall)"

Daily Sights

our Honeymoon view

a tall mountain

a tall tower

a comic strip


powered by SignMyGuestbook.com

Want an email when I update?
email:
Powered by NotifyList.com

Newest
Older
Previous
Next
Random
Contact
Profile
Host

blizzard warnings - 13:52 , 03 October 2013

heelerless - 21:32 , 18 August 2013

Red Coat Inn in Fort McLeod - 11:38 , 23 June 2013

rushing into the waters - 09:53 , 21 June 2013

choosing a spot - 17:43 , 27 April 2013

22 February 2007 - 23:32

the crux of the year's work

The past seven days have been spent with numbers. Hundreds and hundreds of numbers.

We got last fall's harvest statistics last Thursday. How many hunters did we actually have, and how many critters did they kill? The ratio of which, hunter success, is one of the most valuable parameters we look at. But also so open to interpretation.

On one mountain range, the hunters for bull elk had 70 percent success. Phenomenal, for that area. Whereas hunters on another mountain range, not three miles distant at their closest points, had 67 percent success.

Which was poor for that area.

And we look at the age of the animals they took home. And the average number of days they hunted before being successful. And our most recent aerial counts, and the ratios of bulls to cows, or bucks to does, left in the field after the hunt (before the hunt for pronghorn herds). And how many young animals did we gain this year (fawn:doe or calf:cow ratios)?

How many of those do we think we lost this past winter? Which was harder than some, like the previous two mild ones, but no where near as bad as some other winters.

And the big guess... what is fawn or calf production going to be this year? Some places, the winter may have been bad enough that does resorbed their fetuses, and we won't see much for fawns this summer. Especially considering how thin the does were after last summer's drought.

And this summer? It all depends on how much moisture hits the ground in March, April, May and June. Probably two-thirds or more of our yearly total, and the most critical for growing green to feed nursing does and their young.

But as open, brown and dusty it is now in February, after such a white, cold December and January, the 2007 summer doesn't look too promising.

All this discussion and figuring to guide us to the answer of one question:

What do we want to do this fall?

For each of my 18 areas.

Increase the number of hunters? Keep it the same, or drop them down? Do we give them the same season, or a shorter one?

What about the chronic wasting disease that showed up in one elk area last fall? Should we make adjustments for that, now? (Answer: No, not yet. Based on other herds that have had the disease for thirty years or more, it'll be a while before enough animals are infected that we'll have to reduce harvest. But the time may come. Craaap.)

What about the large ranches that have decided to greatly cut back on the number of hunters they will allow on their lands? The number of deer, elk or pronghorn hasn't changed, but is there any point, or justification, in selling the same number of licenses if hunters can't get to those animals now?

Just how many hunters can we stand on the public lands that are left, before they're too many?

These are the questions I and my two local wardens discussed over coffee and nachos for three and a half hours this afternoon. It was interesting that at both tables next to us in the restaurant, local folks were clearly ceasing their own conversations to eavesdrop on ours.

It's a hunting state, after all. It may not be the best way to conduct business, in open earshot in a public place, but hey, it's not like we operate in secrecy, either. If we can't tell folks why we're doing what we're doing, maybe we shouldn't be doing it.

Ya know?

Amazing how we can add or subtract hundreds of antelope licenses with just a quick look at the numbers, but can spend a half hour arguing over ten elk licenses.

The difference between clearcut, obvious data, and numbers that could be looked at with a number of different interpretations.

In the end, I had waaaay too much coffee.

But we're agreed on what we want to do, now.

We just have to convince the bosses on Monday.

( 3 comments on this entry )
previous entry || next entry
member of the official Diaryland diaryring: next - prev - random - list - home - Diaryland
the trekfans diaryring: next - prev - random - list - home
the goldmembers diaryring: next - prev - random - list - home
the onlymylife diaryring: next - prev - random - list - home
the unquoted diaryring: next - prev - random - list - home
the quoted diaryring: next - prev - random - list - home
the redheads diaryring: next - prev - random - list - home