Northwest Wyoming deer, elk hunting challenges fall hunters

It appears some elk and mule deer hunters in northwest Wyoming had a tough time bagging an animal this past fall.

Wyoming Game and Fish Department Wildlife Biologist Gary Fralick says he counted fewer deer and elk at agency check stations for the Wyoming and Salt River ranges than in any other fall since he started the job a quarter-century ago.

Fralick tells the Jackson Hole News & Guide that he’s been hearing about poor hunter success and few animals taken throughout the Jackson and Pinedale region during the October and November elk and deer hunts.

Wildlife managers point to the severe winter of 2016-17, which killed many fawns, for the dearth of hunter-killed mule deer.

But Fralick noted that a low harvest bodes well for next year’s hunt.