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CHEYENNE—This fall, Wyoming hunters will harvest deer the way they always have: whitetail and mule deer in one season, with one license.

On Monday, the state Senate rejected Senate File 3, “Mule and whitetail deer-separate hunting seasons,” in a 19-12 vote. On the Senate floor last week, Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, said the bill would have primarily provided a statutory tool for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to manage deer populations in Wyoming.

Senate File 3 would have separated, in statute, the species of mule deer and whitetail deer, and was sponsored by the Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee. Separating the species would have allowed Game and Fish to charge different license fees for each species, and would have allowed officials to set enforceable herd quotas, according to Driskill.

“We are struggling with mule deer statewide, and virtually every [mule deer] herd unit across the state has declined,” Driskill said on Wednesday, adding that separating the hunting season between species could help mule deer recover from whitetail overtaking habitat.

On Friday, the Senate again debated the bill on the floor, and Sen. Larry Hicks, R-Baggs, said that according to statewide surveys of more than 37,000 identified deer hunters, 45% supported the bill and 25% did not. Thirty percent had no opinion.

Two young male whitetail deer, showing only spikes for antlers, take refuge in the closed KOA campground near the base of Devils Tower. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)

That same day, Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper, said that no survey showed a majority of hunters in favor of the program. Noting another survey of 700 ranchers, Landen said two out of three ranchers did not support SF 3. In addition, people who work in the wildlife field also are unlikely to support the bill, because “they’ve got all the tools necessary to take care of the deer populations in Wyoming,” Landen said.

“They’re doing it now, and everything that is purported to be done in this bill is already being done,” Landen said. “There’s a reason why the mule deer are coming back. There’s a reason why we’re getting control [of] the whitetail populations.”

Landen said he was concerned the bill was unnecessary and may have unintended consequences. Many sportsmen, he said, had expressed concern over having to purchase two deer hunting licenses: one for mule deer and another for whitetail, for one season.

Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, said he could not support SF 3 over worries that separate seasons could create management challenges.

SF 3 died on the Senate floor Monday without discussion.

Carrie Haderlie is a freelance journalist who covers southeast Wyoming from her home near Saratoga. She has written for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, Laramie Boomerang, Wyoming Business Report and several...

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  1. There are already separate licenses for hunting whitetail and the bill would not have covered different license fees. General areas would have required one person to buy two licenses to hunt both species. This bill would have tied Game and Fish hands in certain management practices and because it was in statute, it was taking the management away from professional wildlife managers. A bad idea being pushed by one legislator who does understand deer management.

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