Whitetail deer are doing well for themselves in the Jackson region, including on the National Elk Refuge, but the Wyoming Game and Fish Department wants fewer of them there.
So, the agency is trying to make it easier for hunters find and shoot whitetails.
From now through Nov. 27, some hunters with whitetail tags can get permission to hunt those deer on the elk refuge.
There’s concern over whitetails gobbling up forage before mule deer can get to it and possibly spreading disease.
“White-tailed deer can compete with mule deer for habitat and food because their diets are very similar,” Game and Fish Jackson wildlife biologist Aly Courtemanch told Cowboy State Daily. “White-tailed deer can also carry chronic wasting disease, which threatens mule deer and elk populations.”
Hunting Allowed On The Refuge
In all, 150 whitetail tags were issued for this season, some of them for a hunt that includes the elk refuge.
Hunters who want to go onto the refuge must first get permission slips, which are available through the Game And Fish website.
“In 2024, 75 Type 3 licenses were issued for any white-tailed deer and 75 Type 8 licenses were issued for doe or fawn white-tailed deer for the combined hunt areas of 148, 150, 151, 152, 155 and 156,” Courtemanch said.
The refuge is within hunt area 155.
Hunters Couldn’t Get To Them Last Year
Other places in the combined hunt areas are the Teton Wilderness, Mount Leidy Highlands, Gros Ventre drainage, and mostly private property along the Snake River and south of Jackson.
Last year, Game and Fish issued roughly the same number of tags for whitetails, but hunters managed to kill only seven of them, Courtemanch said.
That was probably because it was difficult for hunters to get access to private property where many of the whitetails were, she said.
That’s why Game and Fish decided to get hunters access to the elk refuge.
“We would like to see additional harvest to try and curb population growth and expansion,” Courtemanch said. “That is why we would like to make these license-holders aware of the hunting opportunity on the National Elk Refuge.”
It’s hoped whitetail hunting on the elk refuge will continue in the years to come, she said, adding that hunters seeking whitetails on the refuge should look along the river.
“Riparian habitats along river corridors are prime habitats for white-tailed deer,” she said. “The Gros Ventre River runs along the north end of the National Elk Refuge, which is where most white-tailed deer on the Refuge have been observed.”
Controversial Species
Concern over whitetail out-competing mule deer is nothing new. Mule deer populations have been struggling in Wyoming and across the West, while whitetail continue to thrive.
Feelings about whitetails among Wyomingites are mixed.
During the 2023 legislative session, Wyoming Senate President Ogden Driskill said whitetail deer are essentially an invasive species, calling them a “noxious weed.”
However, retied forester Karl Brauneis of Lander told Cowboy State Daily at the time that he appreciates whitetails, which he regards as a native species.
“Lewis and Clark noted the whitetail deer all up the Yellowstone valley on their Corps of Discovery,” he said. “We can assume that the migration of the whitetail was up the Yellowstone gallery forest of cottonwood then up the Bighorn tributary to the Wind River and subsequent valley.
“At any rate, the deer was here at the time of Western white expansion.”
As whitetail numbers grow in the Jackson area, Game and Fish wants to prioritize mule deer, Courtemanch said.
“White-tailed deer are expanding their range and numbers in many areas in western North America, mostly due to winters becoming milder and land use change,” she said. “The Jackson area is no exception and we’ve been observing white-tailed deer expanding into new areas in recent years.
“In the past, small numbers of white-tailed deer mostly occurred along the Snake River from South Park to the Snake River Bridge on Highway 22.”
Cross-Breeding No Threat
Some cross-breeding happens between whitetail and mule deer, but that isn’t the main threat to the Jackson mule deer population, Courtemanch said.
“White-tailed deer and mule deer can hybridize; however, it’s uncommon,” she said. “Male hybrids are almost always sterile. Hybrid females can reproduce, but their hybrid fawns rarely survive. We have not documented any confirmed hybrids in the Jackson area.”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
