Despite some hunters weighing in against splitting hunting seasons and tags for Wyoming’s mule deer and white-tailed deer, a legislative committee Tuesday advanced a bill to do just that.
The Wyoming Senate Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee voted 4-1 to advance Senate File 3 to the full Senate.
Advocates for the bill say the Wyoming Game and Fish Department managing the two deer species separately would help conserve the state’s struggling mule deer herds.
That’s been the main of state Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, who says that whitetails have driven mule deer off his family’s ranch argument.
He’s not a member of the committee and isn’t sponsoring SF3, but he reiterated his support during testimony Tuesday.
Some worry that SF3 would just have the opposite effect, because making hunters choose between whitetails and mule deer would just get more mule deer shot.
That point was repeated before the committee Tuesday by Joe Sandrini retired from the Game and Fish Department in October 2024, after working in the Black Hills region as a game warden and biologist.
What Will Hunters Choose?
The idea is that separate tags and seasons would help turn hunters’ attention more toward white-tailed deer, which are commonly called whitetails.
Although mule deer are considered a Western icon, whitetails are also popular with many Wyoming hunters.
Testifying against the bill, Buzz Hettick, co-chair of the Wyoming chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said hunters can choose on their own to focus on whitetails so new regulations aren’t needed.
Hettick said that he hasn’t shot a mule deer in Wyoming for the past 14 hunting seasons.
“I hunt whitetails because, like they’ve said, they’re really good eating,” he said. “And I don’t feel like I’m shooting the last Dodo bird, or whatever you want to say. When I shoot a mule deer, I feel like I’m doing more harm to that herd than good.”
If management of the species was split and a general deer tag was good for only one or the other, he’d and other hunters would be more likely to shoot mule deer, Hettick said.
Cindy Barlow, owner of Antelope Creek Outfitters, said that there already are some limited draw hunting tags and late seasons specifically for whitetails.
In the Buffalo area, where her company guides many hunters, mule deer are legal to shoot from Oct. 15-31, she said. But many deer hunters’ tags are still good for whitetails, with seasons running well into November.
“The mechanisms are already in place” to allow for more whitetail hunting, she said.
Hunter Jeff Muratore of Casper also said that Game and Fish can already adjust hunting seasons as needed to target more whitetails.
He said that he as four grandchildren who are old enough to hunt, and all of them shot whitetail bucks as their first deer.
More Opportunity
Speaking in favor of the bill, Bill Novotny, a Johnson County commissioner and member of the Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association, said he thinks SF 3 could create more opportunity for hunters.
If the hunting tags are split, Game and Fish might be able to issue more tags for whitetails, he said.
Many nonresident hunters come to Wyoming for the “world-class experience” of hunting mule deer in the backcountry, he said.
But a surprising number of his nonresident guided hunt clients would also like additional tags for Wyoming whitetails, he added.
Committee member Sen. Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston, said that managing whitetail separately from mule deer could mean more hunting tags and more opportunity, especially for youngsters who are just learning to hunt.
Committee Charman Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper said he found the argument that Game and Fish can already manage whitetails as needed more convincing, and so he doesn’t support the bill.
Roll Call
Landen cast the sole vote against advancing SF 3. Shuler voted in favor of it, along with Sens. Brian Boner, R-Douglas, Larry Hicks, R-Baggs, and Stacy Jones, R-Rock Springs.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
