• Published:August 15, 20214:05 amUpdated: August 13, 20213:02 pm
• AuthorTraci Bishop

Photo courtesy of the Utah DWRFacebookTwitterPinterestEmailPrint

DWR News Release

Several years of ongoing drought conditions and the extreme drought this summer have decreased mule deer populations across the state. Here are a few things people hunting deer and elk this fall should know.

Drought impacts deerby decreasing their body fat (because there are fewer plants and available food sources on the landscape). If the does have poor body fat and nutrition, it leads to smaller fawns, and those fawns have a decreased chance of surviving. If an adult deer has too little body fat at the beginning of the winter — especially a severe winter — it will often not survive the winter months.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-3987983992836491&output=html&h=280&adk=3838431266&adf=3999801320&w=723&fwrn=4&fwrnh=100&lmt=1629153426&rafmt=1&psa=0&format=723×280&url=https%3A%2F%2Fetvnews.com%2Fhow-drought-impacts-deer-and-elk-tips-for-hunters-during-the-2021-hunts%2F&flash=0&fwr=0&fwrattr=true&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&wgl=1&adsid=ChEI8JnoiAYQ75bP1Kv0mtn4ARI9AOJNdvB9vjwkNksCd0azJi00a-aNiU_4gIsiSaUREGMibeqr–y5XSJ7KhRHabnUdTPOfS2mOnhflUInIA&uach=WyJXaW5kb3dzIiwiMTAuMCIsIng4NiIsIiIsIjkyLjAuNDUxNS4xMzEiLFtdLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsXQ..&dt=1629153181725&bpp=27&bdt=7383&idt=1833&shv=r20210812&mjsv=m202108100101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D3ee838252697ff5b-22b01be3e2c900a1%3AT%3D1629153184%3ART%3D1629153184%3AS%3DALNI_Mb55qTcLi8RA0NcFSdaswWKJqp5qw&prev_fmts=0x0&nras=1&correlator=3822866502423&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=801815831.1629153180&ga_sid=1629153184&ga_hid=1501240072&ga_fc=0&u_tz=-420&u_his=1&u_java=0&u_h=640&u_w=1139&u_ah=607&u_aw=1139&u_cd=24&u_nplug=3&u_nmime=4&adx=38&ady=1546&biw=1123&bih=537&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=20211866%2C31062297&oid=3&pvsid=1745099236166868&pem=737&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&eae=0&fc=896&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1139%2C0%2C1139%2C607%2C1139%2C537&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CopEebr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=128&bc=31&jar=2021-08-16-22&ifi=1&uci=a!1&btvi=1&fsb=1&xpc=WEygR0QFDG&p=https%3A//etvnews.com&dtd=M

The current deer population in Utah is roughly 320,000 deer, which is the lowest total number of deer…