Cheyenne, Wyo. • The brutally cold and snowy winter last year in the Rocky Mountains was deadly for deer and other wild game prized by hunters.
In this year’s deer hunting season in Wyoming, officials limited permits for out-of-state hunters to help deer populations rebound.
They also reduced the hunting season and restricted hunters to taking older bucks in some areas.
Hunting restrictions also were put in place in parts of Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington state. Those states also had extremely bitter winters that hurt wildlife survival rates.
Wyoming Game and Fish spokesman Renny MacKay says officials won’t know how effective the preservation efforts are until hunters complete surveys that provide an idea of how many animals they killed.