Drought for the west

[rick19Kilo]

I know this was talked about back in March from the threads I saw.

Does anyone have any boots on the ground knowledge regarding how bad this years drought affected habitat in Colorado for the western half of the state?

April was pretty dry according to this online tool: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Maps/ComparisonSlider.aspx

I am doing an OTC elk hunt and am starting to wonder how much this is going to add to the difficulty meter on finding healthy elk numbers? Obviously look for water, but I think everyone will be sitting water this year.

I have in my mind this cartoon drawing of 20 hunters with their bows, hiding in the bushes surrounding a three foot wide wallow.

 

[Wildabeest]

Based on the comments about this fire that started in my UT hunting unit today, it’s shaping up to be a tough summer unless we start getting some moisture.

“Officials first reported the fire just after 1 p.m. It grew to 100 acres by 2:15 p.m. and was exhibiting behavior more typical of wildfires that start later in the fire season in August”

Wildfire updates: Carbon County blaze burns 300 acres; evacuations lifted in Morgan County

Evacuations due to a fast-moving wildfire sparked near East Canyon State Park were lifted Tuesday, authorities said. Crews in Carbon County are also battling a newly sparked wildfire.

www.ksl.com

I drove by Echo Reservoir over the weekend and it’s probably down 20’ from normal. Website says it’s 44% full and they will not open boat ramps this summer due to the water level. Not good for this time of year since we’re at the end of snow melt and the reservoirs should be full.

 

[marksjeep]

Up high last week, it was still green with some scattered snow drifts. My guess, quality of habitat will depend an awful lot on monsoon or lack thereof. It's always dependent on the moisture, but starting off this dry this early, reliance on monsoon moisture will be exacerbated.

 

[rick19Kilo]

Up high last week, it was still green with some scattered snow drifts. My guess, quality of habitat will depend an awful lot on monsoon or lack thereof. It's always dependent on the moisture, but starting off this dry this early, reliance on monsoon moisture will be exacerbated.

Thank you for your input, I'm hopeful that the rains will come. I'm new to all this and wonder if anyone has experienced a drought year like this before and if it impacts harvest success.

 

[Deleted member 18333]

I drove by Echo Reservoir over the weekend and it’s probably down 20’ from normal. Website says it’s 44% full and they will not open boat ramps this summer due to the water level. Not good for this time of year since we’re at the end of snow melt and the reservoirs should be full.

Echo looks more like a River channel than a reservoir at the moment. Crazy for this time of year.

 

[lynlan1819]

I know this was talked about back in March from the threads I saw.

Does anyone have any boots on the ground knowledge regarding how bad this years drought affected habitat in Colorado for the western half of the state?

April was pretty dry according to this online tool: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Maps/ComparisonSlider.aspx

I am doing an OTC elk hunt and am starting to wonder how much this is going to add to the difficulty meter on finding healthy elk numbers? Obviously look for water, but I think everyone will be sitting water this year.

I have in my mind this cartoon drawing of 20 hunters with their bows, hiding in the bushes surrounding a three foot wide wallow.

Dont know about Colorado,but here in Nevad its dry,going too be a terrible year here for hunting anything in this state.
Small game here has been beyond poor for the last 5 years now,Big game is in a huge decline.

 

[hank4elk]

Bone dry in SW NM.
Friend has lived and worked in the Gila his whole life has never seen it this dry,68 yrs.Logger.
6th generation rancher bud said she dug a trench 6' deep on the Plains and it was bone dry. Never seen that she said.

 

[ccc23454]

The U.S. Drought Portal | Drought.gov

Stay informed with real-time drought data, forecasts, and planning tools at Drought.gov - your resource for understanding and preparing for droughts nationwide.

www.drought.gov

This link is a nice map that makes it easy to see whats really happening. Not as bad here as i expected but parts of SW are in a bad way! I am concerened about what fire season is going to bring us.

 

[appaloosa]

We are going to see unprecedented conditions in the west this year, especially the SW. In Wy where I live, this is the lowest soil moisture measured since they started collecting data. Runoff lasted about six days and barely filled the channel. I can't imagine what it is like south of us, but I have never witnessed anything like this, and it's June 13th!

 

[Schaaf]

Calling for 104* with 30 mph winds on Tuesday in NE MT. Luckily if we graze it all to nothing, it won’t burn, or something like that.

 

[RobertD]

Obviously it is never a good time for a drought like what most areas out west are experiencing, but it seems especially frightening that it's walking hand in hand with this super spike in demand for hunting opportunities in those same states.

These two things can create compounding problems. I hope all relevant parties can but the resource first in conditions like these.

 

[Jeronimo 56]

Down in New Mexico we are burning up... I live at 7500 ft and we've had 90+ temperatures and 3% relative humidity almost every day. Let's hope for a good monsoon season otherwise I'm fearful they will close the forests until things change.

 

[BirdManMike]

It isnt even the middle of June and I was up to a lake in the Beartooths at 10k' today. I didnt have to walk thru a single drift or pile of snow.

 

[mxracer317]

The U.S. Drought Portal | Drought.gov

Stay informed with real-time drought data, forecasts, and planning tools at Drought.gov - your resource for understanding and preparing for droughts nationwide.

www.drought.gov

This link is a nice map that makes it easy to see whats really happening. Not as bad here as i expected but parts of SW are in a bad way! I am concerened about what fire season is going to bring us.View attachment 185522

Utah is more than half D4

 

[F250]

My wife has her "go-bag" packed. She is loaned to USFS from USF&W as a buyer/scrounger for a fire team. This is the earliest she has been placed on standby.

 

[Hunt&FishCO]

Live here on the front range in CO, not too dry yet. Unseasonably warm the past few weeks; was in the high country over the weekend.

Still holding snow above 12k’, high country meadows had water, but the tundra grasses seemed almost straw-like which seemed odd. All of this was West of the continental divide. Saw lots of animals

High Country 6/13

Front Range

 

[HalfAce]

I’m making a drive out to Kansas taking the I40. NW Arizona is horrible. Grass isn’t even yellow, it’s grey. Patches of PJ’s turning brown, I’ve never seen that. NE Arizona is a bit better, yellow grass with some green to it in some spots. NW New Mexico is better than anything I saw in Arizona, and gets slightly better the further east you drive, but should probably be much greener.

Snapped a couple shitty shots while driving. Here’s one west of Williams Arizona.



This one taken in Williams Arizona. I’ve never seen it even close to this dry here.



I’m not regretting doing points only for elk in AZ this year.

 

[Oak]

Looks like they need more cows.

 

[TOGIE]

front range and south platte basin are doing okay relative to just about everything else in colorado. west and southwest of the continental divide things are looking bad

 

[rick19Kilo]

I’m making a drive out to Kansas taking the I40. NW Arizona is horrible. Grass isn’t even yellow, it’s grey. Patches of PJ’s turning brown, I’ve never seen that. NE Arizona is a bit better, yellow grass with some green to it in some spots. NW New Mexico is better than anything I saw in Arizona, and gets slightly better the further east you drive, but should probably be much greener.

Snapped a couple shitty shots while driving. Here’s one west of Williams Arizona.

View attachment 185840

This one taken in Williams Arizona. I’ve never seen it even close to this dry here.

View attachment 185841

I’m not regretting doing points only for elk in AZ this year.

I did the same for both elk and pronghorn