Hey guys, I've got a question for any of you residing in those states. I recently did a road trip from Vancouver to Montreal going trough the US's I90. Quite a nice trip. However in Wyoming and South Dakota, we were amazed to see an overpopulation of deers and wild turkey. When I say overpopulation, I mean we must have seen over a thousand deer in a single day, and a wild turkey at least every 200ft beside the road. We saw a lot of them hit by cars (both deers and turkey). We were curious as to why they're not hunted or poached more? My copilot hunts deer and moose in Canada, and he couldnt believe seeing so much game, especially since its good meat. Nobody will make me believe that those parts are all vegans...

My guess is that those are the two least populated states and far more people prefer beef and chicken to wild game.

Wyoming: population 532,668; rank 50.

South Dakota: population 804,194; rank 46.

This is a little more telling.

List of U.S. states by population density

Wyoming has 5.4 people per square mile, compared to the US average of 86.2.

Quote: Original post by tstrimp
This is a little more telling.

List of U.S. states by population density

Wyoming has 5.4 people per square mile, compared to the US average of 86.2.

Wyoming also has the highest percentage of gun ownership. Guess the numbers still work out in the favor of the deer and turkeys.

Seemed to be quite poor too, I was surprised they didnt try to get free meat. There were so many turkeys you could have hunted dinner with a stick.

Two reasons immediately sprung to my mind for the wild animals to be near roads. One, they are escaping insects. Second, especially during winter time here at least, some wild animals come to roads to lick them, for the minerals I gather.

But yeah, why don't they eat or sell the game. I bet we would buy that meat if it were exported. It's delicious. :-)

(*) If moose get a sense of lipoptena cervi, it goes bezerk. They occasionally prefer to find more open and windier spots. We have fences alongside roads here to prevent the animals blocking them.

I am from South Dakota, and while I don't know about Wyoming, I do know that the number of deer the state of South Dakota allows to be hunted each year is closely regulated and I think you need to win a lottery if you want a deer license.

Even if you want to hunt deer that doesn't mean you are guaranteed to get a license.

Part of the reason why the quantity of prey animals seems higher is because the locals have exterminated predators. We killed a lot of our wolves and coyotes, so we have tons of rabbits.

You need a license in Wyoming to hunt both the deer and turkey, so coupled with the low population this may be why you saw so many. Also, it might depend on how the seasons for the two animals overlap. I'm originally from Wyoming, but I never went hunting when growing up, so your guess is probably as good as mine!