We Need To Refuse To Play The Democrats' Silly Games

I've been recently accused of "misgendering" a gay man because I called him "he" and not "she." Just so we get this right, there is this crazy notion going around these days that says everyone should play the Democrats' silly game of accepting gay men as women. Well, some of us refuse to play along with the insanity of schizophrenics who want to play "pretend."

Let me make something else really clear, the truth is the truth no matter what political group tries to change it. While it's obvious that today, if I tell the truth and call a spade a spade, and I don't lie about what he is, then I'm "misgendering." But, that's only if we all play along with the crazies who think we will. And really, I don't live in a world where lying is required and the truth is avoided. That's just a fact.

So while there are people in parts of the United States that want to live in what I call the "go along with schizophrenics world," that's not where I live my life.  And by the way, if people think that we can live and prosper in a world that demands that Liberal Politics over-rule the truth -- then they need to come to grips with the fact that politics does not over-rule the truth. Politics spins the truth. It even neglects to recognize the truth. But it never over-rules the truth. 

You see, the problem for the Democrats is very simple. More than half of all Americans refuse to play their silly games. I see Drag Queens for what they are. Men in drag. Men dressed as women. Gay men dressed as women trying to entice other gay men. And really, no matter what sort of propagandistic language, euphemisms, or how many ways they try to inverse the meanings of words, more than half of America agrees with me. 

As for the other half? Well, those are the Democrats that are on their knees. That's the half that are on their knees bowing down to the Democrat Party's political intimidation. 

Democrats demanding that everyone call gay men in women's clothing "Trans" is just not going to happen. The fact of the matter is that I can confidently say that more than half the nation will refuse to play the Democrats' silly game of "let's placate the schizophrenics in the gay community" -- gay men and gay women. And really, Democrats and their use of the Federal Government don't have the power to intimidate or force people like me into calling men "women" and women "men." 

What really surprises me is how public school teachers and university professors are going along with the Democrat Party's efforts to make women seem so menial. Why do Democrats see women as being so inferior? What makes a Democrat think that a gay man pretending to be a woman makes him a woman? Do real women lack worth or importance to Democrats? Why do all Democrats see women as subservient and unimportant? Is there something about gay men in drag that's appealing to Democrats?

As sad as it is, public school teachers want the children in the classes to "pretend" that it's biologically possible for a human being to "transition" from one sexual gender to another. This sort of indoctrination in our schools has made teachers a danger to our children. This is especially true since teachers are now bypassing the wishes of parents in the efforts to convince children that they should have gender mutilation surgeries and take sex-altering drugs. Things that should never be used on children. And think about this, why is it so important to Democrats, including some Democrat state governors, to provide sex change treatments for minors? 

These are some of the reasons that I refuse to go along with the Left's insanity. And really, no amount of "shaming" and name-calling is going to change my mind. They know full well that Science says it's not possible to transition from one gender to another. And yet, it is important to them to push sex changes and the LGBT agenda on children. 

Democrats can scream all they want about how some gay man should now be considered a woman because that gay man had his penis removed -- but that doesn't make it so. And no, not even the largest amounts of money that the Gay Community can funnel to the Democrats in the form of political contributions is going to change the simple fact of life that there are only two genders. 

Let's face the real facts of life. Cut the balls off a bull and you have a steer which is a neutered male bovine. Cut the balls off a stallion and you have a gelding which is a neutered male horse. Neither a steer nor a gelding will produce a calf or foal, or the milk that it takes to feed them. While Democrats might see females in the world as lacking importance, they should realize that women do what men can't. One would think that even Democrats can understand that! 

Of course, Democrats are supporting gay men who claim to "identify" as "women." But really, isn't that the dumbest thing that you've ever heard. Just because someone "identifies" as Black or Asian or a baby or 2,000 pounds doesn't make it so. People have to understand that things are what they are and people can't claim to be something they are not. 

If a person "identifies" as a Veteran, we ask for proof that they served in the military. If a person "identifies" as a Veteran and was never in the military, but still decides that he is going to wear a uniform with medals that he did not earn, we call that "Stolen Valor." People who were never in the military but claim to be Veterans are imposters, fakes, hoaxers, and frauds. 

So really, why would anyone accept a man as a women's champion swimmer if we know they are not a woman? In my opinion, claiming to "identify" as a woman for personal gains such as obtaining a national title is a criminal act. It is fraud. It is a wrongful act. It is criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain. 

And while Democrats don't seem to care that such fraud cheats those deserving woman who works so hard to compete against others on a level playing field, Democrats should not support criminal fraud and hoaxsters who claim to be something they are not. 

This brings me to the saddest thing that I've seen in recent years. That of a United States government official, a lady who is now a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, who can't answer the simple question "What is a woman?" Frankly, such an endless amount of stupid is beyond my understanding. 

And what's worse, the woman who could not define "what a woman is" now sits on the U.S. Supreme Court. She is the prime example of the modern Democrat Party and the reason we get authoritarian autocratic politicians like Joe Biden and Gavin Newsom who see themselves as rulers with total power and control over the people. 

It's the Biden and the Newsom supporters, those who see Democrats as doing no wrong, that have allowed the Democratic Party to wage a war against women recently. You don't think so? Well, it's Democrats today that support gay men stealing the thunder and the dignity that belongs to women. 

Gay men posing as "women" don't know the first thing about the challenges, the hard work, how it has been to fight the "Glass Ceiling," what the average woman has been through, or anything about being a woman. And frankly, I don't care if a gay man cuts off his penis, he will never know what it is to be born and evolve into a mature woman -- they never will.

I don't care if Democrats are too dumb to know what a woman is. I don't care if Democrats are so dumb that they accept the insanity that says, "A woman can be a man who defines himself as a woman." As crazy as it might sound to them, maybe some should educate themselves to understand that women are adult female human beings, they give and support life, and they should be respected and not cheapened by gay men in drag wanting to call themselves women. 

Why can't Democrats accept the fact that no matter how many surgeries a gay man goes through, and no matter how many hormones a gay man takes to try to be a female, gay men are not women? Why can't they accept the facts of life as it has been and stop catering to a Liberal voter base that's either mentally ill or too dumb to understand the facts of life?  

Of course, Democrats see nothing wrong with declaring a gay man in women's clothing "Woman of the Year." Jill Biden did just that. And yes, Democrats see nothing wrong with gay men who were failures competing against other men deciding to "redefine" themselves as women so that they can compete in Women's Sports. Democrats don't care about the unfairness of that. But then again, that shouldn't surprise anyone. After all, while Americans believe in fairness, the American notion of fairness is foreign to Democrats. 

Democrats totally dismiss the efforts and sacrifices made by women athletes -- all in the name of allowing gay men in Women's Sports. Why? Because Democrats don't care if a female athlete has worked all her life just to lose to a gay man who is biologically bigger and stronger. The examples of this taking place these days are numerous; swimming, golf, wrestling, boxing, MMA fighting, weight lifting, etc. All sports have recently seen "women's records" broken by gay men being allowed to "compete" against real women. As for the woman MMA fighter who fought against a gay man who "identified" as a woman, the real woman was almost killed. 

While there is no fairness in that, Democrats don't care about fairness as long as their political agenda of gay inclusion is implemented at all costs. That's what is most important to them -- no matter how detrimental their political agenda is to our society.

Of course, that's the reason that their agenda has to be stopped. And frankly, we can stop their agenda if we demonstrate that we are not afraid of them -- and because of that, we will refuse to play the Democrats' silly games of gay pronouns, political correctness, and their idea that we have to accept their sense of what the world should be like. 

I refuse to ignore the strides made by women. I don't like that Democrats are demeaning women everywhere by saying that all it takes to be a woman is to be a gay man in drag. And frankly, I refuse to play along with Democrats and accept their sick idea that a woman can be a gay man who simply wants to call himself "a woman." And yes, I've actually wondered if Democrats are intelligent enough to understand how they are humiliating women?

As for news outlets that refer to a gay man in women's clothing as a "trans woman"? They lose credibility right off for going along with the Left's politically correct speech and I refuse to watch them. 

As for television shows that try to portray gay men as real women? I don't like the way that demeans women, so I refuse to what those shows. 

As for some idiot in the Democrat Party who insists on calling some gay man a "trans" as if that was something real, and refers to him as "her," I refuse to condone that sort of stupidity. And yes, the same goes for "Woke" companies like Anheuser-Busch and others who are using gay men in drag to promote their products.

There is something inherently sick about having a gay man be the face of women's hygiene products, birth control, or women's clothing. As for the notion of using a gay man to advertise your beer? That's not smart since a lot of men see things the same as I do. And truthfully, I find the very sight of Drag Queens and gay men pretending to be women as absolutely repulsive.  

So yes, my reasons for refusing to go along with the Democrats and play their silly political games are very simple. Every time their news outlets, Democrat politicians, and "Woke" companies talk about, support, or use gay men in drag in the advertising, whether they know it or not, they are belittling and disparaging women. And clearly, it's just not right.

Now, before you write to say that I'm "homophobic," don't bother. The fact is that I don't have a "dislike of or prejudice against gay people." I don't care if someone is gay. That's just their preference and it means nothing to me. The preference of who someone wants to be with is not mine to dictate. As I said before, to be real honest, I don't care if people are gay. They are unimportant to me.

What is important is how Democrats are trying to force Americans to accept the unacceptable. And really, I don't like people telling me that I have to "accept" people or things that I see as having no redeeming qualities. And being even more honest, I vehemently dislike anyone demanding that I refer to gay men in drag as something that they are not -- and they are not women.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/240155758524704

Tom Correa

 

Almost 200,000 Antelope And Deer Dead From Winter Kill. Can We Foresee Such A Headline?

Story by Bill Sniffin

Published in Cowboy State Daily

April 15, 2023

 

Columnist Bill Sniffin writes: “What a sad time for those of us who love our wildlife. And that includes about 99 percent of the people who live in Wyoming.”
 

Wyoming’s wildlife is a great source of wealth for our state. We love our wild animals.

And boy, have they suffered this winter.

I have been fearing that Cowboy State Daily may soon publish a headline: “Almost 200,000 deer and antelope killed.” Our outdoors reporter Mark Heinz is not ready to write such a number. It is not an official estimate, but a number I’ve speculated.

Wildlife Worth The Watching

Back in my days as a member of the Wyoming Travel Commission board, we partnered with the Game and Fish Commission in an ad campaign called “Wildlife Worth The Watching.” Some research back in the 1990s showed that one of the main reasons tourists come to Wyoming is to see the wildlife.

When we first moved here over a half century ago, it was stunning to see the huge herds of antelope galloping across the vast fields of sagebrush.

No other state comes close in the lower 48 with the abundance of wildlife that can be seen here in the Cowboy State. We truly have what can be called America’s Serengeti. Much like Africa, we have vast herds of wildlife that travelers can see as they drive our 97,000 square miles of space.

Recent estimates pegged the number of pronghorn antelope in Wyoming to be about 450,000 and deer at about 380,000 (70,000 whitetail and 310,000 mule deer), prior to this die-off. Usually over 40,000 antelope are harvested by hunting. Just under 40,000 deer are killed during hunting seasons in the Cowboy State.

Now the survival of all those animal herds is in peril. I hope my predictions are not accurate. But it sure looks like this winter has just decimated the antelope herds and the herds of mule deer and whitetail deer.

Perhaps my estimate of winterkill is too high. What if the total is only 100,000? ONLY?

Stories emerging from Carbon, Sublette, Natrona, Sweetwater, Lincoln, and Fremont Counties tell horrible tales of piles of antelope carcasses. Seems the early snows that hung around all winter hardened so much that the lightweight animal just did not have the ability to break through to find something to eat. Because their digestive systems are so unique, there was no way to feed the endangered critters. Observers just had to stand by and watch them die.

The bitter cold and persistent winds hastened the demise of our prized animals.

Wyoming’s Pronghorn Antelope is the state’s most beautiful animal. It is so unique. And so fast. Its coloration perfectly matches Wyoming’s scenery. Who doesn’t treasure our herds of these amazing animals.

Gotta Love Those Muleys

However my favorite Wyoming animal is one that is pretty much unique to Wyoming – the mule deer. I can understand why there is a group called Muley Fanatics.

This homely bugger with the huge ears and the small brain, well, is just too darned entertaining not to love. We have had small herds of muleys in the yards of all our homes in Lander all these years. Yeah, they are dumb. Yeah, they are not so colorful, pretty much dull gray like a giant rat -- no big fluffy tail like whitetails or spectacular brown coat like antelope -- but, heck, they are ours.

Not only our antelope, but our mule deer have been decimated this winter.

The Game and Fish Commission is already cancelling many hunting seasons and curtailing a bunch of others. It’s good to see that a whole bunch of Wyoming hunters are voluntarily not seeking hunting licenses this year for many types of game. It is going to take several nice winters to get these herds built back up.

If we end up with more winters like 2022-2023 every so often, it may be nearly impossible to get them built back up to where they have been.

If some hunts are being held, it will be only for deer and antelope bucks. CSD Reporter Heinz reported on this: “Game and Fish Director Brian Nesvik during previous “town hall” meetings about the winterkill said that it’s vital to conserve female mule deer and antelope to replenish herds. Because a single buck can breed with multiple does during mating season, losing bucks – either to winterkill or hunters, has far less of a long-term effect on herds.

Seasons Curtailed Or Cancelled

“Doe and fawn tags for mule deer were rare to begin with, and they would largely be canceled altogether.

“In areas where hunters are allowed to shoot mule deer bucks three-point restrictions would be widely applied. That means hunters could legally kill only bucks that have at least three points on at least one side of their antlers.

“Youth deer hunts have in the past allowed hunters ages 12-17 to shoot mule deer does. Game and Fish is proposing to let them shoot only mule deer bucks, while still being allowed to shoot either buck or doe whitetail deer.”

This seems like a reasonable compromise although I would prefer to see mule deer seasons cancelled in most of west, central Wyoming. They need time to recover.

What a sad time for those of us who love our wildlife. And that includes about 99 percent of the people who live in Wyoming.

Thankfully, warm temperatures have returned and most of the snow has melted. There will be incredible amounts of vegetation this spring and summer. For those animals which somehow survived, there will be plenty of food to restore their good health.

And a healthy wildlife population is very good news for the Cowboy State.

-- end of Cowboy State Daily article.

Bill Sniffin, Wyoming Life Columnist, author, and journalist, writes about Wyoming life on Cowboy State Daily -- the state's most-read news publication. 

Bill Sniffin can be reached at Bill@CowboyStateDaily.com

More Than 18,000 Cows Dead After Dairy Fire Explosion In Texas Panhandle

A worker was critically injured and more than 18,000 cattle were killed in a massive explosion Monday at South Fork Dairy Farm in Dimmit, south of Amarillo. 

Credit: Courtesy of Castro County Sheriff's Office

Story by Jayme Lozano-Carver and Erin Douglas

The Texas Tribune

April 13, 2023

LUBBOCK, TEXAS — More than 18,000 cows died and one farm worker is in critical condition following a dairy farm fire in the Texas Panhandle.

The fire started Monday night at South Fork Dairy Farm in Dimmitt, about 66 miles south of Amarillo. The Castro County sheriff’s office, along with fire departments from Dimmitt, Hart, and Nazareth, were the first responders to the explosion in the small town of nearly 4,200, according to the sheriff’s office.

One person was trapped inside the dairy farm but was rescued by first responders, according to the sheriff’s office. They were later flown to a Lubbock hospital.

In 2019, Texas authorized the facility to more than double the number of cattle allowed on-site from 11,500 to up to 32,000, according to a permit with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The state also authorized the facility to increase its manure production by more than 50% in that expanded permit. Wastewater from the facility drains into the Brazos River Basin.

In a statement, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality spokesperson Victoria Cann said that the agency will ensure that dead livestock and debris are disposed of properly. She said the agency is not aware of any environmental impacts from the explosion.

Castro County is the second-highest milk-producing county in the state and has more than 59,361 cows. According to a United States Department of Agriculture report, the county produced more than 147 million pounds of milk in February.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller called the incident devastating but said he was grateful there were no further injuries to workers or loss of human life. He also called for the findings of the investigation to be made public once it is finished.

“This was the deadliest barn fire for cattle in Texas history and the investigation and cleanup may take some time,” Miller said. “There are lessons to be learned and the impact of this fire may influence the immediate area and the industry itself. Once we know the cause and the facts surrounding this tragedy, we will make sure the public is fully informed — so tragedies like this can be avoided in the future.”

The 18,000 cows killed represent just a fraction of the 625,000 dairy cows in Texas. Including beef cows, there are 13 million in the state, according to the Texas Almanac. Large amounts of cattle have died in Texas before. During Winter Storm Goliath in 2015, 35,000 cattle froze to death.

The state fire marshal’s office is conducting an investigation into the cause of the fire.

Disclosure: The Texas Association of Dairymen has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. 

-- end of The Texas Tribune article.

The Associate Press (AP) reported the fire that erupted on a family farm in West Texas on Monday at the South Fork Dairy near Dimmitt, Texas, killed about 18,000 cows that were worth millions of dollars.

USA Today reported, "Castro County Judge Mandy Gfeller, the top executive in the county, estimated South Fork Dairy's losses to be in the tens of millions of dollars. Each cow was worth about $2,000, and the 18,000 who were killed made up 90% of the farm's total herd."

One worker is reported critically injured after being rescued from being trapped inside the farm facility. According to the Castro County Sheriff's Office, no other employees were injured. The Sheriff's Office also said the explosion and fire were likely caused by overheated equipment and would be investigated by state fire marshals, according to the Associated Press.

According to KFDA, a CBS affiliate in Amarillo, Texas, "The fire is believed to have started in a different part of the dairy before spreading to a holding pen where the cows waited to be milked."

 

Castro County Sheriff's Office said, "There's some that survived, there's some that are probably injured to the point where they'll have to be destroyed."  The surviving cows were moved to a different facility on the South Fork farm.

CBS affiliate WCAX reported, "Cattle deaths from the South Fork fire far surpass the cow fatalities two years ago when an upstate New York farm fire claimed the lives of 400. That fire tore through two buildings at the Bubbins Farm in Beekmantown, New York, causing over $3 million in damage,  It took 19 fire departments — including one from Vermont and three from Canada — to contain the blaze."

Texas is America's fourth-largest milk producer, behind Idaho, Wisconsin, and California, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Texas produces more than 7 million tons of milk per year. Dimmitt, Texas, located in the Texas Panhandle, has a population of 4,171 according to the 2020 census. It sits about 50 miles Southwest of Amarillo and 50 miles East of the New Mexico border.

We should all pray for the man who is in the hospital, as well as pray that South Fork Dairy will recover from such a traumatic event.  

Tom Correa

The Mystery Of Killer James Dunham 1896

James C. Dunham was a mass murderer who killed his family and two of the hired help back on May 26, 1896. His crime is characterized as "Parricide." I have to admit that I had to look that up since I'd never heard of it before. 

One source defines "Parricide" as "the deliberate killing of one's own father and mother, spouse, children, and/or close relative. However, the term is sometimes used more generally to refer to the intentional killing of a near relative. It is an umbrella term that can be used to refer to acts of matricide and patricide."

As for James C. Dunham, his six victims were his wife, Hattie, 25, her mother, Ada McGlincy, 53, her stepfather, Richard P. McGlincy, 56, her brother, James K. Wells, 22, and two of the hired help, Robert Briscoe, 50, and Minnie Shesler, 28. And no, I cannot imagine what that crime scene must have looked like. While Dunham strangled his wife, he shot her mother, her stepfather, her brother, and two of the hired help with a .38 caliber revolver and a .45 caliber pistol before resorting to using an axe.

Newspapers in 1896 called it "The McGlincy Killing" because one of the victims was Colonel Richard P. McGlincy. He was the killer's stepfather-in-law and one of the town's most respected citizens. For the town of Campbell, in Santa Clara County, California, it was a horror that no one could imagine. 

When the Santa Clara County Sheriff was called to the scene a few miles outside of San Jose on the morning of May 27, 1896, they found Col. McGlincy, three of his family members, a domestic worker, and a ranch hand brutally murdered. While the killer's motive has remained a mystery for well over a hundred years, the identification of the killer was known immediately. 

In fact, a Coroner's jury which investigated the murders took only two days to declare the deaths were committed by ''one James C. Dunham, with malice aforethought.''  

As for the killer's whereabouts, there were multiple reports of James Dunham, Col McGlincy's stepson-in-law, seen on horseback escaping into the hills. Of course, besides the mystery of his motive, something that will forever surround what took place, it's said there's also the mystery of why he spared his infant son's life that day. The boy was only 3 weeks old and was found near his wife's body. 

As for the boy, it is said that he was adopted by relatives in San Francisco and given a new name. It is also said that he later inherited his grandmother's estate. As for his father, it was better for the boy that his father never tried to contact his son.

And as for the killer, I'd like to say he was hunted down and tried and hanged. But I can't because this is one of those stories that have the bad guy, the person doing evil, actually never being made to pay for what he did. It's true. We will never know what sort of evil possessed James Dunham to kill his family because though seen on a horse heading into the hills, there is still the mystery of what happened to Dunham. The fact is that he vanished. He was never apprehended, tried, or made to answer for what he did. 

So now, what would bring a person to kill his or her entire family and a couple of hired help? Well, gossip swirled around the small farming community. And yes, there were all sorts of speculation over what triggered him to do such a thing. But really, no one will ever know Dunham's motives. 

And no, not even what was called the most extensive manhunt in the history of Santa Clara County, California, ever paid off. And even though he was well-known in the community, he escaped and was never found. Actually, as large as the posse was that went after him, the only thing they found was the horse that he used -- but no Dunham.

There are some who say he committed suicide. Others say he starved to death. I read an article that tried to say he became a "madman" that stalked those who traveled alone at night in that area. But, even later after people were trying to say that they found his bones -- bones that turned out to be that of a dead cow -- no one knows what ever happened to him. So who knows, maybe one day someone will find his remains. After all, stranger things have happened.

Tom Correa

Dying By The Thousands: Miles Of Death As Wyoming Antelope, Deer And Elk Die From Winter Starvation

CowboyStateDaily.com

Story by Mark Heinz

Cowboy State Daily Outdoors Reporter
Mark@CowboyStateDaily.com
Published on March 29, 2023

The wildlife winter kill in southcentral Wyoming is the worst anybody there can remember, some locals are saying.

“It goes on for miles: dead animal after dead animal after dead animal,” state Sen. Larry Hicks, R-Baggs told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday. “The antelope are dying by the thousands. Starvation is an ugly thing.”

Outfitter and pilot Bo Stacks said that at higher elevations, he’s seen even hardy bull elk struggling to survive.

“Usually the elk are pretty tough and don’t have much die-off,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “There’s still 4 feet of snow on the high ridges. When I fly over, they don’t even look up because they’re so weak. They don’t even do anything.”

Wildlife officials recently predicted that as many as half of the pronghorn (antelope) in parts of Wyoming could die this winter, along with similar numbers of deer.

Hicks and Stacks said it’s going to be much worse than that.

“Our mule deer are probably going to have 50% mortality,” Hicks said. “We’re probably going to be pushing 70-80% of our antelope population that will die this winter.”

That means that 10,000 antelope or more could starve or freeze to death in just the area around Baggs, Dixon and Wamsutter, Hicks said.

 

During a typical winter, much of the ground around High Savery Reservoir in southcentral Wyoming is bare, providing food and shelter for big game herds. But now “nearly 100% snow coverage” is killing elk, deer and antelope, pilot and hunting guide Bo Stocks said. (Photo Courtesy Bo Stocks)

Hunting Could Be Shut Down

It’s bad enough that Stacks – who outfits and guides elk, deer, antelope, black bear and mountain lion hunts – plans to significantly scale back his business this fall.

“I’ve completely shut down all of my antelope and all of my deer hunts this year,” he said, and is considering shutting down some future seasons as well.

Hicks said the region has offered some of Wyoming’s best deer hunting, and some of the best antelope hunting in the nation.

“It will probably take six to 10 years, at least, for these herds to recover,” he said, adding that there will probably be a push to shut down hunting seasons entirely in some areas of Wyoming this fall.

Even Worse Than 1949

Stacks said he’s regularly flown small airplanes over the area since 2002, and the conditions for large game animals are “by far the worst I’ve ever seen it.”

Usually, the snow is sparce enough and the winds strong enough to leave significant bare patches for animals to find food and shelter, he said. That’s not happening this winter.

“We’ve got 100% snow coverage” for as far as the eye can see in nearly every direction, he said.

In what few dry patches that remain, “there are bull elk scattered up there by themselves, and they’re starting to die,” he said.

“I have a cabin up by High Savery Reservoir, and usually by the first of April I’m able to drive in there,” he added. “I might have to put tire chains on and blow through some drifts, but I’ve always been able to get in there. Not this year. The snow is still up over the tops of the fences.”

The bleak feeding conditions are as bad as any of the locals can remember, Hicks said. Even old timers who lived through the legendary winter of 1949 have told him what they’re seeing now is worse.

“We got heavy snow early on, then some rain on top of it,” Hicks said. “Then we got those sub-zero temperatures that froze everything up solid, and even more snow.

“The animals just can’t move or paw their way down through the snow to get food anymore.”

  Antelope in southcentral Wyoming are dying in large groups from lack of food this winter. (Photo Courtesy Larry Hicks)

Trapped

With all of that snow, much of it set as hard as cement, game herds are simply out of places to go to find food, Hicks said.

“They’re trapped. They can’t migrate anymore. And even if they could, I’m not sure where they could go,” he said. “They’re stuck in the same small dry patches where they’ve been for three weeks. They’ve eaten all the juniper trees. Even the sagebrush is gone in some places. They’re down to eating wood and dirt.”

Hicks said he’s watched the tragedy play out in real time along what county roads are still passable.

“Every night you go out and you can see how badly the antelope are doing and you think, ‘Well, by morning, these three will be dead, and those five over there will be dead too,’” he said. “They’re just laying down in groups and dying.”

Many of the dying animals are pregnant does, “which means we’re also losing an entire fawn crop,” Hicks added.

Things will likely get worse before they get better, Hicks and Stocks said.

“Usually March and April are the worst times for snow and die-off,” Stocks said, and mass winter kill started in January this year.

“Winter is showing no signs of giving up,” Hicks said. “It’s supposed to snow over the next couple of days. Our snow is still piling up.”

***For All Things Wyoming, Sign-Up For Our Daily Newsletter***