CHEYENNE - The end of this month is the deadline for Wyoming hunters to submit applications for limited-quota deer, elk and antelope licenses, and game managers say conditions around the state point to ample game populations for hunting this year.

"Elk are probably at an all-time high historically," said Bill Rudd, assistant chief for of the wildlife division for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in Cheyenne. He said the elk population hasn't increased a lot since last year, but said the department is continuing to offer liberal seasons.

Northeast Wyoming is seeing good numbers of deer and antelope, Rudd said.

"Generally we're going to see increased opportunity for hunters for antelope in the state of Wyoming," Rudd said. "We've increased the number of doe/fawn licenses by almost 5,000 statewide, and licenses for general hunting, which allows people to take a buck, are up 2,000."

Wyoming sold about 50,000 antelope licenses, 85,000 deer licenses and 55,000 licenses for elk last year, Rudd said. The deadline for state residents to apply for this year's round of limited antelope, deer and elk licenses is 5 p.m. May 31.

But while deer numbers are up in eastern Wyoming, Rudd said the mule deer herd in the Wyoming Range remains far below the department's objectives. The herd, which ranges from the Jackson area south as far as Evanston, is now estimated at 27,000 animals, just over half the department's objective of 50,000.

"I think it's probably a function of several factors working on that herd," Rudd said. He said the department has documented a significant drop on the deer population that winters on the Pinedale Anticline, which has seen significant natural gas development.

Bob Lanka, regional education information supervisor for the Game and Fish Department in Laramie, said it appears that elk in the region survived the winter very well, despite five or six weeks of bitter cold.

"Our information, as best I know it, doesn't indicate that we had any increased mortality for elk over the winter," Lanka said. "Elk hunting is, we're thinking, going to be very, very good this year."

However, Lanka said elk hunters need to be aware that some southeastern hunt areas offer more difficult terrain and some areas have limited access. In the Iron Mountain and Laramie Peak areas in particular, he said, hunters should make sure they have places to hunt before they apply for permits.

In the Sierra Madres, Lanka said, the elk numbers are also looking very good. "Seasons there are designed to hopefully reduce the number of elk in the herd after the hunting season, so that we can get closer to the objective," he said.

Warren Mischke is the information and education specialist for the department's Sheridan Region, which extends east as far as Moorcroft and south to Kaycee. He said elk populations on the eastern side of the Big Horns are at or above population objectives, but said hunters face difficult access issues there as well.

"A big part of our population is on private land, so we recommend that people get permission before applying for any of these areas," Mischke said. He said the department maintains a list of landowners who have allowed hunter access in the past, usually for a fee, for people who want to hunt in the area.

Dennie Hammer, a Game and Fish spokesman in Cody, said elk numbers are doing well around the Big Horn Basin as well.

"Most of the areas around here had a fairly mild winter again," Hammer said. "We're starting to see a pretty good green-up."

Wyoming's ongoing drought appears to be taking a toll on deer populations and habitat in some areas, officials said.

"With the drought that we've had for the last decade and a half now, we're very concerned about the effects of drought on the habitat, and the number of mule deer and pronghorn on the habitat," Lanka said.

Hammer said deer in the area appear to be doing well despite the area's ongoing drought. Although the winter was mild, he said the amount of new growth on the shrubs that deer rely on for food hasn't been very good. Nonetheless, he said, "we're seeing the number of bucks increasing."