WY Elk good or bad?

[NDHunter]

So I just read Guy's "what really happened in the Wyoming big game draw" article and am now confused as hell about what he thinks about elk numbers in WY right now. In the WY MRS he wrote in the very first sentence "The general outlook for elk hunting in Wyoming is very good right now." In the article he just wrote, he said WY has "an elk herd that has suffered one of the most drastic declines in modern history." IKIC or Scott, thoughts?

 

[Hilltop]

I'll take a stab at it. Overall elk herd numbers are down mainly due to the rapid decline in the north western part of the state. Most of the rest of the state is doing well and the outlook for this season is very good due to favorable conditions leading to great horn growth.

 

[ScottR]

So I just read Guy's "what really happened in the Wyoming big game draw" article and am now confused as hell about what he thinks about elk numbers in WY right now. In the WY MRS he wrote in the very first sentence "The general outlook for elk hunting in Wyoming is very good right now." In the article he just wrote, he said WY has "an elk herd that has suffered one of the most drastic declines in modern history." IKIC or Scott, thoughts?

I don't want to put words in Guy's mouth, but I will answer as best I can. I will see if he has time to answer, but no promises.

The elk herds in NW Wyoming have been in a major decline since the introduction of the wolf, add in Grizzly bears that eat a LOT of calves in the spring and you have what we saw with the population decline.

However, in recent years we have seen the population level out and in some areas climb in NW Wyoming. So, as stated in the MRS the outlook for 2015 is is much better than it has been in year's past.

On the flip side though, we aren't nearly where we were in some of the Golden days of yesteryear in this region. This is the region that has produced the majority of the B&C heads in Wyoming, so when speaking to trophy potential and genetics this is a big deal.

Put it in perspective with the whole state where the population overall is doing well and that is how you can end up with a mixed bag so to speak.

 

[ScottR]

I'll take a stab at it. Overall elk herd numbers are down mainly due to the rapid decline in the north western part of the state. Most of the rest of the state is doing well and the outlook for this season is very good due to favorable conditions leading to great horn growth.

Bingo, there you have it.

 

[NDHunter]

Here's what Guy said about the NW region of WY in the MRS: "This country can be a good place for a backcountry hunter to find a nice six-point bull with a very easy to draw general tag" and "Most of the areas in this region continue to be over objective when it comes to elk numbers." I understand that the wolves and bears have been tough on the populations but that to me sounds like the herds have recovered a lot???

He also said in the MRS that "the elk hunting in Wyoming is just about as good as it gets right now. The state is literally riding on a 20-year high when it comes to elk hunting quality and opportunity."

To me, that doesn't like the state overall has "suffered one of the most drastic declines in modern history."

 

[highplainsdrifter]

I spent quite a bit of time bear hunting in SE Wyoming this spring. The elk numbers were very good!

 

[WY ME]

Here's what Guy said about the NW region of WY in the MRS: "This country can be a good place for a backcountry hunter to find a nice six-point bull with a very easy to draw general tag" and "Most of the areas in this region continue to be over objective when it comes to elk numbers." I understand that the wolves and bears have been tough on the populations but that to me sounds like the herds have recovered a lot???

He also said in the MRS that "the elk hunting in Wyoming is just about as good as it gets right now. The state is literally riding on a 20-year high when it comes to elk hunting quality and opportunity."

To me, that doesn't like the state overall has "suffered one of the most drastic declines in modern history."

The largest concentration of elk in N. America, the Jackson Hole elk herd, has suffered and continues to suffer from the onslaught of wolves. Simple total population numbers/objectives don't reflect the current problems these elk are enduring. Calf/cow ratios are all screwed up. Elk populations are dwindling in the wilderness areas north of Jackson and in Yellowstone while elk herds are growing in private unhuntable areas. This article in yesterday's JH News and Guide sheds some light on the situation. According to this article the elk herds up north have declined by 75%! http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/environmental/elk-sticking-closer-to-town/article_792f864f-2ff4-5ef7-8c88-76414bbb2863.html

 

[shootbrownelk]

The largest concentration of elk in N. America, the Jackson Hole elk herd, has suffered and continues to suffer from the onslaught of wolves. Simple total population numbers/objectives don't reflect the current problems these elk are enduring. Calf/cow ratios are all screwed up. Elk populations are dwindling in the wilderness areas north of Jackson and in Yellowstone while elk herds are growing in private unhuntable areas. This article in yesterday's JH News and Guide sheds some light on the situation. According to this article the elk herds up north have declined by 75%! http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/environmental/elk-sticking-closer-to-town/article_792f864f-2ff4-5ef7-8c88-76414bbb2863.html

Good article, I used to hunt Teton Park before the wolves. It was great hunting. I remember park rangers putting fliers under your trucks wiper blades pleading with hunters to shoot cows. You sure don't see that anymore. Elk numbers have plummeted in western Wyoming.

 

[mntnguide]

The elk herd in grand teton park is well over objective. ..they can't kill the number of cows the biologists want each year. . It's a bad situation. ..that hunt is a royal sh&* show. To many lazy hunters make bad choices that get documented by animal lover photographers. .not gonna use the name of one in particular. ..who then get put front page of the paper and make a terrible name for the actual fair chase hunting community.

 

[WY ME]

The elk herd in grand teton park is well over objective. ..they can't kill the number of cows the biologists want each year. . It's a bad situation. ..that hunt is a royal sh&* show.

Teton Park is one of the local areas that I was referring to when I said that population numbers/objectives don't reflect the problems the elk are facing. . Teton Park has closed the any elk hunt because they said the bull-to-cow ratio was too low. Later the Park shut down the river bottom to hunting because some hunters dared to defend themselves and shot a grizzly that was charging them. That makes it more difficult for the GTNP elk to be thinned down. The total number of elk on the valley may be at the WG&F objectives but their distribution and calf recruitment numbers are a mess. Elk wintering on the refuge are up due to the resident elk from local subdivisions, Teton Park elk herds as well as the Gros Ventre elk bailing off the state feed grounds due to wolf pressure up there. The feed grounds up the Gros Ventre were at 1/3 of their objectives last winter.

 

[mntnguide]

I agree with your whole statement. .it's unfortunate how ugly the park hunt can make hunters look and of course the news and guide twists it to however mangelsen wants them too...i was around the area that the grizzly charge happened that day. ..ridiculous how the media twisted it. ..i don't necessarily disagree with the riverbottom law, but i hate how it got brought about

 

[480/277]

A shame what has happened to Jackson Hole.

Luckily I visited the area before real cowboys could not afford to live there anymore and the wolves moved in.


Just a sin and a shame all the way around

 

[WY ME]

I've never hunted that area myself but the river bottom looked to be the best place to not get shot. I've heard plenty of stories about the bullets crisscrossing up in the hayfields.

 

[shootbrownelk]

Mntnguide, I should have worded it differently. The opportunity to shoot a bull in Teton park has plummeted. Elk numbers are down in the migrating Yellowstone herd...way down. Wolves and bears are the main cause. Info courtesy of a G&F warden.

 

[mntnguide]

I definitely agree...i was meaning the grand teton herd is growing because the migrating elk aren't leaving anymore. ..the herd as a whole has declined drastically in the past 10 years for sure. ..i believe the southern Yellowstone herd used to be around 16,000 in the 90s, and now sits around 3,000 roughly....

 

[WY ME]

All of this mess has convinced me that the endangered species act is flawed and needs to be replaced or rewritten.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

As it pertains to wolf being introduced into Yellowstone NP, ESA is a sham! Notice I said introduced, as the wolves that were turned loose there were Canadian/Alaskan Grey Wolves, which are not anywhere near endangered. The extinct Timber Wolf was native to the Rockies, not the wolves that were turned loose. I have talked to my Congressman and asked him to look into misuse of ESA by the Department of Interior....which will never happen. IMHO it is criminal that this happened!

 

[ScottR]

All of this mess has convinced me that the endangered species act is flawed and needs to be replaced or rewritten.

Look at the YouTube video that Wyoming put together on what is being done here to prevent a listing. Good example of a cooperative effort to prevent a listing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WY ME]

Look at the YouTube video that Wyoming put together on what is being done here to prevent a listing. Good example of a cooperative effort to prevent a listing.

Do you have a link to that video?

 

[libidilatimmy]

I elk hunted there the first 3 years I was old enough to hunt big game, and actually took my first elk on the river bottom when I was 14. Drew the bull tag the second year, but it was a mild fall and they didn't migrate down in time. The third year, my brother and I shot two cows on opening morning (my brothers first elk as well) at first light on the hay fields out of a herd. We were the first ones to shoot and what happened in the aftermath was completely despicable. People shooting from all angles towards each other, causing us to take refuge in some trees. Two guys jumped out of a truck from the road and started running out towards our downed cows with a knife and tag in hand. It's very easy to see how hunters, and the Park Rangers for that matter, get painted in a poor light in the Jackson area from this hunt through my experiences.