ELK

K

kraigwy

New member
Might have to change my elk hunting plans next seasol and hunt closer to home.

http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/ge...cle_66a190cb-1c0d-5510-a233-030c787169bd.html

Jewel cave is just east of me, I live on the Wyoming - South Dakota border right where these elk are located. Or at the foot of the (Black Hills) Elk Mountain.

If you chase the elk out of Wind Cave National Park onto National Forest land(they are getting too many in the park), this is the area they'll come to, lots of burned area with new grass that they are talking about in the article.

I've been know to shoot deer and turkeys in my yard, might as well hunt elk from the back porch.
 
When they are bunched up like that, it can be very tough hunting. It means all the other areas have very few elk. If you don't find the herd, you see very few or no elk when hunting. Usually, a herd like that ends up hanging out in a sanctuary area (private land) during hunting season. I'd much rather have the animals spread out.
 
Utah hasn't announced it publicly yet (that I know of), but they've been discussing an Elk "surplus" on the South Slope of the Uintah Mountains during their normal wildlife meetings with the Indian Reservations in the area. They're saying we have 1,800 more Elk than the land can carry - primarily pregnant cows. However, that land has already carried those animals through 3 tough years, without a problem.

Right now, all signs are pointing to the same things they've done in the past...
Extra tags for the Reservations, an early (August) rifle Bull season, hundreds of extra tags for all of the Cow seasons, extra tags for the General Bull season, an extended 'late' season, and, of course, Fish and Game will head up into the hills in January to knock over some of the left overs (since previous efforts to cut their numbers have failed).
:eek:

Instead of being happy that the Elk are doing well in a particular area, they will most likely choose to slaughter the 'excess'. :(
 
Neat picture.

Frank, Utah is well know to have the worst fish cops on the planet.
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It isn't their fault. It's the way they're micro-managed by the Division and shifted all over the state to unfamiliar territory during popular hunting seasons, that causes the problems. Most of them are good people. They're just stuck in a bad situation with too many supervisors breathing down their necks, and too many bureaucrats with almost direct control of their enforcement methods.


I have always heard that Wyoming's are the worst. (Seriously)
My experience differs, but that's what everyone tells me. ;)
 
I have always heard that Wyoming's are the worst. (Seriously)
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Never had any problems with fish cops anywhere.................maybe its because I'm legal.

Almost got caught fishing one time. I was loading my canoe in the water when a fish cop noticed I had two floation devices (one or each wife and I) but they were cushions, not the put on kind.

The game warden tells me I had to have the wearing type, but instead of making me go home he pulled two out of his truck and loaned them to us.

I wouldn't call this Wyoming Fish Cop the "worst".
 
I've never had an actual problem with fish cops (I know a couple pretty well), I just meant that Utah's wildlife management is terrible.

Around here the warden is in charge of the wildlife management.
 
I've never had an actual problem with fish cops (I know a couple pretty well), I just meant that Utah's wildlife management is terrible.
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Indeed, it is.

Most of us feel that the biggest problem isn't even the bureaucrats, but the outside (for-profit) influences that have become bedfellows with the DNR.
SFW, is viewed as one of the biggest offenders, by most people that understand what's going on. (The other BS of the Sportsmen's Expo isn't far behind. ...but that's a can of worms, unto itself.)
 
Wow I haven't (in 38 years of hunting and fishing) a bad thing to even complain about MDC, they have a proven track record, that is nationally recognized as one of if not the best conservation programs in the lower 48.... knock on wood.....:rolleyes:;)
 
If I ever get the oppurtunity, I'd like to hunt Elk in New Mexico, from all the shows and videos I've seen they grow upright down there.:D
 
While hiking in the Rockies...I looked up one morning after crawling out of my tent and there was an elk standing on top of the continental divide trail. Probably around 12,000 feet if I recall maybe a little less. Pretty awesome experience.
 
kraig,after I left your CMP shoot I just drove around a while,then took a nap in a burn area in SD.Wind started blowing,tall black trees started moving around.I decided to leave.That is quite the herd.
 
I do hope you get to hunt from home this year.


It looks like Utah's hunt will be a mixed-bag.
Some areas are seeing declining numbers again, while other areas have recommendations for as many as 3,000 more tags (primarily cows, to bring the numbers down). However, most of the areas that will have more tags available are being referenced by the Wildlife Board with statements along the lines of:
"Numbers on the unit are over quota and continue to trend upward, but increased tag numbers have been ineffective at controlling population numbers. Difficult hunting and low success rates...."

Followed by recommendations of additional late hunts to: "...get hunters to kill and harass as many Elk as possible during peak predation season."
They simply want the Elk dead - whether it's caused by hunters, or predators. :(

In certain areas of the state, they're even recommending total annihilation of particular Elk or Antelope herds, because they don't want them in the area, at all.

It's difficult for me to wrap my head around...
We should be happy about the higher numbers, and animals moving into new territory - just as Wyoming is happy to see the increased numbers in some areas. But, Utah sees healthy big game herds as a pest control problem, instead. :rolleyes:
 
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