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Unlimited Wyoming Elk Tags
By Todd Helms
Source Link:
Wyoming has too many elk! Vs. Wyoming has very few elk left!
How can these two statements be reconciled and if there is such a disparity, which there in fact is, how can the state justify “unlimited cow/calf elk tags”?
Well, the answer is pretty simple. In the areas where wolves and grizzly bears live in abundance elk herds have been and continue to suffer. This is mostly in Wyoming’s northwest. In eastern Wyoming, where there are no wolves or grizzlies and vast swaths of private land, elk are and have been thriving. This conundrum has left the Wyoming Game and Fish Department scrambling to find balance between providing an elk-hungry public with hunting opportunities and livestock producers with relief from large herds of elk overgrazing their pastures and destroying expensive fencing.
In a move to find balance the Wyoming legislature and WYGFD have implemented “unlimited” cow/calf tags for the over-objective elk areas of 3, 6, 7, 8, 117, 122 and 126. The problem of achieving a balanced elk herd in these areas lies in the fact that they are largely made up of private lands which serve as elk refuges for most of the year. Unlimited cow/calf elk tags sound like a great idea at first blush but unless landowners are willing to open up access to the elk there will likely be little effect on those elk herds.
I honestly see both sides of this problem. As an elk hunter I’d love more access to elk. However, public access to private lands is disappearing, thanks in large part to landowners who are fed up with the antics of unethical hunters who don’t follow “ranch rules” and ruin opportunities for those of us who do.
There is an elk area close to my home, my favorite to hunt when I can draw it, where a large swatch of private land will be closed to motorized travel this year, effectively eliminating access to anyone without horses, thanks to the actions of shortsighted hunters who destroyed roads and landscapes during the wet weather month of October. We have to do better!
BUT… so does Wyoming Game and Fish… this problem could have been avoided by appointing a technician, living on site, to close wet/muddy roads temporarily when needed. I realize that this can be a workload/manpower issue but if landowners are willing to enroll in a public access program and allow public hunting then that has to be treated as a privilege and not a right by both the public and the managing agency.
Now for the problem of too many elk in eastern Wyoming. If you follow the link in the “Source Link” above you’ll be redirected to an article by Mike Koshmrl of WyoFile. If you scroll down to the comments, pop some popcorn first, you’ll read a wide array of emotional vitriol from many perspectives. Everything from blaming Wyoming’s wolf management plan and the greed of ranchers to folks more than willing to help by hunting those over-objective elk but not knowing where to start. It is vexing, entertaining and thought provoking all at the same time.
I’ll spare you an opinionated rant, rare I know, as I’ve already made that plain in previous blogs. I will say again that unless private landowners are willing to open their property to elk hunters willing to follow rules and harvest elk there should be no compensation given for elk depredation.
As for Wyoming’s Wolf Management Plan? Wyoming’s overpopulation of elk is not a result of a lack of wolves in those areas, it’s a hunting access issue, period.
Finally, for the folks in the comments wanting to come hunt with an unlimited elk tag but don’t know where to start, we here at Eastmans’ will gladly point you in the right direction and arm you with the information you need to have a shot at filling your freezer with elk meat; email [email protected] for more information or visit www.eastmans.com and reach out there as well.
The Wyoming Game and Fish website also has information on public access in those areas and can point you in the right direction via a simple phone call to the offices in the affected areas mentioned above.
One thing is for sure… there has never been a better time to hunt elk in Wyoming. Success may take more homework than it did in the past but Wyoming’s burgeoning elk numbers provide lots of opportunities for those willing to do some digging.
As always I’d love to hear your opinion on this in the comment section.
Good morning, Todd, I too share your opinion that it’s an access issue and unless that changes, Elk herds will continue to amass in Eastern Wyoming.
Earlier this year, I attended the local WG&F meeting, and in attendance were Brian Olson, Matt Hahn, Rep. Allen Slagle, WG&F Commission President Richard Ladwig along with our Sheriff Randy Starkey, a couple Game Wardens (we currently are without one here in Lusk), and several citizens including ranch owners. I’m afraid I didn’t make many friends when I disagreed with the suggestion by the ranchers that they just receive landowner permits for them to use or allocate. I mentioned that the failure of Ranching for Wildlife in Colorado ended up only benefitting the rich who could afford to pay high prices for the landowner tags.
Ultimately unless the landowners allow access to hunt the Elk herds, nothing will change to correct the overload of elk on these lands. I hold little hope this will work as one rancher openly stated he loved the Elk and closed his ranch to everyone so they wouldn’t be hunted! That attitude reminds me of the old mindset in Michigan many years ago where people would apply for the limited Antlerless tags to prevent a hunter from getting it to shoot a Doe! Their misguided ideals didn’t account for sound biological management of the overall herd health.
Enjoy your day up there!
Keith