In respect to your comments on archery season. I completely agree in not only cutting the season length, but also the number of tags. Archers wound elk at much higher rates than gun hunters and as such shouldn't get preferential treatment.
I think one would see a huge improvement if we cut NR tags by 2/3rds or better and for a variety of reasons.
And I will say it again. The days of Nr's hunting all over the west is coming to a close.
A quick Google search will conform what I have said.
Bait fish (alewives) collapse caused by zebra and quaga muscles was the cause in the case of lake Huron. With lake Michigan it was disease and bait fish collapse.
I was out in Northern yellowstone County thenother day and it's scarry dry. Starting to see wind generated soil erosion in spots that were grazed hard last year.
The science in regards to waterfowl ingesting lead shot are pretty mature. You can argue what effect this has, but not the ingestion. I wonder how many game birds are wounded annually do to steel shot usage vs. lead. Although steel shot has gotten much better since when I first used it 33...
Elk and especially moose thrive in early stage growth conditions caused by clear cut logging. Bison could thrive many places if not for politics.
We can and did change the environment to produce more ungulates and this isn't disputable. It's also not disputable that most of the wilderness areas...