SAJ-99
Well-known member
When Montana was settled, people staked out the valleys where they could raise cattle because that is where the grass was. Those valleys were historic wintering areas for the mountain elk. Landowners don't have to create a sanctuary, those areas have been sanctuaries for thousands of years. Improving access to these valleys is a great goal for hunters, but you will probably get an increase in harvest coupled with higher stress on the elk because they are forced out of prime feeding areas which probably equals lower recruitment rate. As they say, be careful what you wish for. There are always unintended consequences. It would require even more site specific management by FWP, like closing hunting in the Paradise valley when Yellowstone's northern herd is forced out of the park.