Habitat improved? Kill more cows!

[R.K.]

Elk population surges south of Red Lodge following 2021 Robertson Draw fire

“We've seen it happen over and over again,” Stewart said. “These elk have been figuring this stuff out for several thousand years. I guess practice makes perfect.”

billingsgazette.com

A big damn fire, started through negligence, burned 30,000 acres. Silver lining, is that the habitat improved for elk. In response to the greenup, elk moved in- mostly from Wyoming. Objective in the unit is 200 elk, and now they have 600.

I’ve rewritten this twice now, trying to get away from just complaining. In that spirit, I’ll ask the question- if the public land habitat has changed and can support more elk, how do we update the objective to allow more elk to live there?

FWP has the flexibility to increase the bull tags and cow tags in response to the elk utilizing the habitat- and they have- but why not increase the objective to reflect the change?

How do we get more elk on that mountain and keep them there long-term?

 

[BRI]

How do we get more elk on that mountain and keep them there long-term?

Limit the amount of tags and number of people hunting them would be a good start. If it's a free for all, those elk won't be there very long.

 

[R.K.]

Limit the amount of tags and number of people hunting them would be a good start. If it's a free for all, those elk won't be there very long.

It is limited- draw unit. My question was more along the lines of how do we grow the elk herd? The habitat is there, but it appears the wildlife management doesn’t want to allow the herd to increase in size. So how do we do that?

 

[DFS]

It is limited- draw unit. My question was more along the lines of how do we grow the elk herd? The habitat is there, but it appears the wildlife management doesn’t want to allow the herd to increase in size. So how do we do that?

The new EMP was just put in place along with updated objectives. I’m guessing it would be hard to adjust them now.

 

[BRI]

It is limited- draw unit. My question was more along the lines of how do we grow the elk herd? The habitat is there, but it appears the wildlife management doesn’t want to allow the herd to increase in size. So how do we do that?

"The area is largely a desert environment used for cattle grazing, the elk plan noted. Sunlight Ranch Co. is the largest private landowner in the area. The ranch is owned by the Holding family. Earl Holding, who died in 2013, was the CEO of Sinclair oil company."

"Cebull also owns 5,000 acres of ranchland in the area as well as 15,000 acres of BLM grazing leases as part of his Grove Creek Ranch."

Easy to see why they dont want the herd to increase. More elk mean more potential landowner complaints. FWP and commission will listen to landowners over hunters every time. Sounds like they issued more tags too. My opinion, I predict it'll be just like most units, they'll increase pressure on the accessible animals moving them to inaccessible lands.

 

[bigsky2]

I don’t know that it would even matter if the objectives allowed for more elk. Based on their decisions at the last meeting, it seems like the commission has little desire to adhere to what’s in the new EMP.

 

[Ought Six]

I heard there were 12 collared grizzlies around that end of the mountain, think that’s true?

 

[SAJ-99]

"The area is largely a desert environment used for cattle grazing, the elk plan noted. Sunlight Ranch Co. is the largest private landowner in the area. The ranch is owned by the Holding family. Earl Holding, who died in 2013, was the CEO of Sinclair oil company."

"Cebull also owns 5,000 acres of ranchland in the area as well as 15,000 acres of BLM grazing leases as part of his Grove Creek Ranch."

Easy to see why they dont want the herd to increase. More elk mean more potential landowner complaints. FWP and commission will listen to landowners over hunters every time. Sounds like they issued more tags too. My opinion, I predict it'll be just like most units, they'll increase pressure on the accessible animals moving them to inaccessible lands.

Below is the justification when they combined units to create 555. They know elk move. The Bio admitted it in the article. The "surge" is only for that area because of improved feed conditions from the burn. Cebull is basically saying "shoot them before they go back to WY". Having a ranch there might have something to do with it. It certainly doesn't look good, but not unexpected from him.

I agree with the hunter that commented in the article. That is a tough area to access. Lots of corners to cross LOL. I would guess that Robertson Draw trailhead is going to be busy after this article.

 

[Ought Six]

"The area is largely a desert environment used for cattle grazing, the elk plan noted. Sunlight Ranch Co. is the largest private landowner in the area. The ranch is owned by the Holding family. Earl Holding, who died in 2013, was the CEO of Sinclair oil company."

"Cebull also owns 5,000 acres of ranchland in the area as well as 15,000 acres of BLM grazing leases as part of his Grove Creek Ranch."

Easy to see why they dont want the herd to increase. More elk mean more potential landowner complaints. FWP and commission will listen to landowners over hunters every time. Sounds like they issued more tags too. My opinion, I predict it'll be just like most units, they'll increase pressure on the accessible animals moving them to inaccessible lands.

Maybe. You don’t think Cebull hunts elk and wants to see more elk in the area/on his place?

 

[BRI]

Maybe. You don’t think Cebull hunts elk and wants to see more elk in the area/on his place?

Know nothing about him, his ranch, or the area in question. Perhaps he knows increasing tags and pressure will likely result in more elk on his ranch.

 

[The Hedgehog]

I hope this thread and the gazette article sucks in a lot of MT resident bull elk applicants to that area. There's some huge ones there. More people should apply. These kinds of threads work.

 

[FREAK]

I hope this thread and the gazette article sucks in a lot of MT resident bull elk applicants to that area. There's some huge ones there. More people should apply. These kinds of threads work.

There's grizz all over that country...I hate these articles

 

[mtmuley]

There's grizz all over that country...I hate these articles

I can't wait until there are more grizzly bears where I am. Keep some people out maybe. mtmuley

 

[easternmt]

It is limited- draw unit. My question was more along the lines of how do we grow the elk herd? The habitat is there, but it appears the wildlife management doesn’t want to allow the herd to increase in size. So how do we do that?

The trick would be to get more land owner tolerance that’s what fwp manages for.

 

[Forkyfinder]

The trick would be to get more land owner tolerance that’s what fwp manages for.

Exactly.

Not sure how to do it - but with the existing game in place that's the primary issue.

Wish people/orgs could pool up and compete/buy the grazing fees...