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22 escaped elk hunted
By BRETT FRENCH
Billings Gazette
Twenty-two elk that escaped Sept. 17 from a game farm in Fergus County are being hunted by Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials.
If found, the elk will be killed and tested for chronic wasting disease. The meat, if disease-free, will be donated to food banks.
Twenty-four elk escaped from Mark and Janet Bowman’s game farm near Winifred when a fence was downed by a fallen tree. Two cow elk were recaptured the next day. Nineteen bull elk and three cows were being sought. They are identifiable by their yellow ear tag, which measures 2 to 3 inches long and 1 inch wide.
Dave Stalling, president of the Montana Wildlife Federation, said the situation is exactly what his group and other sportsmen feared when campaigning for Initiative 143. I-143, which banned establishment of new game farms in the state, transfer of existing licenses and the killing of captive game animals for a fee, was approved by voters in 2000.
“I personally would like to see this industry outlawed,” Stalling said. “This scares the heck out of me.”
Just last week a federal judge upheld the constitutionality of I-143.
Tim Feldner, FWP’s commercial wildlife permitting manager, said game farm owners are given five days to round up cows and 48 hours to recapture bull elk during breeding season. Elk breed in the fall.
“This might have been a minor incident if they had gotten them back in,” Feldner said.
This isn’t the first time elk or other game animals have escaped, and it isn’t the largest escape. Feldner said 35 whitetail deer escaped from a farm about three years ago and were recaptured the next day. Elk have escaped from ranches near Twin Bridges and Townsend in the past. In those cases, all of the elk were recaptured or killed by hunters.
Hunters can legally kill any of the elk that escaped from the Bowman farm, provided they have a license. Once the animals escape and elude capture, they become the property of the state. The ranchers are not compensated by the state for their loss. The state is not compensated by the rancher for its work in finding and killing the animals. Tagged animals killed by hunters will be tested by the state for chronic wasting disease.
Feldner said a program has been in effect since 2000 to check game farm elk for red deer genes. Red deer are European relatives to Rocky Mountain elk. Two of the animals on the Bowman farm were not tested for red deer genes. Feldner did not know whether those two were among those that escaped.
Animals killed on the farm in the past have tested negative for chronic wasting disease. Animals can only be tested for CWD after they are killed. CWD is similar to mad cow disease. It has been found in wild deer and elk in Wyoming and Colorado. In Montana the disease was found once, in 1999, in a Philipsburg game farm. All of those animals were killed and incinerated.
Feldner said wild elk were within two or three miles of the Bowman farm. The five to nine animals located by FWP were one to two miles off the Bowman ranch when found. The Bowmans have been licensed for alternative livestock since 1992.
Anyone with information about the escaped elk can call Feldner at 444-4039.
22 escaped elk hunted
By BRETT FRENCH
Billings Gazette
Twenty-two elk that escaped Sept. 17 from a game farm in Fergus County are being hunted by Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials.
If found, the elk will be killed and tested for chronic wasting disease. The meat, if disease-free, will be donated to food banks.
Twenty-four elk escaped from Mark and Janet Bowman’s game farm near Winifred when a fence was downed by a fallen tree. Two cow elk were recaptured the next day. Nineteen bull elk and three cows were being sought. They are identifiable by their yellow ear tag, which measures 2 to 3 inches long and 1 inch wide.
Dave Stalling, president of the Montana Wildlife Federation, said the situation is exactly what his group and other sportsmen feared when campaigning for Initiative 143. I-143, which banned establishment of new game farms in the state, transfer of existing licenses and the killing of captive game animals for a fee, was approved by voters in 2000.
“I personally would like to see this industry outlawed,” Stalling said. “This scares the heck out of me.”
Just last week a federal judge upheld the constitutionality of I-143.
Tim Feldner, FWP’s commercial wildlife permitting manager, said game farm owners are given five days to round up cows and 48 hours to recapture bull elk during breeding season. Elk breed in the fall.
“This might have been a minor incident if they had gotten them back in,” Feldner said.
This isn’t the first time elk or other game animals have escaped, and it isn’t the largest escape. Feldner said 35 whitetail deer escaped from a farm about three years ago and were recaptured the next day. Elk have escaped from ranches near Twin Bridges and Townsend in the past. In those cases, all of the elk were recaptured or killed by hunters.
Hunters can legally kill any of the elk that escaped from the Bowman farm, provided they have a license. Once the animals escape and elude capture, they become the property of the state. The ranchers are not compensated by the state for their loss. The state is not compensated by the rancher for its work in finding and killing the animals. Tagged animals killed by hunters will be tested by the state for chronic wasting disease.
Feldner said a program has been in effect since 2000 to check game farm elk for red deer genes. Red deer are European relatives to Rocky Mountain elk. Two of the animals on the Bowman farm were not tested for red deer genes. Feldner did not know whether those two were among those that escaped.
Animals killed on the farm in the past have tested negative for chronic wasting disease. Animals can only be tested for CWD after they are killed. CWD is similar to mad cow disease. It has been found in wild deer and elk in Wyoming and Colorado. In Montana the disease was found once, in 1999, in a Philipsburg game farm. All of those animals were killed and incinerated.
Feldner said wild elk were within two or three miles of the Bowman farm. The five to nine animals located by FWP were one to two miles off the Bowman ranch when found. The Bowmans have been licensed for alternative livestock since 1992.
Anyone with information about the escaped elk can call Feldner at 444-4039.
