Managing for what?

[thatsjet]

I'm sure there are more technical answers to this dumb question, but can someone explain to a newbie what determines bag limits for controlled hunts? (I'm in Oregon, but perhaps this is more universal.)

For instance, if one unit is spike only and another is 3+ does that mean the 3+ unit is trying to encourage the growth of that unit and limit hunting except for old bulls? What about units that have cow elk tags? Are they trying to limit the amount of elk in that area by discouraging the growth of population through new calves? Or are they trying to protect grazing or private land encroachment or something?

Sorry if I'm asking dumb questions. I'm reading through hunting forecasts (https://myodfw.com/articles/2020-oregon-big-game-hunting-forecast) and while it's really helpful, I'm coming up with more questions than answers.

 

[WapitiBob]

The ODFW biologist for Mt Emily gave a presentation at the OBH Banquet a few years ago about bag limits and used Wenaha as the example.
Long story short; A 10/100 Bull/Cow ratio was sufficient for herd health and every Bull over 15/100 for that specific unit was a "surplus" animal available for harvest. They issue several hundred spike only tags knowing there weren't 200 spikes in the whole unit but also know with the avg success rates they could issue that number of tags, provide "hunting opportunity", and not go below their 15/100 MO. ODFW shoots cows to increase the bull/cow ratio but also to manage for damage and/or agriculture complaints.

 

[thatsjet]

That's really helpful, thanks @WapitiBob