More elk in Idaho
- Thread starter mtmiller
- Start date
They should include Rammell's farm in the depredation hunt if it is opened tommorrow. I really hope some good can come out of this and the only thing that could be is if this state gets tough and shuts this crap down. One potential disaster like this is one more than we need.
Ithaca 37
New member
The hunt is on! "Idaho Department of Fish and Game will start a special hunt Tuesday to allow hunters to kill farm-raised elk that escaped from a private hunting ranch in eastern Idaho.
The hunt is intended to prevent the escaped elk from interacting or breeding with wild elk, Gov. Jim Risch said in a news conference Friday in Boise.
"Our (wild) elk herds are one of the gems of the Gem State," Risch said. "We jealously guard that."
The escaped elk flared a long-simmering Idaho debate about elk ranches and their potential effect on wild elk. Concerns range from maintaining genetic purity in wild elk, transmitting diseases between wild and farm-raised elk, and the ethics of "canned hunts" in a fenced area. Most neighboring states have banned elk ranches and/or shooter bull operations.
Risch said Friday the state may take a closer look at rules pertaining to shooter bull operations in the 2007 Legislature. The leader of a consortium of sportsmen's groups said they would "relentlessly" seek to end canned hunts in the state.
An estimated 75 to 160 elk escaped last month from Rex Rammell's ranch near Tetonia. Hunters pay up to $6,000 to shoot one of Rammell's elk in a 200-acre fenced enclosure.
After he learned about the special hunt Friday, Rammell said the state is taking his private property.
"I don't appreciate the state taking them from me," he said. "I was actively capturing them. It was just taking time."
F&G's week-long depredation hunt will begin Tuesday after officials notify 50 randomly selected hunters who have an "A" tag from the Teton Zone. F&G also will issue depredation tags to private landowners in the hunt area.
"Help is needed from sportsmen and private landowners to harvest these elk, and we greatly appreciate their assistance," Risch said.
The hunt will occur in about a 40-square-mile area in Unit 62 in the Conant Creek drainage between St. Anthony and Wyoming, which is a mix of public and private land.
The hunters will be allowed to use any weapon and kill any elk but will have to abide by regular hunting rules.
If they kill one of the escaped elk, which should have an ear tag under state law, hunters will not have to tag it. But if a hunter kills a wild elk, he or she will have to tag it. Hunters will have to check in all animals they shoot during the hunt. Hunters get to keep all the elk they kill. Risch said hunters will be immune from any lawsuits for killing Rammell's elk.
The hunt area is typically home to about 300 wild elk during winter, according to F&G state big-game manager Brad Compton. Most of those animals summer across the border in Wyoming, but he said some resident elk are probably in the area now. He expects some of the wild elk to be killed during the special hunt.
F&G officials have killed 15 of the escaped elk so far, and Rammell said that he has recaptured about 40 of his elk.
F&G has no authority over domestic elk ranches and shooter bull operations, which are regulated by the Department of Agriculture. The state does not license elk ranches. Shooter bull operations fall under the same regulations as elk farms.
But F&G, and not the Department of Agriculture, has the authority to set special hunts and the expertise to deal with elk in the wild. Risch's executive order on Sept. 7 to kill the escaped elk put F&G in charge.
"We don't have any choice," Huffaker said. "We're trying to protect the sportsmen's elk."
Department of Agriculture officials have quarantined Rammell's ranch and said they will not allow him to add or remove any elk from his property. They won't know how many elk remain at large until they do an inventory of Rammell's herd.
Rammell said he hadn't heard about the quarantine, but would cooperate if it didn't affect his hunting operation. He has been hosting clients since Sept. 1, and has people booked through mid-October.
Rammell's operation has repeatedly been cited for violations and in the past faced $750,000 in fines. But the 2002 Legislature forgave those fines. Both Risch and F&G Commission Chairman Cam Wheeler of Ririe, who was a legislator at the time, supported the bill that erased those fines.
Idaho has 78 elk farms, according to the Department of Agriculture. About 15 of those are shooter bull operations, some of which get their bulls from other elk ranches.
The Department of Agriculture can fine an operator for not abiding by state laws, but it cannot stop them from raising elk or allowing others to shoot them.
Risch said he expects there will be "considerable discussion" about shooter bull operations in the upcoming Legislature.
He said elk ranching rules originally were written for ranchers who grew elk like livestock, not for shooter bull operations.
"There was never a discussion about hunting reserves," Risch said.
Mark Bell, president of the Idaho Sportsmen's Caucus Advisory Council that represents 28 sporting and conservation groups in the state, said the council would "relentlessly pursue the elimination of shooter bull operations."
"We're going on the attack from a social, moral and ethical standpoint," Bell said. "Canned hunts cast a bad light on sportsmen worldwide."
The debate over domestic elk raises a series of interrelated controversies, including effects of farm-raised animals on wild animals — and vice versa — private property rights and hunting ethics.
• Disease transmission: Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials fear the spread of diseases, particularly chronic wasting disease, which is lethal to deer and elk and difficult to eradicate. The disease has not been found in Idaho, but it has been found in farm-raised and wild herds in 16 states and provinces, including Utah, Wyoming and Montana.
Elk breeders say the transmission of diseases is more likely from wild elk to farm-raised elk because farm-raised elk are tested regularly and inoculated.
• Genetics: F&G officials say escaped farm-raised elk could dilute the wild-elk gene pool. In other states, farm-raised elk have been hybridized with European red deer.
Idaho elk breeders counter that their elk are tested for genetic purity.
• Canned hunts: Hunters and sportsmen's groups say canned hunts for farm-raised elk are unethical and give the sport a black eye because some people don't differentiate between hunting free-ranging wild animals and domestic animals in enclosures.
Most neighboring states have banned the practice, including Montana, where it was banned through a citizen's initiative.
Elk ranchers say that since shooter bull operations are done with privately owned elk on private property, they should not be regulated the same as a hunt that involves wild animals."
http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060916/NEWS01/609160326/1002
The hunt is intended to prevent the escaped elk from interacting or breeding with wild elk, Gov. Jim Risch said in a news conference Friday in Boise.
"Our (wild) elk herds are one of the gems of the Gem State," Risch said. "We jealously guard that."
The escaped elk flared a long-simmering Idaho debate about elk ranches and their potential effect on wild elk. Concerns range from maintaining genetic purity in wild elk, transmitting diseases between wild and farm-raised elk, and the ethics of "canned hunts" in a fenced area. Most neighboring states have banned elk ranches and/or shooter bull operations.
Risch said Friday the state may take a closer look at rules pertaining to shooter bull operations in the 2007 Legislature. The leader of a consortium of sportsmen's groups said they would "relentlessly" seek to end canned hunts in the state.
An estimated 75 to 160 elk escaped last month from Rex Rammell's ranch near Tetonia. Hunters pay up to $6,000 to shoot one of Rammell's elk in a 200-acre fenced enclosure.
After he learned about the special hunt Friday, Rammell said the state is taking his private property.
"I don't appreciate the state taking them from me," he said. "I was actively capturing them. It was just taking time."
F&G's week-long depredation hunt will begin Tuesday after officials notify 50 randomly selected hunters who have an "A" tag from the Teton Zone. F&G also will issue depredation tags to private landowners in the hunt area.
"Help is needed from sportsmen and private landowners to harvest these elk, and we greatly appreciate their assistance," Risch said.
The hunt will occur in about a 40-square-mile area in Unit 62 in the Conant Creek drainage between St. Anthony and Wyoming, which is a mix of public and private land.
The hunters will be allowed to use any weapon and kill any elk but will have to abide by regular hunting rules.
If they kill one of the escaped elk, which should have an ear tag under state law, hunters will not have to tag it. But if a hunter kills a wild elk, he or she will have to tag it. Hunters will have to check in all animals they shoot during the hunt. Hunters get to keep all the elk they kill. Risch said hunters will be immune from any lawsuits for killing Rammell's elk.
The hunt area is typically home to about 300 wild elk during winter, according to F&G state big-game manager Brad Compton. Most of those animals summer across the border in Wyoming, but he said some resident elk are probably in the area now. He expects some of the wild elk to be killed during the special hunt.
F&G officials have killed 15 of the escaped elk so far, and Rammell said that he has recaptured about 40 of his elk.
F&G has no authority over domestic elk ranches and shooter bull operations, which are regulated by the Department of Agriculture. The state does not license elk ranches. Shooter bull operations fall under the same regulations as elk farms.
But F&G, and not the Department of Agriculture, has the authority to set special hunts and the expertise to deal with elk in the wild. Risch's executive order on Sept. 7 to kill the escaped elk put F&G in charge.
"We don't have any choice," Huffaker said. "We're trying to protect the sportsmen's elk."
Department of Agriculture officials have quarantined Rammell's ranch and said they will not allow him to add or remove any elk from his property. They won't know how many elk remain at large until they do an inventory of Rammell's herd.
Rammell said he hadn't heard about the quarantine, but would cooperate if it didn't affect his hunting operation. He has been hosting clients since Sept. 1, and has people booked through mid-October.
Rammell's operation has repeatedly been cited for violations and in the past faced $750,000 in fines. But the 2002 Legislature forgave those fines. Both Risch and F&G Commission Chairman Cam Wheeler of Ririe, who was a legislator at the time, supported the bill that erased those fines.
Idaho has 78 elk farms, according to the Department of Agriculture. About 15 of those are shooter bull operations, some of which get their bulls from other elk ranches.
The Department of Agriculture can fine an operator for not abiding by state laws, but it cannot stop them from raising elk or allowing others to shoot them.
Risch said he expects there will be "considerable discussion" about shooter bull operations in the upcoming Legislature.
He said elk ranching rules originally were written for ranchers who grew elk like livestock, not for shooter bull operations.
"There was never a discussion about hunting reserves," Risch said.
Mark Bell, president of the Idaho Sportsmen's Caucus Advisory Council that represents 28 sporting and conservation groups in the state, said the council would "relentlessly pursue the elimination of shooter bull operations."
"We're going on the attack from a social, moral and ethical standpoint," Bell said. "Canned hunts cast a bad light on sportsmen worldwide."
The debate over domestic elk raises a series of interrelated controversies, including effects of farm-raised animals on wild animals — and vice versa — private property rights and hunting ethics.
• Disease transmission: Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials fear the spread of diseases, particularly chronic wasting disease, which is lethal to deer and elk and difficult to eradicate. The disease has not been found in Idaho, but it has been found in farm-raised and wild herds in 16 states and provinces, including Utah, Wyoming and Montana.
Elk breeders say the transmission of diseases is more likely from wild elk to farm-raised elk because farm-raised elk are tested regularly and inoculated.
• Genetics: F&G officials say escaped farm-raised elk could dilute the wild-elk gene pool. In other states, farm-raised elk have been hybridized with European red deer.
Idaho elk breeders counter that their elk are tested for genetic purity.
• Canned hunts: Hunters and sportsmen's groups say canned hunts for farm-raised elk are unethical and give the sport a black eye because some people don't differentiate between hunting free-ranging wild animals and domestic animals in enclosures.
Most neighboring states have banned the practice, including Montana, where it was banned through a citizen's initiative.
Elk ranchers say that since shooter bull operations are done with privately owned elk on private property, they should not be regulated the same as a hunt that involves wild animals."
http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060916/NEWS01/609160326/1002
MarvB
Well-known member
From the Star-Tribune
More exotic animals escape in Idaho
[oas:casperstartribune.net/news/regional:Middle1]
More exotic animals escape in Idaho
[oas:casperstartribune.net/news/regional:Middle1]
This story just gets stranger by the day. I hope some strong game farm legislation is brewing somewhere in this state.
Elk Breeder Arrested After Confrontation With Fish And Game
BOISE -
The Department of Fish and Game says an eastern Idaho elk breeder whose animals escaped a private hunting reserve near Rexburg in August has been arrested.
Rex Rammell was arrested this morning, after interfering with state efforts to kill some of the escaped elk, the agency says.
"He actually sat on the elk that was down and wouldn't allow us retrieve it," said Fish and Game enforcement officer Jon Heggen. "We had already harvested the elk. We were trying to load it up and take it to the processor's where we can distribute the meat from. And he actually physically sat on to top of the elk and refused to let us retrieve it."
Last month, Fish and Game said at least 100 domestic elk escaped from Chief Joseph Ranch, which Rammell used to own. He's since sold to a California resident.
The Governor and Fish and Game authorized a depredation hunt to go after the elk, fearing the domestic animals would mix and breed with the wild population, causing a change in the gene pool.
Rammell said the state never contacted him about the escaped animals and that he was doing what he could to capture them. He may sue the state citing a property rights violation.
Elk Breeder Arrested After Confrontation With Fish And Game
BOISE -
The Department of Fish and Game says an eastern Idaho elk breeder whose animals escaped a private hunting reserve near Rexburg in August has been arrested.
Rex Rammell was arrested this morning, after interfering with state efforts to kill some of the escaped elk, the agency says.
"He actually sat on the elk that was down and wouldn't allow us retrieve it," said Fish and Game enforcement officer Jon Heggen. "We had already harvested the elk. We were trying to load it up and take it to the processor's where we can distribute the meat from. And he actually physically sat on to top of the elk and refused to let us retrieve it."
Last month, Fish and Game said at least 100 domestic elk escaped from Chief Joseph Ranch, which Rammell used to own. He's since sold to a California resident.
The Governor and Fish and Game authorized a depredation hunt to go after the elk, fearing the domestic animals would mix and breed with the wild population, causing a change in the gene pool.
Rammell said the state never contacted him about the escaped animals and that he was doing what he could to capture them. He may sue the state citing a property rights violation.
Moosie
Grand poopa
That won't Backfire .......
BigHornRam
Well-known member
I just read this morning that the infamous Idaho politician Helen Chenowith "bought the Farm" for keeps. Maybe this kook can replace her.
