"Overpopulation" Let er rip!

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Where elk strike pastureland, Wyo seeks separate, special hunts - WyoFile

‘Auxiliary management’ hunting seasons have been on the books for decades, but have gone unused. The livestock lobby is pushing for a resurrection.

wyofile.com

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

I can't believe I'm saying this but @BuzzH what are your definitive non negotiable thoughts?

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

I guess I should tag @hearteater and @DougStickney also since they have all the answers to the big issues.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Maybe at @hearteater can phone a friend by calling @BuzzH Or @Big Fin for some possible answers. I'll allow.

 

[DFS]

Aerial gunning. And put it on YouTube. Get sponsors lots of sponsors.

 

[BuzzH]

Wyoming, unlike Montana, actually does have a very robust elk herd.

I question just how much this will do to help since most of the areas mentioned already have piles of available tags.

It will help Sy get his paying cow hunters tags easier though.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

I'm currently in eastern wyoming and have seen zero elk. Looks like they filmed mad max here. I need to befriend these ranchers they speak of.

 

[Stocker]

I say we corral them and transplant them in Minnesota. There’s lots of towns and lakes named “elk” something, give them a legit reason to be named that. I bet Buzz, a good horse and a few cattle pots could have them moved in a day or so.

(Plus it’ll keep the derelicts from Minnesota from driving across my state to get to Wy.)

 

[Deleted member 16014]

I didn’t see as many details as I would have liked in the language open for comment and going to the commission, but that’s a common theme recently. I’m not fundamentally opposed as long as regular sportsmen are afforded a reasonable opportunity to participate.
Sy’s sudden compassion for landowners is convenient; anything to leverage his agenda, nothing new.

 

[Flatbrimmer]

“We have quite a few challenges right now, especially with elk from a damage perspective,” Game and Fish Chief Warden Rick King said. “We have a lot of places where we have a lot of elk, and it’s pretty tough to address in our current season framework.

I found this quite interesting, considering Wyoming has a much more complex tag allocation system than us in Montana, and yet, they can’t fix their problems within the season framework either? Everyone in every state wants to change or bend the rules a little (no biggie) or dates or tags— and someone is always going to say there is a better way to do it than what’s being done now.. those garwsh darned elk! I saw a herd like this, day before opening rifle last year right here in Montana! On public (BMA)!

 

[Mallardsx2]

I vote for July Calf only seasons. Get em while they still got milk on their lips!

 

[BirdManMike]

Thanks, Newberg.

 

[Bowmannate2000]

I say we corral them and transplant them in Minnesota. There’s lots of towns and lakes named “elk” something, give them a legit reason to be named that. I bet Buzz, a good horse and a few cattle pots could have them moved in a day or so.

(Plus it’ll keep the derelicts from Minnesota from driving across my state to get to Wy.)

As a Minnesota guy, I support this proposition.

 

[Ben Lamb]

It will help Sy get his paying cow hunters tags easier though.

I'm wondering if this isn't a larger piece of the puzzle that we're missing. There are some of the properties involved in both MT & WY where outfitting for cow elk seem to coincide with the push for more private land cow tags.

 

[JDH]

The last two paragraphs of the article say it all. I wonder how much it will cost to be "handpicked"?

 

[BuzzH]

I'm wondering if this isn't a larger piece of the puzzle that we're missing. There are some of the properties involved in both MT & WY where outfitting for cow elk seem to coincide with the push for more private land cow tags.

There is regulation in chapter 28 that says the landowners are not to receive compensation for these depredation hunts (Jeff talked to the GF about this). I'm going to be sending in comments that I think this needs to be tightened up further and also that these hunts should be limited to antlerless hunting as well.

When I see Sy in favor of something, I'm always looking for the angle he's taking to line his pockets.

 

[Bam Bam]

Ok, let me address the elephant in the room, here... There are PLENTY of hunters who would love to hunt these elk-myself included. If the ranchers allowed access to some hunters every year, there would be no elk over-population problems in the very near future. These "overpopulated" areas already have plenty (sometimes hundreds) of tags that don't get applied for in the draw (Units 6, 7, 9, 33-36, ect...), and the only reason that these tags don't sell, is that there is not enough public land to hunt in these areas. If the ranchers want to have some elk removed, or pressured off of their properties, they only need to allow their properties to be listed as Walk-In-Areas, or Hunter Management Areas. End of the problem. Shoot man, they can even choose the exact number of hunters allowed on their property, set any rules that they choose (HMA Program), and the state of WY does the work and takes care of all the details for them! There is no elk problem here- these are just ranchers that want Property Owner tags to sell. End of Rant, thank you for your time.

 

[elkduds]

I'm thinking a straight lottery for these tags. When you apply for WY elk license, you can check a box that you want to be in the depredation lottery. Software randomizes a list of everyone who checked. Any such licenses, when allocated by game managers, have to come from the list, starting @ the top. One price for residents, another for NRs for these tags. None are transferred through landowners to take a pinch. They are already benefitting from herd reduction, and it wouldn't be prudent to further monetize private land hunting business.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Give 'em both barrels, Buzz.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

Ok, let me address the elephant in the room, here... There are PLENTY of hunters who would love to hunt these elk-myself included. If the ranchers allowed access to some hunters every year, there would be no elk over-population problems in the very near future. These "overpopulated" areas already have plenty (sometimes hundreds) of tags that don't get applied for in the draw (Units 6, 7, 9, 33-36, ect...), and the only reason that these tags don't sell, is that there is not enough public land to hunt in these areas. If the ranchers want to have some elk removed, or pressured off of their properties, they only need to allow their properties to be listed as Walk-In-Areas, or Hunter Management Areas. End of the problem. Shoot man, they can even choose the exact number of hunters allowed on their property, set any rules that they choose (HMA Program), and the state of WY does the work and takes care of all the details for them! There is no elk problem here- these are just ranchers that want Property Owner tags to sell. End of Rant, thank you for your time.

I largely agree, though I think more than the landowners themselves it's WYOGA that's driving the wedge between landowners and hunters.