Gerald, if you told landowners "that the emphasis of management has been weighted in the direction of their economic interests for far to long" I would suggest wearing a helmet and pads. The landowners I know feel they are bearing the cost of production for the publics elk herd with little to no recourse or compensation. Elk are large ungulates that cause severe damage to pasture, fences, and crops, costing landowners in this state millions of dollars. I agree that the current system is not working, it is time to figure out what will work, for both sides. An incentive based solution is needed.
Will an incentive work for every landowner? No. Will an incentive work for some? Yes. Punitive measures against landowners will never incentivize them to allow access. If the public wishes access to "their wildlife" then figure out a way to give landowners an incentive to allow the public access.
What that incentive is I am not certain, but is going to have to be of a monetary nature(reduced property tax, etc.).
I am in agreement that punitive policies towards landowners are not going to help anyone in the long term. I am fine with existing positive incentives and don’t mind trying to expand them but I doubt it will make much difference.
I also realize there are significant differences between the eastern and western parts of the state. My comment s are based on my experience in the western part.
Case in point from the last two years. All names and units mentioned in this anecdote are real. Numbers of acreage and animals are from estimates and might not be exact.
Last year my son drew a youth permit for deer in 291. Before his hunt I picked up an extra elk B license in case I saw a cow on one of the several large BMAs we had permission to hunt. We hunted opening weekend and all the elk were high on the checkerboard private/ public mountains. My daughter shot a cow on public. Hunters were everywhere on the BMA’s and public.
We waited until the deer rut to return to the unit. Deer hunting was great. Still no elk on the BMA’s except for one herd of about 20 cows that would venture a couple hundred yards across the line when it would snow. The two times I saw this happen multiple parties of hunters were after them at first light. I never saw an elk shot at or killed.
We glassed across the interstate into unit 217. The D’Angelo ranch had 600-800 head of elk lounging on the hillsides. Right beside the D’Angelo ranch is the Dunkleberg Ranch. It’s an open BMA that you sign in to access several thousand acres of marginal elk habitat. Since the elk were just across the fence and our tags were good for cows we headed over to check it out. Turns out there was noon starting time on the section closest to the elk and only no hunting on certain days. From the looks of old tracks it appeared a few elk would occasionally come over at night. We went back to deer hunting since it was apparent these elk were legally and logistically inaccessible.
Never saw another elk in 291. OTC cow tags on private and shoulder seasons till Feb. 15 on some of the BMA’s.
This year we had a new plan.My youngest son drew a youth permit for either sex elk in 217. I was thinking we might be able to intercept some of those elk before they made it to private or maybe (long shot) we could get permission on the D’Angelo ranch. Several months before the season my son wrote a very respectful letter asking for permission to hunt. No reply. No problem, I assume they like the elk or have other arrangements for how they handle access. We’ll hunt public.
When hunting season came around it quickly became apparent there were VERY few elk on public property. Either sex tags are extremely difficult to draw and limited but cow tags are OTC and shoulder seasons run from August 15- Feb 15.
My takeaway from this is that I am not going to waste my time and money to hunt in this unit anymore. D’Angelo obviously doesn’t view the elk as a liability and Dunkleberg’s property is nit a viable place to kill an elk.
I am very sympathetic to Mr. Dunkleberg if the elk are coming on to his property post season and causing damage. But he needs to have a conversation with his neighbors about the access they allow rather then complain to FWP about the elk.
DAngelo has every right to outfit, lease, or allow access however he sees fit. I bear him no ill will and support his right to do so. However, he needs to be willing to bear the costs of elk on his property. (To my knowledge he does.)
If at anytime I find out D’Angelo is pushing for the lowering of elk numbers or complaining and wanting damage payments, I will be adamant against him.
Current hunting pressure in that unit ensures nearly every elk in the unit finds sanctuary on nearly one or two properties in the unit during the hunting season.
I am deaf to complaints about too many elk there any more.
