I don't have a problem with a late hunt in this area but I do have a problem with the FWP giving ranchers the right to pick family and friends for the hunt and not the general public...When will the MTFWP quit bending over for ranchers...
On Saturday, a late season elk hunt will begin on private lands in the Grant Creek drainage and continue through Feb. 10.
The goal is to thin a herd of 250-some elk that are destroying fences and have grown accustomed to wintering on summer pasture lands belonging to the Circle H ranch, and to longtime Grant Creek and Butler Creek ranching families, Mike Flynn and Paul Hanson.
Since 1988, the herd has grown 17 percent annually, said Bob Henderson, a biologist for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
To help with the thinning effort, 32 hunters have been chosen for the eight-week hunt. Because of the herd's proximity to homes in the drainage, each hunter will be given one week to hunt, and only four hunters will be allowed to hunt the area at a time.
Of the 32 hunters chosen for the hunt, each of the three ranches hand-picked eight people - mostly friends and family - and the FWP chose another eight from a list of people who put in for but did not receive 2005 hunting permits, Henderson said.
All of the hunters selected were required to attend a series of informational meetings with the ranchers and homeowners to review maps and photos of the harvest area, Henderson said.
“Safety is of a primary interest, and it's important for these hunters to know the layout of the area,” he said. To further protect residents, safety areas are clearly marked as no-shooting zones.
Mike Flynn said he is very supportive of the hunt because the growing elk herd is a problem that will only get worse. He and his family have owned their summer grazing property in Grant Creek for the past 100 years, and in recent decades the elk haven't ever reached the current herd number.
“We've always had elk winter up there, and you know I don't mind feeding 50 to 75 elk, but when I have 300, I have a problem,” Flynn said.
“I don't think anybody really knows how many are up there,” Flynn said. “My concern is that we now have generations of elk born up there and their calves come back to have their calves there. Now there are more elk there than cows I run in the summer, and they eat a lot of grass.”
Grass is a renewable resource, but the elk feeding on his pastures limits when his family can turned their cows lose on their property, and with the heavier traffic, the elk are destroying more and more fenceline.
What used to take the family one to three days in the spring to fix fences now takes six to 10 days, Flynn said.
“It isn't our responsibility to feed all these elk when it inhibits our ability to ranch,” he said.
The hunt is the third of its kind in Grant Creek, Henderson said. Hunters killed eight elk in 2002, and killed three elk and in 2004, he said.
“Hopefully when its all said and done,” Henderson said, “a few hunters will get some meat and a lot of elk will disperse into the North Hills.”
Natalie Hanson said she doesn't have a strong opinion about the hunt or about the increased activity it will bring to her end of Butler Creek.
The 83-year-old just hopes hunters are mindful about what they are doing.
“Just so they know what they are shooting at - and not at our cows,” she said. “In case they don't know, they're all black.”
Reporter Betsy Cohen can be reached at 523-5253 or at [email protected]
On Saturday, a late season elk hunt will begin on private lands in the Grant Creek drainage and continue through Feb. 10.
The goal is to thin a herd of 250-some elk that are destroying fences and have grown accustomed to wintering on summer pasture lands belonging to the Circle H ranch, and to longtime Grant Creek and Butler Creek ranching families, Mike Flynn and Paul Hanson.
Since 1988, the herd has grown 17 percent annually, said Bob Henderson, a biologist for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
To help with the thinning effort, 32 hunters have been chosen for the eight-week hunt. Because of the herd's proximity to homes in the drainage, each hunter will be given one week to hunt, and only four hunters will be allowed to hunt the area at a time.
Of the 32 hunters chosen for the hunt, each of the three ranches hand-picked eight people - mostly friends and family - and the FWP chose another eight from a list of people who put in for but did not receive 2005 hunting permits, Henderson said.
All of the hunters selected were required to attend a series of informational meetings with the ranchers and homeowners to review maps and photos of the harvest area, Henderson said.
“Safety is of a primary interest, and it's important for these hunters to know the layout of the area,” he said. To further protect residents, safety areas are clearly marked as no-shooting zones.
Mike Flynn said he is very supportive of the hunt because the growing elk herd is a problem that will only get worse. He and his family have owned their summer grazing property in Grant Creek for the past 100 years, and in recent decades the elk haven't ever reached the current herd number.
“We've always had elk winter up there, and you know I don't mind feeding 50 to 75 elk, but when I have 300, I have a problem,” Flynn said.
“I don't think anybody really knows how many are up there,” Flynn said. “My concern is that we now have generations of elk born up there and their calves come back to have their calves there. Now there are more elk there than cows I run in the summer, and they eat a lot of grass.”
Grass is a renewable resource, but the elk feeding on his pastures limits when his family can turned their cows lose on their property, and with the heavier traffic, the elk are destroying more and more fenceline.
What used to take the family one to three days in the spring to fix fences now takes six to 10 days, Flynn said.
“It isn't our responsibility to feed all these elk when it inhibits our ability to ranch,” he said.
The hunt is the third of its kind in Grant Creek, Henderson said. Hunters killed eight elk in 2002, and killed three elk and in 2004, he said.
“Hopefully when its all said and done,” Henderson said, “a few hunters will get some meat and a lot of elk will disperse into the North Hills.”
Natalie Hanson said she doesn't have a strong opinion about the hunt or about the increased activity it will bring to her end of Butler Creek.
The 83-year-old just hopes hunters are mindful about what they are doing.
“Just so they know what they are shooting at - and not at our cows,” she said. “In case they don't know, they're all black.”
Reporter Betsy Cohen can be reached at 523-5253 or at [email protected]
