Wilks brothers true colors are shining through.....

This post is intriguing and difficult to decipher the fact from fiction. One party says they were allowed access to shoot an antelope, yet another party says they were rejected. One party says their employees aren't allowed to hunt, yet when their employees come to town the say they can shoot cows and even archery hunt bulls at the end of the season. One party says they didn't allow any access, yet they held a drawing to give local hunter education graduates the opportunity to come out to the ranch and shoot a cow.

While I'm pro-hunting, pro-access, etc. etc., I think the propaganda needs to be removes from the argument.
 
I also took an antelope on their property this year. I think mtmiller and I hunted the same spot then.
 
With the size and number of their holdings I'm guessing all the stories are true and dependent on the parcel in question...
 
Bivy: The ranch does donate a few antlerless hunts to hunter education graduates, and I hear they have donated a few antlerless hunts to veterans. From what I was told by those that are fortunate enough to get drawn for these few hunts, you are taken in some kind of vehicle to certain pastures and allowed a brief opportunity to kill a cow. Last I heard, parents weren't allowed to be with their kids during these hunts. Kids that miss get sent home. I live in the area, but I don't know very many that have been picked to do this. I have not heard of anyone who was given permission to hunt anything else. Especially unattended.
 
I appreciate the information StykbowMT. I would be curious if MTFWP has any further information regarding this hunter ed/veteran program. Success rate of these hunters would be of particular interest.

As I understand it, much of the Little Snowies acreage acquired by the Wilk's brothers allowed extremely limited public hunting or no public hunting at all prior to purchase (i.e. N-Bar, Pronghorn, and Janet Lewis Ranch). Is this true?
 
I don't know anything about whether some folks do get permission, what they do for hunter ed alums or vets, or what the perks are for ranch employees. I only know what I've personally experienced.

We used to hunt antelope on a couple of places that bordered the N-Bar. The old folks died and the Wilks ended up aquiring the property. We tried to get permission to continue hunting those pieces that we had permission on before (they were small, but had some good animals on them), but they wouldn't hear of it. We now have permission on another neighboring place - its another small chunk of land, but occasionally there are animals on it. You can glass it pretty well from the county road. Several times while we've been sitting there glassing, someone from the ranch has pulled up and jumped down our throats that we can't park there (parked in a private field approach not owned by the N-Bar), that we don't have permission to hunt there, etc. They have never once been polite or friendly about it, even though they don't have any grounds to complain. So I tend to believe the bad publicity, since it jives with my personal experience.
 
Hunting Wife: Thanks for detailing your experiences!

I believe we have all lost pieces of ground due to new ownership. And, it can be upsetting for many reasons including family tradition, easy access, trophy quality, high success, etc. Sadly we have to swallow these and look elsewhere; which it sounds like you did.

However, the actions of that Wilk's Ranch employee you do not have to accept. I'm uncertain whether you did so, but the only way to correct the actions of this individual in the future is to document and report. Most of us have cameras on our phones; document the conversation and report to the area game warden. This would qualify as hunter harassment. Additionally, the Wilk's have a large operation with many employees. I doubt either Dan or Farris was the individual you met. As with any business when you are dissatisfied with an employee, perhaps you should contact the ranch headquarters and speak with the manager.
 
FWP tends to sugar coat the situation in my experience. They are desperately trying to work out some kind of access program to manage an elk herd 700%+ over objective. The people I talk to think that by the Wilks allowing access to shoot 25 cows a year or whatever is some kind of great service. The aerial survey documented 5,164 elk in the area this past Spring. Objective is 400. Like Hunting Wife, I have heard plenty of stories of Wilks employees chasing people off of county roads, and calling them in for trespassing when they weren't. None of this has happened to me personally. I disagree that people should contact the ranch manager or the Wilks. I believe their employees are, and should be a reflection of the owners. They are acting as they are told to.
 
With that grossly inflated population it would be hard to comprehend any regulation or management strategy imposed by MTFWP that would be able to reduce the herd relatively close to objective. I would be interested to know the number of cow elk harvested in the Durfee BLM/State. Perhaps comparable to the Wilks Ranch cow harvest?

I assume this is the impetus for the proposed 2016/17 8/15-2/15 rifle cow shoulder season in the Snowies complex. If I read the proposal correctly rifle cow harvest will be concurrent with archery season within the bounds of private, DNRC, and BLM!

Are the Wilks harboring 5100 elk solely or are there other landowners in these units that are also hindering cow harvest?
 
Bivy said:
This post is intriguing and difficult to decipher the fact from fiction. One party says they were allowed access to shoot an antelope, yet another party says they were rejected.
Click to expand...

Bivy, my post was not representative to what Wilks allow on all their private land. This year they opened a small portion of their Anchor Ranch to hunting while the proposals for a land exchange are on the table with BLM.

I have no doubt when decisions are made on an exchange this will no longer be an opportunity.
 
wonder if the blm will ever issue citations or mandate the land be reclaimed to natural state for the public land that was damaged in the fence building process
 
Everyone loves Ted.
Blaine-Cooper-and-Ted-Cruz-Facebook.png
 
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