LAST EDITED ON May-25-05 AT 10:48AM (MST)[p]700 cow tag does seem a bit excessive. However, as Finlittle points out, a low harvest success is likely to blame. Low hunter success is due to the fact that a large percentage of the Dutton is roadless. The elk have seemed to figure out that they only need to get a short distance from roads to escape hunter pressure. A lot of the Dutton is rough country. Few people will venture into verticle ground in quest of a cow. I doubt 700 cow tags will amount to any more than 200 cows harvested. I'm also wondering what would happen if all the correct conditions lined up and the elk were forced into more vulnerable areas of the unit. I don't know for sure, but it's likely not a problem. It seems that in years past, as whether conditions that would normally leave animals vulnerable prevailed, the Dutton elk moved higher and farther out of reach of the average hunter. Without checking, I assume that the 700 tags will be scattered over three seasons, as usual. If that's the case, hunters with the limited trophy bull tags are going to have to get in and hunt hard to score on a quality bull. There?s nothing worse that waiting years for the tag of a lifetime, and find you have to share the mountain with hundreds of lookie Lous? ...