Dax,
First of all, my biggest beef is regarding deer. The DWR has no business issuing ANY doe tags when our deer herds are in dire straits--then again its all about BUSINE$$. Gotta sell those tags to pay the bills. We should be closing some areas to all hunting for a few years to rebuild our deer herds--or importing a bunch of whitetails so we have a robust deer herd. (Not my choice, but where we may end up.) I would like the DWR deer management team to start managing the mosquito population near my house. If they had the same success they have with deer, my BBQ would be a lot more comfortable.
On elk, the DWR manages for bull/cow ratio and total herd numbers. Unlike deer management, the DWR has done a great job building the best quality elk herd in the country. I think many of us are very hesitant to see a shift in management strategy--we've see too many catastrophes in the past.
So where does the DWR come up with herd objective numbers? Is it from carrying capacity? Biological principals like you point out? No way. They try to keep as many animals as they can on a unit. What constrains how many animals a given area can sustain? Feed? Winter range? Water? Winter kill? Predation? That's what we would all like to believe, but the reality is that sheepmen and cattlemen largely determine how many elk are on a unit. They scream loudest and are a major part of the rural economy--thus the local legislators support them (as they should). (San Juan County Commissioner Lynn Stevens said "There is not a county commissioner in rural Utah that favors an increase in elk..." (San Juan Record Sept. 12, 07)) Legislators lean on the DWR and RAC to keep numbers down. DWR capitulates and the DWR issues a pile of cow tags to keep the herd at their objective. This puts the bull/cow ratio out of wack. The DWR tries to increase bull tags, but there are a bunch of us unenlightened folks who would rather wait 15 years to take a quality bull in a great conditions (low competition, lots of opportunity) than battle an army on four wheelers to maybe shoot a certified pisscutter. So we end up where we are.
So what is the answer? I believe these are a few of the keys:
- Slowly increase the number of mature bull tags till age objectives are reached. Spike hunts ruin LE units. If you don't believe me, I would gladly trade a North Cache tag for a San Juan tag. Deal?
- The Forest Service needs to manage their rangeland. They need to stop playing hacky sack and get out of their trucks and monitor the range as a whole. When an area is nearing the minimum required to support game, yank the sheep and cattle off.
- Sheep need to be managed closely. Their maximum numbers in a group should be cut by 75%. 5000 sheep in a single band is several times the total herd objective in many units. They decimate rangeland. Break them into smaller groups and keep them moving--they are just wandering around looking for a place to die anyway.
- Predators--don't shoot coyotes, they eat a lot of mice and they might kill a sheep. OK, I had to put that in.
These steps could allow a healthy increase in herd numbers and a subsequent increase in adult bull tags.
After all this BS, I'll make a couple of disclaimers:
- I am a cattleman, but I don't have grazing leases on public land.
- I have a piece of paper that says I'm a biologist from the same institution of higher learning that many of the DWR folks attended. Those pieces of paper may come in handy in a pinch if you have to go in the woods, but they aren't worth a lot more.
I'll probably reread this tomorrow and realize that I was too tired to be writing a diatribe. Let me know what you think.
Hazmat