The Elk Committee will start meeting in September. They will be working on the 5 year elk plan. You can contact any of the RAC members or committee members. We need as much input as possible so that the plan can reflect what the majority of the elk hunting public wants. Biologists know that it only takes 3-5 bulls per 100 cows to maintain adequate calf production. The question is though is what the public wants as far as bull/cow ratios - age class ratios.Also, do you want to increase overall herd sizes ? If you do, we need to convince all the government agencies to agree to that.
One other big issue-- Should we include in the elk counts, the elk that are on private lands and unavailable to public hunting. That would include antlerless, late season hunts where the elk are primarily on private land where pulic hunting is not allowed. Most counts are done when elk are most likely to be on private unhuntable lands. Many elk stay on private lands even during the summer months. If the elk that are on private lands are not available to public hunting should they be excluded from the elk management count numbers. There are many areas in the state where only 50 to 70% of the elk are actually available to the public hunter. Should we require that only the elk that are on huntable ( public or private but open to the public) lands be counted toward the management objective numbers for that particular unit ? If there are public elk on closed private lands, should the landowners be responsible to control or eliminate any nuisance elk.
Let me know your thoughts on these subjects. R Hansen CRAC
One other big issue-- Should we include in the elk counts, the elk that are on private lands and unavailable to public hunting. That would include antlerless, late season hunts where the elk are primarily on private land where pulic hunting is not allowed. Most counts are done when elk are most likely to be on private unhuntable lands. Many elk stay on private lands even during the summer months. If the elk that are on private lands are not available to public hunting should they be excluded from the elk management count numbers. There are many areas in the state where only 50 to 70% of the elk are actually available to the public hunter. Should we require that only the elk that are on huntable ( public or private but open to the public) lands be counted toward the management objective numbers for that particular unit ? If there are public elk on closed private lands, should the landowners be responsible to control or eliminate any nuisance elk.
Let me know your thoughts on these subjects. R Hansen CRAC