The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (G&F) has been compiling data for years to determine how many elk and moose are on the ground in local hunting areas.
On Monday, Will Schultz, G&F biologist, shared data compiled after the 2011 harvest.
In the Snowy Range Elk Hunt Area, which includes hunt areas 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 110, 114 and 125, the goal has been 6,000 head of elk.
Schultz explained how the G&F measure the herds using classifications of age and sex, surveying elk from a helicopter and from the harvest surveys sent to hunters who obtained licenses. All the information is entered into a mathematical model which gives an estimate of how many elk are on the ground.
The new model differs from the one used before the Platte Valley Mule Deer Initiative, as they discovered it had too many variables to come up with an accurate count.
Colorado Wildlife has been using the model for around 12 years, Schultz said, and he believes it gives the G&F a more accurate count.
Counting every single elk is impossible, not to mention expensive, so the G&F takes a sampling. Last week they counted 3,800 elk in the Snowy Range sample area.
The G&F estimates there are 22 bulls for every 100 cows and that during hunting season 1,600 to 1,700 elk are harvested every year.
With this information as a baseline, Schultz explained the total harvest of bulls is steady but the cow/calf harvest is increasing as the G&F issues additional cow/calf permits to help decrease the elk population.
It is estimated there were 9,000 elk in the Snowy Range Elk Herd, which is 67 percent over the objective. Over the last several years, the elk herd has been double the objective.
“If we are erring, it would be on the high side,” Schultz said.
Results from the 2012 harvest are not available yet, but Schultz said the G&F foresees herd numbers dropping to 8,500.
Elk live longer than deer and pronghorn and even continue to calf in their teens, Schultz said.
At this point, G&F has no plans to increase the 6,000 objective.
Since 2004, the G&F has been allocating more cow/calf permits and has also extended the hunting season.
The options G&F face now are to keep the objective the same, increase the objective or decrease it.
Jim States, a member of the 13 person audience, said he felt the G&F were overlooking that the deer and elk are competing for the same area and foraging for the same food and if the G&F wants to increase the deer population, they need to look at the elk population.
Schultz agreed the population of the elk herd and the forest health has a dynamic impact on the deer herd, but said the most responsible way to reduce the herd is to continue to provide harvesting opportunities for anterless elk.
Schultz said interchange does occur between the elk populations and more than 10 percent of the elk move from one area to another.
Schultz said the Division of Park and Wildlife in Colorado have a hit and miss elk season. Mild weather and early storms can drive the elk into Wyoming.
Generally , Colorado does not harvest as many elk south of Snowy Range.
Schultz said about half of the hunters return the surveys and half of those are usable, and the G&F try to work with landowners to encourage any access they can on private land.
One of the incentives is to reimburse landowners for damage that elk do to property and haystacks. In Carbon County alone, G&F paid $18,000 for damages to private landowners.
State statute requires land owners to allow hunting to receive the compensation.
Snowy Range Moose
Currently, the G&F estimate 250 moose are in the Snowy Range area which includes hunt areas 38 and 41.
The first moose hunting season opened in 2000. The objective for moose is 100.
In 2010, the G&F started doing sightability surveys for mule deer and were discovering that more moose were down low. In 2011, they looked for moose at higher elevations and counted around 122 after the hunting season.
“We don’t see that number on the Sierra Madre side,” Schultz said.
Why moose are not selecting the Sierra Madre side is still unknown to the G&F.
It appears that the herd is in very good shape, Schultz said, and that in 2011 55 percent of the moose were a least 5 years old.
G&F has not attempted to build a population model for moose and currently does not have a budget for surveying moose.
Sierra Madre Elk
Tony Mong, G&F biologist in Baggs, is responsible for data collection on the Sierra Madre Elk, but was unable to make the meeting.
Schultz filled in for Mong and told the audience how the G&F radio collared 28 elk in the Sierra Madres which includes areas 108, 130, 21, 15 and 13.
When the G&F did a sampling of elk, they counted 5,000 and the model estimates the elk population is between 9,000 and 10,000.
Schultz said the Sierra Madre Elk Area is the most heavily hunted area in the state, but in 2012 it was neck and neck with the Snowy Range Elk area.
The G&F will have a new estimate of elk after harvest surveys are calculated next month.
In 2012, the G&F were able to do a 32 hour survey, which is double what they have done in the past.
In March and April the G&F will write their recommendations for the Sierra Madre herd. In May and June, G&F will hold public meetings to discuss their recommendations and in July, G&F will present their recommendations to the G&F commission.
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