Weather plays biggest role in elk populations
Idaho mulls shorter elk hunting season
Associated Press
“Hunters have blamed growing numbers of wolves. Hayden acknowledged that wolves are a factor, but he said the winter of 2007-08, which was colder and longer than normal, was the primary reason for the low calf numbers.”
Ken Cole
Ken Cole is a 5th generation Idahoan, an avid fly fisherman, wildlife enthusiast, and photographer. He is the interim Idaho Director for Western Watersheds Project. We do not accept unsolicited “guest” authors or advertising.
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Interesting story in the Casper Star Tribune today about “a Montana man who has been sentenced to a four-year prison term for breaking firearms and wildlife laws when he shot an elk and dragged its head to his pickup inside Yellowstone National Park.” One of the issues brought up is “Yellowstone’s ‘no-man’s land’ – an area in the park “involving the U.S. Constitution and Wyoming’s federal jurisdiction” (this particular area includes lands in all three states – Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.) Another good reason not to allow firearms in national parks.
This has nothing to do with people legally carrying a firearm, this man was already prohibited from owning or using a firearm because of his past. He was a criminal and continues to be a criminal…
The “no-mans land” of Yellowstone is the Idaho portion of YNP. The Constitution says that you must seat a jury from the state and district wherein the crime was committed. Crimes in Yellowstone are heard in Wyoming Fed Dist Court, how do you seat a jury from the Idaho Portion of YNP when no one lives there? A Columbia Univ. Law Professor pointed this out a few years ago. Theoretically it would be impossible to seat a jury for a crime that occurs in the Idaho Portion of YNP. This is not true for MT as there are people that reside in the MT portion of YNP that you could call to jury duty.
I attended the IDFG open house in Blaine County, and it was encouraging to see the support for more responsible game management. Most people were in favor of shorter seasons, improving sex ratios, and putting more units on a draw basis – creating better age class distribution. I also sensed some recognition that the declining deer herds were to some extent a result of lousy habitat, weather, and too many guys in the woods, and not solely placed on the critters with teeth and claws.
Who else are they going to blame? Climate change? I am betting they don’t believe it is real…
It is interesting. Everyone is talking energy, energy, energy, when THE issue of the next 20 years will be climate change, drought, water scarcity, water quality. I can always ride a bike or walk if I don’t have a car, but I can’t not drink. We are SEVENTEEN inches under typical snows here in Boulder, and the warm temps in the mountains are causing premature snow melt that will show up later on the Front Range. It is already the worst fire season for the first two months of any year in recent history, and it will only get worse.
So, when the habitats start to fail for things like elk, it is more complicated than just hauling out the same old tired saw about wolves…
JimT,
Wasn’t last year one of the snowiest in recent history and it stuck around much later than usual.