Hoof Rot in the Blues

[HntnFsh]

Where I hunt the elk have had hoof rot for years and I’ve seen very little impact to the heards other than limping elk. Elk numbers are still good. Of course there are no wolves....yet.... and I don’t know the Blues at all so I can’t speak to how it may affect them there, but where I hunt I see hoof rot more as a concern and point of discussion of the possible drastic impact but have not seen any real tangible impact to elk numbers.

That really surprises me. Everywhere I've seen herds with hoof rot they have been decimated. I dont even hunt several places that were extremely productive just a few years ago. Where I could count on being in a few large herds on any given day that is so bad now your lucky to see a few scattered animals if anything. I think mostly due to hoof rot, but you could throw in the enormous amount of cow tags being given out as the reason for the decline.

[Mr Mykiss]

And it looks like they are getting rid of cow tags all together this year.

I’ve seen people post this a few times...then I check the proposed regs and see cuts/reductions but A FAR CRY from getting rid of all cow tags.
 

[Woodchuck]

And it looks like they are getting rid of cow tags all together this year.

I’ve seen people post this a few times...then I check the proposed regs and see cuts/reductions but A FAR CRY from getting rid of all cow tags.
 

No cow permits for rifle hunters in 162 at least. There were 100 not so many years ago.

[E-Town Hunter]

Its funny to me...I get on here occasionally and ready these threads. You'd think there are no more animals left to hunt at all in Washington. LOL. Yes, numbers may be down due to mismanagement mostly and wolves may be taking some, but what does every one expect? Roll out of bed at the butt crack of 10AM from their lavish 30 foot toy hauler and stumble 500 feet from camp over a set of 380" elk sheds and pick themselves up and dust off to see a heard of 3000 bulls in a clear cut every morning? It's called hunting. You have luck sometimes and sometimes you don't. Sometimes you have to break from your normal traditions and tactics that worked for you before and do something different to fill your tag. It's always doom and gloom on this sight. I honestly think many of you are doing it just to bring the tag applicants down. 

[grundy53]

Its funny to me...I get on here occasionally and ready these threads. You'd think there are no more animals left to hunt at all in Washington. LOL. Yes, numbers may be down due to mismanagement mostly and wolves may be taking some, but what does every one expect? Roll out of bed at the butt crack of 10AM from their lavish 30 foot toy hauler and stumble 500 feet from camp over a set of 380" elk sheds and pick themselves up and dust off to see a heard of 3000 bulls in a clear cut every morning? It's called hunting. You have luck sometimes and sometimes you don't. Sometimes you have to break from your normal traditions and tactics that worked for you before and do something different to fill your tag. It's always doom and gloom on this sight. I honestly think many of you are doing it just to bring the tag applicants down. 

Have you ever been around a herd/area with hoof rot?

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[Woodchuck]

Its funny to me...I get on here occasionally and ready these threads. You'd think there are no more animals left to hunt at all in Washington. LOL. Yes, numbers may be down due to mismanagement mostly and wolves may be taking some, but what does every one expect? Roll out of bed at the butt crack of 10AM from their lavish 30 foot toy hauler and stumble 500 feet from camp over a set of 380" elk sheds and pick themselves up and dust off to see a heard of 3000 bulls in a clear cut every morning? It's called hunting. You have luck sometimes and sometimes you don't. Sometimes you have to break from your normal traditions and tactics that worked for you before and do something different to fill your tag. It's always doom and gloom on this sight. I honestly think many of you are doing it just to bring the tag applicants down. 

Have you ever been around a herd/area with hoof rot?

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Take a peek at elk harvest reports and permit #'s for 162 over the last 20 years. We used to get on elk every day, maybe the the group of elk didn't have what we were looking for in it but we saw them. We have spent days on end without seeing any in the last couple of seasons. @rosscrazyelk is an animal in the woods and flat covers ground, he saw 6 elk total last season. The herd is in horrible decline for several reasons, hoof rot is not gonna help the outlook. 

[CoryTDF]

Its funny to me...I get on here occasionally and ready these threads. You'd think there are no more animals left to hunt at all in Washington. LOL. Yes, numbers may be down due to mismanagement mostly and wolves may be taking some, but what does every one expect? Roll out of bed at the butt crack of 10AM from their lavish 30 foot toy hauler and stumble 500 feet from camp over a set of 380" elk sheds and pick themselves up and dust off to see a heard of 3000 bulls in a clear cut every morning? It's called hunting. You have luck sometimes and sometimes you don't. Sometimes you have to break from your normal traditions and tactics that worked for you before and do something different to fill your tag. It's always doom and gloom on this sight. I honestly think many of you are doing it just to bring the tag applicants down. 

While I agree that this is the standard for many hunters in today's world it is just simply not the case with myself and my group of guys. I am no "Road Hunter" or "Camp Warrior" and I have certainly earned my back-country hunting stripes.

When I say that the numbers are way down and the herd is not anything like it was just 10 years ago you can bank that information was earned and learned through boot rubber not trailer tires and espresso machines. Additionally, There is no situation in which any herd or any hunter will benefit from hoof rot. I know what hunting looks like and I still feel very secure in my fear of what this could mean to the herds in the blues.         

[JimmyHoffa]

Its funny to me...I get on here occasionally and ready these threads. You'd think there are no more animals left to hunt at all in Washington. LOL. Yes, numbers may be down due to mismanagement mostly and wolves may be taking some, but what does every one expect? Roll out of bed at the butt crack of 10AM from their lavish 30 foot toy hauler and stumble 500 feet from camp over a set of 380" elk sheds and pick themselves up and dust off to see a heard of 3000 bulls in a clear cut every morning? It's called hunting. You have luck sometimes and sometimes you don't. Sometimes you have to break from your normal traditions and tactics that worked for you before and do something different to fill your tag. It's always doom and gloom on this sight. I honestly think many of you are doing it just to bring the tag applicants down. 

Back when logging was more prevalent and there were also more hunters out in the woods, that imaginary scenario seemed more likely than today's seasons.  When the early November snows would hit, the elk would migrate down and there would be herds of probably thousand out in big clear cuts.

[Mr Mykiss]

First hand accounts (e.g. Ross) and just looking at the trends in tag/permit numbers you gotta know there’s something really bad going on. Also the radio tag study and the percentage of mortality attributed to native hunting does not bode well at all for the bulls of the blues.

[gaddy]

E-Town Hunter, Did you hunt the Blues 30 yr's ago ? 20 ? 10 ? If you had you would know that #s are way, way down and declining every year. Way back when, I took a spike at end of season so I wouldn't go home empty handed. That was about 10 am and we didn't have it back to camp until about 2am. Not what I would call an easy jaunt from camp in the blues. Next season they went spike only. Saw some really nice bulls every year for a few years, one at about 15 yd's but no spikes. Our encounters with elk diminished every year to the point where we weren't seeing many at all and no bulls. We put in for tags every year and finally drew cow tags. Awesome ! We always see cows. That year I was the only one of 4 to fill a tag. Next season they split the points between categories. All points gone. After that point " if  " we were able to get on any Elk there wasen't anything legal.
My point is that the Elk #s are way down, add in the predators (wolves have been up there for awhile) and now add on Hoof rot in an area that is steep and deep ?? Dosn't look good in my eyes. I might guess that the land owners in the lower elevations with the depredation permits will do alright.

[emac]

And it looks like they are getting rid of cow tags all together this year.

I’ve seen people post this a few times...then I check the proposed regs and see cuts/reductions but A FAR CRY from getting rid of all cow tags.
 

In the national forest in the blues the proposed regs are to eliminate all cow tags. There are still some cow tags to apply for but they are all on private ground outside the national forest boundaries

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