Colockum Elk Herd (UPDATED)

[colockumelk]

There is good news for this herd.  There has been a  Colockum Wildlife Area Manager position made up for the Region 3 team.  This is great news.  Now there is a guy who will be focused solely on the Colockum area.  I think this will be a positive change for the region. The name of the manager is Pete Lopushinsky.  He will work with the region 3 bio Jeff Bernatowicz.  (Yes I know apparantly they pick guys based off how hard their last name is to pronounce   )  There is going to be a meeting in Ellensburg on January 11th.  Here is the link for the information.  http://wdfw.wa.gov/news/release.php?id=jan0412a
 
Hello everyone my name is Aaron Blanchard. I am the Region 2 VP. A big reason why I got elected was because of my knowledge and passion for the Colockum Elk herd. So a big part of what I will bring to the table and talk about is putting out the issues and information about the Colockum Elk herd and then try and organize help. So the first few posts will be all education bringing to light the issues. After that I am going to try and organize some volunteers to attend the meetings and also to help volunteer their time and equipment with road managment. The first post is about the major issues. I encourage everyone to read it. It is a paper I wrote in 2010. It is very informative.

The only thing I would change on it is to say that one of the issues and reasons the Colockum elk herd's bull:cow ratio sucks is because the harvest has solely been focused on bulls (spikes mostly) and none of it has been on cows. Whereas the Peaches Ridge sub-herd has had its harvest focused evenly between cows and bulls. Thank you for your time and interest.

Here is the Summary of the paper.

The Colockum Elk herd has taken a nose dive in the last ten years. This is due to the fact that too many spikes are harvested each year during the general rifle season. Not enough spikes live through the hunting season to offset the amount of branch bulls killed by poachers, tribal hunters and licensed hunters each year. The Colockum elk herd experiences a higher than usual spike harvest when compared to Peaches Ridge sub‐herd due to the Colockum’s unique migration pattern coupled with a high density of roads and lack of cover and concealment. This fact coupled with the increase of tribal harvest results in a consistent loss of bull recruitment each year. What is needed is to either further increase the restrictions to the current general hunting season such as a cut in the number of days during the general season or to go to permit only altogether.

[colockumelk]

Here is the article the Yakima Herald wrote on my paper

http://sports.yakimablogs.com/index.php?s=Colockum+elk+herd

Here is an updated situation report on the Colockum elk herd.

The basic issue is this. Yearling bull recruitment is extremely low. Only about 20% live through the general season. A large increase in tribal hunting and poaching is having a growing impact on mature bulls. Cow harvest has been eliminated since 2004 so the harvest has been completely focused on bulls. So tje cow population has increased and the bull population has decreased. The bull:cow ratio is 5:100 which is 4x lower than what it should be. The low bull to cow ratio significantly increases the bull populations natural mortality rate and also decreases the calf:cow ratio which is 27:100, which is 2x lower than it should be.

The reason for the low spike recruitment is a couple of things. For one the herd is not migratory. Unlike other herds which stays high far away from roads until tje snow flies, the Colockum herd stays low amongst the roads all year long. Speaking of roads the Colockum has a lot of roads and coupled with tje open terrain makes it so the elk don't have many places to escape hunting pressure. The area is open so there isn't a lot of places to hide. Also tje area is extremely popular so a lot of people hunt it.

This part might be getting into the weeds a bit. There is a game preserve called the Arthur Coffin Game Preserve. The elk know they are safe there so by the time the hunting season rolls around 50% of the elk herd is in or around the preserve. There are a lot of roads around the preserve. So it makes these elk very susceptible to poaching and tribal hunters. During the general season the place is literally ringed with camps. Since the place is so crowded with elk the least dominant elk get kicked out. The less dominant being spikes. So they hang around the outside of the preserve and are very vulnerable to licensed hunters.

What needs to happen is this. Start with antlerless tags given out. Try to cut tje cow population from 3,690 to 2,700. This will focus some of the harvest off of yearling bulls creating some escapement. Start some road closures to provide escapement. I suggested to the WDFW to create a roadless area around the game preserve of 1 mile. This would create the most amount of escapement for the most amount of elk for the cheapest. Them they need to close off a lot of the spur roads on the Naneum Basin. Again creating more escapement. In the Quilomene they need to continue with road closures during the winter to protect wintering elk from harassment, poachers and to decrease tribal harvest during the winter months. All of the road closures I mentioned would not only create escapement for the elk during tje general season nut it would also protect them from poachers and reduce tribal harvest.

Road closures would create escapement for yearling bulls and mean a higjer bull recruitment. The cow permits wpuld also raise bull recruitmemt by focusing some of the harvest on cows. A decrease in cows due to harvest and increased bull recruitment would double the bull to cow ratio in 3 years. GUARANTEED! No matter what we do we are still not going to fix the herd unless the Yakamas do the right thing and restrict their harvest or at the very least start reporting harvest. The Colockum has become very popular amongst the Yakamas and is a trophy hunt for them. They have a significant impact on the herd. In 2006 it was estimated ny tje WDFW that they harvested 40 bulls. That number is definately higher since more of their members hunt the Colockum. The only thing the WDFW can do is close roads to restrict road access.

The WDFW could give out 280 cow tags to archery, 130 to muzzle loader, and 270 for rifle. These numbers would harvest about 300 cows a year. A last resort would be to go permit only for bulls. If this happened the WDFW could hand out 150 any bull tags to archery, 60 to muzzle loader and 160 to rifle.

So something along the lines of this. We could afford to harvest 300 cows a year. And the herd would stay at 4,500 elk which is the WDFW objective. These numbers would also bring the bull:cow ratio up to 15:100 within 5 years.


Rifle: 228 cows x 85% success rate equals 270 cow permits
ML: 52 cows x 40% success rate equals permits 130 cow permits
Archery: 70 cows x 25% success rate equals 280 cow permits
Total Permits 680

[colockumelk]

Here is the first letter I would like to take to the WDFW.

According to the WDFW herd managment plan for the Colockum which was produced in 2006. The herd objective was for 4,500 animals. Well the Colockum elk herd is now at over 4,800 animals. So the herd has reached its objective. Although one question is why was the herd objective in 1998 6,500 animals but 8 years later that number changed to 4,500? That is a pretty large change in numbers!

The Colockum's elk herd may be at its objective but the overall herd health is horrible. The bull to cow ratio is 5:100, the branch bull:cow ratio is 2:100. And the calf:cow ratio is 27:100. The ONLY reason the herd is at its objective is because there hasn't been antlerless elk hunting other than Master Hunters since 2004. Yes the elk herd is at its objective but this does not mean the elk herd is healthy. It just means the number of cows has skyrocketed.

One of the reasons that the bull:cow ratio is 4x lower than what it should be is because ALL of the harvest has been focused on bulls. There has been no antlerless managment. One of the reasons that the calf:cow ratio is twice as low as it should be is because there are so many barren cows walking around. Here is why an elk herd with an extremely low bull:cow ratio is detrimental to herd health. Since there are so many cows compared to bulls the rut lasts alot longer than in a healthy herd. The extended rut coupled with sometimes a second rut really wears down the bulls in the herd. This makes them much weaker going into the winter and makes them much more suseptible to winter kill and predators. Therefore the Colockum elk herd is seeing a higher bull mortality rate than in places such as Yakima that has a healthy bull to cow ratio. Another impact is there is alot more cows and alot of barren cows that the bulls have to compete with for feed during the winter.

The other impact that a small bull:cow ratio has on the elk herd is with calf mortality rates. Since the bull:cow ratio is so low alot of cows do not get bred in September. So they will come into estrus again in October and even in November. The cows that are bred late will give birth to their calves late in the year and makes for higher winter mortality rates amongst the calves.

The Colockum elk herd may have reached its objective but is nowhere near being healthy. Something has to be done to correct the bul:cow ratio which is 3-4x lower than what it should be. One way to correct this is to bring back antlerless hunting in the Colockum. Determine how many cows you want harvested and then issue out the appropriate amount of antlerless permits for archery, muzzle loader and rifle seasons. Yes even make the archery guys have to draw a cow permit in order to harvest a cow in the Colockum. Otherwise the Colockum would become a zoo during the early season and you would not be able to control the amount of harvest. (I am an avid bowhunter and am not sure if I would want a general season cow hunt in the Colockum)

On that note the Teannaway early season for archery should include a general season antlerless hunt. And all season in GMU 335 should not be "True Spike" it should be spike only. GMU 335 should not be managed the same as GMU's 328/329.

[colockumelk]

Here is the second letter I would like to take to the WDFW

As all of you are aware, one of the main obstacles standing in the way of achieving a desired bull to cow ratio of 15:100 is the high amount of road density in the Colockum. Not only does this restrict the amount of escapement for the yearling bulls during the general season, but it also makes the branch bulls much more suseptible to tribal hunters and poachers. Actually physically closing certain roads will go along ways to helping the bull to cow ratio by allowing escapement for the yearling bulls from licensed hunters and escapement for the branch bulls from tribal hunters and poachers.

In todays world budgets are tight for everyone. I am sure the WDFW is not any different. Therefore when we take a look at closing roads we must choose the roads that will give us the most bang for our buck. For this reason I urge you to look at the roads that surround the Arthur Coffin Game Preserve. Here is why. The Arthur Coffin game preserve is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand it provides a sanctuary from licensed hunters. But on the other hand over 50% of the elk herd is condensed into that small area. This makes this a very lucrative spot for poachers. Another negative effect it has on the herd is because the area around the Coffin preserve is so packed with elk the less dominant adult elk are pushed off of the Preserve. The less dominant elk being the yearling bulls. During the modern season the Arthur Coffin Game Preserve is literally surrounded by hunting camps. So when these yearling bulls are pushed off of the protective sanctuary they are pushed into the sights of licensed hunters. This makes the yearling bulls very suseptible to hunters making for a very low yearling bull recruitment rate.

The area around the Arthur Coffin Game Preserve is packed with hunters during the general modern season. For good reason, the area is packed with elk. Another reason is that there is alot road access to, and around the game preserve. If we are going to have a game preserve up there then lets actually make it a game preserve where it is a place for the elk to escape to. Not a place for the elk to get crammed into and then get surrounded by hunters. It completely defeats the purpose. My proposal is this. The elk every year cram themselves into this area, and will continue to do so. So lets focus on this area when deciding which roads to close. Because this will give us the most bang for our buck. We will be providing escapement for the most amount of animals for the money.

My proposal is not to enlarge the Arthur Coffin Game Preserve. It is to close any and all roads that are within 1 mile of the game preserve. Basically make it so that if hunters want to hunt near the game preserve they are going to have to walk in to do it. And they wont be able to camp right next to it. This 1 mile buffer around the game preserve will significantly enhance the amount of escapement for the yearling bulls. On the other side of the coin if the tribal hunters or especially the poachers wish to harvest branch antlered bulls near the reserve then they will also have to walk in to do so. The Colockum has become extremely popular amongst tribal hunters. And for good reason, the area provides trophy hunting with alot of easy road access (something hunters of all races look for). This would protect alot of the branch bulls from tribal hunters since just like licensed hunters most stay within 1/2 of the roads. And as for poachers, typically poachers like to stay near roads to make a quick kill and are able to leave quickly. Currently poachers can easily make quick kills in this preserve. If there was a 1 mile buffer with no road access around the Arhtur Coffin Game Preserve the poachers would not be able to hunt the preserve without significantly increasing their chances of getting caught.

Whatever roads you choose to close it must be done smartly and efficiently. It is my opinion that since most of the Colockum elk herd is near or on the Game Preserve our money should be spent trying to provide escapement in the area that affects the largest amount of elk. Thank you for your time.

[400out]

  that sounds like a step in the right direction 

[colockumelk]

I have emailed the Colockum Wildlife area manager (who is new) Pete Lopushinsky.  He said that they have already bought and purchased 10 new gates that they plan on putting up in the Colockum.  They plan on putting them on roads that are already closed to access but need to be physically closed.  Of course the Kittitas Valley Field and Stream are very much against this happening.  They are also against closing roads in the wintering grounds.  They are against any and all road closures. 

I think that our stance on the Colockum elk herd and the deer herd should be doing what is needed to help the animals out.  This means some road closures.  So the WDFW is leaning heavilly on the opinion of the Kittitas Valley Field and Stream for their opinions which is why there havn't been any road closures.  So I think that we have a chance to give the WDFW the back bone and support they need to do what is right by the elk and deer in the area.  By giving the WDFW a wildlife group (WFW) to support them and their actions.  I think this is one thing they have been kind of waiting on. 

[colockumelk]

Here is a brief overview of what the Region 3 team has told me.

  Manager Lopushinsky has filed a SEPA to close about 4 miles of road in the bottom of Stray/Tekison due to erosion/sedimentation issues.  The  Kittitas Field and Stream club has been very vocal against any road closures and commented negatively about the Stray/Tekison closure.  There have been meetings with the club regarding the closure, but a final decision has been made.   

The majority of the summer/fall range for Colockum elk is controlled by DNR (Naneum State Forest).  Given budgets and local opposition, I’d be surprised if there are any in the immediate future. Your best contact would be DNR in Ellensburg for information on their road management and possibility of using volunteers.

[Cougeyes]

I dont understand why WDFW should be listening to and being swayed by opinions of the field and stream club.  Those guys have struck me as the ol' boys that can't seem to grasp the management needed now to help our natural resources.  I have read several of their statements in the daily record in the past and I disagree with a lot of what they say and suggest.  Their opinions on the Colockum road closures are no different. WDFW needs to consider opinions and other facts of the public and other agencies, or clubs etc.... but in the end they are the managers of the land and should know what's best for that land and the resources. 

[colockumelk]

When they said they have had meetings with the KVFS club I don't think it was like a formal event.  I think it was more like the Club officers asked to meet with the Region 3 team and give them their proposal and their objections to road closures.  The KVFS club is a very positive influence in the valley and does alot of great things.  But....when it comes to road closures and deer and elk they are wrong.  I don't think they have the elk and deer's best interest at heart.  I think they only have their own interest at heart. 

That being said I think the WDFW is looking for public support on this and are trying to work with groups on these issues.  Right now the KVFS club is the only group to work with.  I am hoping to change that.  I have already started emailing them and hopefully the WFW can be a group the WDFW can work with to solve issues in the Colockum.  I think the WDFW should still listen and meet with the KVFS club but... if their objections and opinions are off and will contradict progress with that herd then they should not heed their advice.  And instead should do what is right for that elk and deer herd.  After all I believe that the number one purpose and goal for the WDFW when it comes to elk and deer is to have a healthy elk and deer herd.  The tool to achieve this is using hunters.  Yes they should try and please hunters but I think we have seen that the will of hunters isn't always the right thing.  The popular thing is quite often the wrong thing. 

[leed]

I would like to set one thing straight.
We are not against all road closures. If good science is present we would support a closure in the interest of wildlife.  I will not go into details here becausse it will take too long but I extend an offer to anyone to attend a meeting or contact us directly for the truth and the real story and big picture. We have the facts. WDFW is good at painting a picture and using graphs and stats but the old saying is "garbage in garbage out". We want the same thing as everyone. Sustainable wildlife management and open and respected access to public lands.
 The proposed closure of a couple miles of Stray Gulch and Tekison road are in the winter range and it has nothing to do with Elk either.  If you would have done your homework you would know that.
Our next meeting is this coming Monday night at 7:30 pm at the Moose Lodge on Main St in Ellensburg. This proposed closure is our topic and we are presenting the facts. Our meetings are always open to the public.
Road density is an issue within the forested canopy area and that ground is not owned by WDFW. It is the Naneum Ridge State Forest owned by WA DNR.
I'm glad eyeryone has so much spark and interest in this herd and the land they thrive on. I hope you can put it to good use but you must be informed of ALL the underlying issues first.
By the way, go look at this.  Look at the total number of elk in the herd. Look at the Cow to Calf ratio. Look at the bull recruitment ratio.  Look at the total bull count. Look at what they say is the branched bull numbers. Look at all the hard data. Now, do the math and ask yourself. Based on those numbers, how many cows does a branched bull have to mate with to keep the herd level or increasing? A branched bull can't mate with that many cows! Their numbers on branched bulls are not correct and they even admitted that to us in a recent meeting. 
Focus on the important issues and do the homework and arm yourself with knowledge and fight for a healthy robust wildlife area!  Just make sure you have the facts.  Please.

[KillerMiller]

I have emailed the Colockum Wildlife area manager (who is new) Pete Lopushinsky. 

Pete has been there for at least 10 yrs. Not sure why you thought he was new.

[colockumelk]

Pete has been there for at least 10 yrs. Not sure why you thought he was new.

Really?  I have never herd of him.  Well that position is definately new at least. 

Leed did you read my paper that I wrote and attached. Did you read the article done by the Yakima Herald or did you read any of my letters I am asking people to read.  I am pretty sure my facts and data is solid. I would love for you to go into detail because I am stationed in NY and I can't attend any of your meetings otherwise I would.  I promise.  But I can't so I would like to see the data you guys have that debunks mine.   Every study I have seen shows there is a direct link between road density and herd health.  And they all show that the less roads there is the healthier the herd.   And I am not exactly pro-WDFW or a puppet of theirs.  I have been very criticle of the job they have done in the Colockum. 

Yes I know the bull:cow ratio, I know the calf:cow ratio, I know exactly why the ratios are both low and the relationship between the two.  I know the exact progression of the herd from 1999 to 2011.  I know the reasons why and the sub-reasons etc. 

I would be very interested to hear about your guys research and information.  If you could possibly email it to me I would read it as soon as possible.  I am interested in learning all I can.  I am sure there is stuff in there that I could add to my own research.  I am open to any and all suggestions. 

[jstone]

Hope it works out. I would like to go back and hunt my area there

[doyourtime89]

Yes Sir, I miss the Colockum and my dad does more then me.  We haven't been hunting there since they stopped letting bow hunters (every hunter for that matter) take cows.  Really hard to be spike only and now true spike only with a bow in there.  But we LOVE that area.  We hope to be back hunting up there sooner then later.  Hey Colockumelk, thanks for all your work, time and posts about that area. 

[colockumelk]

Your welcome. With any luck there's a chance the wdfw will be issuing cow permits for all three user groups.