Post by: salt n sage90 on December 20, 2023, 10:27:56 AM
I was bird hunting the Colockum this past weekend and ran into a few fellows that had depredation tags, they told me its a cow only tag and its due to the damage to the orchards.
I have no issues with this, but my question is if the point is to not only lower elk numbers but also haze them away from orchards, wouldn't it make more sense for them to hunt the private lands? These hunters were hunting the wildlife area. I get that in order to fill the tag they need to go where the elk are, but with elk numbers hurting I thought it would make more sense for these tags to target the animals that are actually on the private land and not chase them around in the areas we actually want them to be. I understand elk move around. Maybe this time of year they aren't actually doing any damage to the orchards, or maybe they sneak in at night. Or maybe its more about lowering the numbers and less about the hazing.
Once again I have no animus toward anyone on this. Feel free to school me up.
Post by: boneaddict on December 20, 2023, 10:51:17 AM
Post by: Dan-o on December 20, 2023, 11:04:07 AM
To me it makes sense the way they do it.
The elk doing the damage will wander around, so it makes sense the way they draw the boundaries to me.
There are other depredation tags where the area is much more targeted. I had one several years ago thst was written to be good for a specific farm field, but the land ownership pattern there was much different.
Post by: GOcougsHunter on December 20, 2023, 11:36:11 AM
Post by: Rainier10 on December 20, 2023, 02:42:59 PM
Post by: trophyhunt on December 20, 2023, 04:17:17 PM
Post by: jrebel on December 20, 2023, 04:30:14 PM
Post by: trophyhunt on December 20, 2023, 06:13:35 PM
Post by: NOCK NOCK on December 21, 2023, 05:20:22 AM
I spent a few days hunting an orchard edge during early archery. The entire outside row of trees had been rubbed/mangled, but elk stayed on adjacent property.
Post by: salt n sage90 on December 21, 2023, 08:21:36 AM
Cheers
Post by: Quackaddict on December 22, 2023, 06:17:21 PM
As far as I know, Alcoa does not allow hunting on their properties. They own quite a bit of land in that area.
I spent a few days hunting an orchard edge during early archery. The entire outside row of trees had been rubbed/mangled, but elk stayed on adjacent property.
Correct Alcoa is no access
Post by: jstone on December 23, 2023, 06:42:43 PM
Post by: teanawayslayer on December 23, 2023, 06:56:56 PM
If you need depredation permits but dont allow hunting then you don’t get permits.!! Should be on the land or within a 100 yards or so. Not a mile. That doesn’t keep them from entering the propertya lot of time they will go into the orchards or fields depending on what area the tags are in. Those elk are in there all night leaving the area at first light. They travel a long ways. The bio dictates the hunt area.
Post by: Dan-o on December 23, 2023, 09:06:37 PM
If you need depredation permits but dont allow hunting then you don’t get permits.!! Should be on the land or within a 100 yards or so. Not a mile. That doesn’t keep them from entering the propertya lot of time they will go into the orchards or fields depending on what area the tags are in. Those elk are in there all night leaving the area at first light. They travel a long ways. The bio dictates the hunt area.
Agreed.
Not much difference between a hundred yards and a mile to those elk.
And some places simply aren't conductive to hunting..... Like some of the cattle feeders, who don't want high powered rifle shots in and amongst their cattle on a feed yard. You have to let those elk get off his property.