Selkirk Elk Herd Ramblings

[KFhunter]

I dunno how to apply more pressure than there already is for predator management ??

Vote Culp...with Inslee it won't change!

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[cougforester]

Me neither. But maybe if it's focused specifically on growing elk populations, and how it could benefit their beloved wolves, that could help rather than a non-stop general barrage on wild populations?

I really don't know, but I'd like to try and get more eyes and attention on it.

[mdbuck5x5]

Without getting a handle on the predator abundance I don't see how the herds are going to grow any more then they have. The wolves are one thing but the bears and cougars are out of control. I think the state proved what we already knew when last year without really saying a word unless I missed something opening all units starting Aug 1st and upping the bear limit to 2.

[idaho guy]

A predator explosion with no end in sight  is the only thing that I see as well limiting herd growth. The habitat is beautiful and there's lots and lots of it. But if the elk keep getting eaten before they've got a chance to reproduce, there's nowhere to go but down regardless of the habitat availability.

 

  Elk numbers won’t improve without significant predator control especially wolves. Wolves are the X factor when it comes to elk populations. They have to control wolves first otherwise habitat, transplants, reducing hunting pressure won’t help at all. Control wolves first then the other things will help increase the elk populations.

[KFhunter]

It is argued cats are the #1 elk predator, and while thay may be true by the numbers... cats don't tend to focus on the large mature breeding population, they get younger elk up to yearlings mostly.

Bears also kill many elk, but they're almost always calves.

Wolves kill breeders, and are the #1 killer of  pregger cows


So while bears and cats might be way over population the elk can still grow in numbers, some calves will slip through the gauntlet and grow to breeding age, hopefully enough to cover the dying elk that got too old, but with wolves killing the breeding pops they just can't

Of course there's exceptions

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[10thmountainarcher]

It is argued cats are the #1 elk predator, and while thay may be true by the numbers... cats don't tend to focus on the large mature breeding population, they get younger elk up to yearlings mostly.

Bears also kill many elk, but they're almost always calves.

Wolves kill breeders, and are the #1 killer of  pregger cows


So while bears and cats might be way over population the elk can still grow in numbers, some calves will slip through the gauntlet and grow to breeding age, hopefully enough to cover the dying elk that got too old, but with wolves killing the breeding pops they just can't

Of course there's exceptions

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While all predators play a role in the demise of our elk herds, there is no way it’s just a coincidence that the numbers have went way down since the wolf population exploded.

[bearpaw]

I'm not convinced elk numbers have dropped in the northeast but herd growth seems to have stagnated. We are still seeing quite a few elk and seeing them in places there were no elk 10 years ago. But it does seem like the expansion of the herd has stagnated the last 5-6 years. Where I see the biggest predator impacts are on moose, wolves and ticks combined have devastated moose herds, I don't think we have even 30% of the moose we used to have. Deer herds are also pretty stagnate but I do some some deer herd increases in lowland areas, mostly around human inhabited lands. The deer recovery from the last bad winter is painfully slow due to high predation levels.

[callturner]

I think the blue tongue did a number on the whitetail here in Stevens co. As far as the increased seasons on bears, I knew that was coming when we lost our hound seasons. Uninformed liberal hippies voting a management tool out of the woods. Now they cry when a lion kills their pets or hangs around their house. But personally as far as elk are concerned, the increase in the bear and lion population along with the addition of wolves defiantly has an impact on the herds . 

[bearpaw]

Yeah agreed, blue tongue and then a hard winter on top of that. 

[Machias]

It's also not X number of wolves eat X number of elk.  They have changed the way cow elk graze, thus resulting in more cows not making it to full term, which means less and less calves in the spring.

[mdbuck5x5]

I couldn't agree more. To me the elk have dispersed more if anything and with the country we have up there and the places they go to hide its easy to see why you don't see many. I've had my fair share of success over the years but I'm not immune to go days without seeing anything. About 5 years ago my dad and I ran into a WSU bio with his scat sniffing hound that was doing a study on predators and what they were eating. We chatted with him for a bit and he told us from what he was seeing wolves were having a profound effect on ungulates but that bears were having the biggest effect across the board. Wolves were the biggest killers of moose. So take that info how you will just thought I'd share. Theres no doubt in my mind that the deer and elk herd #'s have stagnated. I'm speaking only for the areas I hunt in the corner.

[KFhunter]

I wish they'd disperse to my hay field


Elk that is, I got a few deer but nothing like years past, down at least 90% from peak deer pops of the 90's early 2000's

[KFhunter]

Any suggestions on getting elk in my fields?

I care not about making hay, I'm turning them into giant food plots and bird hunting.

And maybe a little hay..

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[Ridgeratt]

Any suggestions on getting elk in my fields?

I care not about making hay, I'm turning them into giant food plots and bird hunting.

And maybe a little hay..

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Major predator control.

[nwwanderer]

Fallowing for a crop of winter canola will bring them, not an in season prospect but might start the process for a later year.  It will bloom by the first week of May and makes some of the best nesting habitat around.  Scatter a little sweet clover in it in the elk tracks in the spring and with a little cooperation from mother nature you will have a three year exceptional food plot.  The sweet clover year three, fallow, canola, sweet clover, is a bug factory and real good winter thermal cover.  Year four is spring grain, trit or butte 86 would be my pick, both tall and good cover and seed producers.  20% of each would give you full meal deal.  Build it, they will come