WYOMING GAME AND FISH JACKSON HOW TO

And elk in the eastern part of the state aren’t getting additional pressure from natural predators, such as wolves and grizzly bears. In eastern Wyoming, there’s more private ground than in western Wyoming, which can make access for hunters difficult. And they claim that elk are fed not only help them survive winter, but to keep them from raiding ranchers’ haystacks, tearing up fences and otherwise wreaking havoc on private property.

However, Game and Fish biologists have stated that trying to feed deer could do more harm than good, because unlike elk, their digestive systems don’t adjust well supplementary feed. The elk feeding program itself also recently became a source of controversy, while the agency drew some criticism for not feeding starving deer this winter. Moreover, Game and Fish implemented emergency feeding for elk in some areas, but supplemental feed wasn’t given to deer and antelope. Elk licenses were not cut.Įlk also died in some of the hardest-hit areas, but their losses weren’t nearly as bad as those among mule deer and antelope. In response, Game and Fish made significant cuts to antelope and deer tags for this fall’s hunting season. Mule deer and antelope herds took huge hits this year from massive winterkill and disease outbreaks, particularly in central and southwest Wyoming. Of Wyoming’s three prized big game species - antelope, mule deer and elk - elk are doing the best by far. Magagna said that in places, elk populations are “three or four times” over the Wyoming Game and Fish department’s herd objective numbers, and some ranchers are starting to feel overrun. His reference to wild horses was a comparison to the tenuous line the Bureau of Land Management walks in balancing various groups’ stakes in the management of Wyoming’s mustangs.

He made his remarks during a meeting of the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Travel, Recreation Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee. “I always tell Game and Fish that elk are their wild horses,” Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Grower’s Association, said Friday.

WYOMING GAME AND FISH JACKSON HOW TO

There are apparently too many elk, particularly in eastern and northeastern Wyoming, and lawmakers, ranchers, hunters and the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish are in a quandary over how to handle it.

Wyoming game and fish jackson