Too many elk in SE Alberta?

[fingershooter]

Hope the link came through....
Most of us would give our left n@t to hunt elk on the base

http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=466925

[Mike_W]

I would rather see them give out a 1000 cow tags and increase some bull tags than to setup a high fence to capture and kill the "excess elk"

[IR_mike]

Originally Posted by Mike_W

I would rather see them give out a 1000 cow tags and increase some bull tags than to setup a high fence to capture and kill the "excess elk"

I'd rather see them reintroduced to former elk range in the northern green zone of the province.

[cacty]

They are RATS and they do not belong. Ofcourse this is just my ******* opinion.

[James_B]

Start relocating them to the porkies especially ad then everywhere else in need.... lol

[Lefty-Canuck]

Wild elk aren't exactly easily "transported" they don't do especially well getting trailered not to mention with head gear....they aren't hamsters or budgies....

LC

[dshaw]

They won't move the elk back west, some may have CWD now form being out east and they won't risk any spreading of the disease.

[Sledhead71]

Originally Posted by cacty

They are RATS and they do not belong. Ofcourse this is just my ******* opinion.

Obviously your not an opportunist and live in this area From the threads and discussions on this subject, most are all for opportunity and really don't understand a darn thing about this herd and the effects on the area.

To think they would round these up and slaughter for the public is asinine, or relocate to other areas... Who is going to pay for this ?

I have said all along, this particular situation is the storm providing an avenue for "paid" hunting in Alberta.. We are getting close, now we have issuing "land owner" tags to military personal who don't own these lands nor should they be put in the front of the line.. This can of worms is just a start really to something larger in the making..

How do you think the effected land owners feel about this step to issue this tag to the military personal ?

Earlier this year when the area was flown for a count, rumor has it the count was stopped at 7500 animals... Most who reside in this area have the 10 thousand mark currently in this area..

I found out this year there are 3500 head of cattle now grazing the area, this will only create more future problems IMO.

I'm all for opportunity, but this situation is an utter failure and worst case of mismanagement and finger pointing I have ever seen in our province...

When the Southern part of our province experiences a bad winter and heavy snow fall, well there will be dead elk everywhere.....

[PBHunter]

Originally Posted by Lefty-Canuck

Wild elk aren't exactly easily "transported" they don't do especially well getting trailered not to mention with head gear....they aren't hamsters or budgies....

LC

So, out of the 200 or so originally transplanted to Suffield, how many died during the process? How many of the 150 or so elk annually removed from Elk Island die during transport / relocation process?

[dmcbride]

Is it a general season in WMU's around the base or is it draw?

[luv2hunt]

Send them here we will takem all , i wish. Funny relocating them there in the first place was no problem so why is it now? many northern/eastern/western areas would be glad to have them. maybe the problem is to many grazing cows? lol

[snowman160]

Originally Posted by dmcbride

Is it a general season in WMU's around the base or is it draw?

Oh boy here we go!!

[Looper]

Originally Posted by Sledhead71

Obviously your not an opportunist and live in this area From the threads and discussions on this subject, most are all for opportunity and really don't understand a darn thing about this herd and the effects on the area.

To think they would round these up and slaughter for the public is asinine, or relocate to other areas... Who is going to pay for this ?

I have said all along, this particular situation is the storm providing an avenue for "paid" hunting in Alberta.. We are getting close, now we have issuing "land owner" tags to military personal who don't own these lands nor should they be put in the front of the line.. This can of worms is just a start really to something larger in the making..

How do you think the effected land owners feel about this step to issue this tag to the military personal ?

Earlier this year when the area was flown for a count, rumor has it the count was stopped at 7500 animals... Most who reside in this area have the 10 thousand mark currently in this area..

I found out this year there are 3500 head of cattle now grazing the area, this will only create more future problems IMO.

I'm all for opportunity, but this situation is an utter failure and worst case of mismanagement and finger pointing I have ever seen in our province...

When the Southern part of our province experiences a bad winter and heavy snow fall, well there will be dead elk everywhere.....

Not likely. We just had some nasty winters in 10,11,12. Decimated the antelope and pheasant. Did not slow the elk herd apparently.

Looper

[cowboyhunter]

Maybe we could take all the free oil lease money from the cheap lease land out there and have a funded study on the problem!

[Sledhead71]

Originally Posted by Looper

Not likely. We just had some nasty winters in 10,11,12. Decimated the antelope and pheasant. Did not slow the elk herd apparently.

Looper

You never read into my post, mother nature can be brutal and so can those protecting their lively hoods and herds as well

[kilgoretrout]

Originally Posted by cacty

They are RATS and they do not belong. Ofcourse this is just my ******* opinion.

Maybe you should do a little research before you post. The historical range for Elk much like buffalo covered most of North America ..... if you know where that is on the planet

[Flatlandliver]

Originally Posted by kilgoretrout

Maybe you should do a little research before you post. The historical range for Elk much like buffalo covered most of North America ..... if you know where that is on the planet

Pretty sure Cacty lives in the area of the problem. When the elk used to be there so were the predators that are not there anymore. Historical ranges dont really apply, dont think a couple million bison would go over very good there either. The issue is man is messing with nature again and is shocked by the results. Eventually the herd may find a balance but how that happens (disease?), who knows. In the meantime people are just trying to figure out how to control the growth of the herd through hunting.
There are a few really good threads on the subject, try searching Suffield/wild horses/etc.etc.etc

[kilgoretrout]

If thats the case I feel for him and the crop damage etc... that goes on, just a shame that do not allow more tags, longer seasons, base access to deal with the problem that has been created I guess they should have left the horses alone

[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by PBHunter

So, out of the 200 or so originally transplanted to Suffield, how many died during the process? How many of the 150 or so elk annually removed from Elk Island die during transport / relocation process?

Not sure wasn't there and wasn't involved but the odd domestic one dies too, so I imagine the wild ones fair a little worse unless tranquilizers are used.

LC

[Flatlandliver]

Originally Posted by kilgoretrout

If thats the case I feel for him and the crop damage etc... that goes on, just a shame that do not allow more tags, longer seasons, base access to deal with the problem that has been created I guess they should have left the horses alone

Lots of stakeholders there. They have added more tags and seasons over the years both in and out of the base but they are playing catchup big time. IMO, more base / protected area access is needed as just increasing the number of hunters outside the base will only decrease the harvest. Its been discussed a ton here and other sites, no easy solution to a complete lack of foresight. I feel for the ranchers who now have to deal with the damage from elk and fielding hundreds of calls from hunters. That said they are a great bunch out there. Cant believe I just said I feel bad for a rancher.

[Rantastic]

lol i can guarantee that there is 20 000 elk hunters who would drive to the base for any elk. cow, spike and otherwise. That would seriously curb the problem if they opened up a mass tag blowout and 6 month season just for 1 or 2 years.
90% of my elk hunting buddies hang up empty tags every year due to low populations in our zones. The easy solution is the ranchers having the problems hand over hunting permission control and monitoring to the local f and w or other form of local govt(which i have seen done successfully before) then for one year they "deal" with hundreds of hunters on their property yet save tens of thousands of dollars on fence repairs and lost grazing revenue. And the herd gets decimated while hunters families get fed and very little expense to anyone.
I realize the organization of this and the ranchers will have a little extra stress in their lives for one season but after the numbers are back under 1 thousand then things return to "normal"....

What do you guys think? Pro's Con's?
BTW Many ranchers I know do not allow hunting permission yet whine and complain to get reparations money from the govt to cover their fence and crop damage due to elk herds of 200 in the area. I have heard that most of this money comes from our hunting tags costs.... How messed up is that?

[H380]

Originally Posted by kilgoretrout

Maybe you should do a little research before you post. The historical range for Elk much like buffalo covered most of North America ..... if you know where that is on the planet

Here we go again on the historical range BS .. why not include grizzlies in this part of the discussion like all those that point out that it was part of their historical range too .. Not singling you out kilgore ,but those of us that live in the areas affected by an increasing elk and grizz population aren't really thrilled with the problems that go along with them . How many of you that live in cities or rural acreages want a couple hundred elk or a mamma grizz with cubs setting up shop in your back yard ?