Elk Hunting: Just checkin’ in

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

By Sam Petri

JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING - Hunter checkpoints dot Wyoming roadways this time of year.  At these checkpoints hunters must stop, whether they have harvested an animal or not, to check in with Wyoming Game and Fish and report on their hunt.  If they have harvested an animal, Wildlife Biologists document essential facts like the approximate age and sex of the animal, the size of its rack (when applicable), and the hunting area where animal was taken.  This information is processed at the Wyoming Game and Fish headquarters in Cheyenne when the year is through.  It will become a key factor in determining the next hunting season’s regulations.  If you’re not a hunter, you may blow past the checkpoint at 70 mph and not think twice about it - but it is actually a key aspect of maintaining healthy populations for the various species in the state and ensuring a healthy environment for everyone.

This past Sunday, Game and Fish set up a hunter checkpoint at Daniel Junction in Sublette County.  Game and Fish Wildlife Biologist Dean Claus and Feed Ground Supervisor Garry Hornberger documented the harvested animals that came out of the many hunting areas surrounding that location.  

As wildlife managers we do have a population objective for all of our herd units. That’s a number we’re trying to maintain,” Claus said. “So, depending on if we’re below, then we’ll have pretty conservative seasons, and if we’re above our population objective then we’ll have more liberal seasons.”  As Game and Fish gathers information on the populations of moose, elk, mule deer, antelope, and other species within the hunting areas, they can decide how many hunting tags to issue per hunting area per season.  “All of our elk areas are at or above our population objectives, so we have some pretty liberal elk seasons, and some liberal opportunities to harvest elk,” Claus said.  

There are two kinds of hunting tangs: general hunting and limited quota draw.  General hunting tags often allow a shorter season, say from October 15th to the 31st, but they permit a hunter to go to several general hunting areas.  A limited quota draw tag will restrict hunters to a certain zone, but it may allow them a longer season, say from the first of October to mid-November.  Some limited quota draw areas restrict general license hunters from occupying those zones, which makes limited quota areas more desirable for some because there may be less pressure and less competition from other hunters in that area.  In order to gain a limited quota tag, you must file an application with the Game and Fish Department in Cheyenne well before hunting season.  The application may or may not be approved, depending on the number of hunters who apply for that area.  

Aside from knowing how many hunters are in each hunting area through the issuing of licenses, Game and Fish keeps tabs on various animals, namely elk, through ear-tagging, blood sampling, and collaring at various feeding grounds.  These elk then travel outside of feeding grounds and sometimes wind up in the sights of a hunter.  
In his hand, Claus examines the tip of an elk ear that was previously tagged by Game and Fish.  The elk had been harvested earlier that day.  When the animal was brought through the hunter checkpoint, Claus and Hornberger recorded its other vital details. Then they clipped the tip of ear that was tagged and kept it.  “We want to know the distribution of the animals,” Claus said, “so the information of where this elk was harvested, once we correlate it with where it was tagged, gives us an idea of where these animals are moving.  It gives us some distribution information.”

That’s what these guys do: collect information. They aren’t the ones who regulate the hunting rules - that’s the game warden’s job.  For the most part, the hunters who stop are law-abiding.  On Sunday, people from all walks of life checked in at the Daniel Junction hunter checkpoint, including a woman and her young son from Jackson, who had just harvested an antelope. “I wanted him to have the experience,” the woman said.  A father and son from Jackson who had just shot a doe mule deer near Soda Lake said “a little deer meat’s better than no deer meat.” A few guys with California plates who had just spent the past week with an outfitter had harvested two bull elk and two mule deer bucks.  

Then a truck with Sweetwater County plates pulled up.  They had harvested a three-by-three point mule deer buck near Hoback Ranches in Bondurant.  Although they had harvested a decent animal, they only had 20 pounds of meat in their cooler.  Hunters are required to take all the edible meat off the front quarters and the hindquarters, and the meat off the back straps, which should equal 50 to 60 pounds.  Claus wrote down the information for their alleged violation, but didn’t have a scale to record exactly how much meat they had.  

“They’re more folks out there that are interested in the trophy aspect of things,” Claus said. “To be honest, they probably don’t care about the meat one way or another and it’s unfortunate because it definitely gives hunters a bad name if that’s what’s going on.”

 A few minutes later, Game and Fish warden Brian Nesvik pulled up in his pickup truck.  Clause and Hornberger told him about the party that appeared to be carrying a light load.  

“I estimated they probably had about twenty pounds,” Hornberger said. “You could have fit it in a fanny pack.”  

“They’re probably down Pinedale way, they’re headed to Rock Springs,” Claus added.
“I’m going to find them, that’s bullshit,” Nesvik said just before heading south.  

It isn’t Hornberger’s or Clauses’ job to enforce the law. That’s Nesvik’s job. They observe, record, and share the information for the greater good of the land. 

Photo by Sam Petri: Wildlife Biologist Dean Claus measures the antlers of a mule deer

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Elk Hunting: Just checkin’ in | Planet JH News Article: Sports & Recreation

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