Originally Posted by
Fisher-Dude
Seems people think they'll be able to go hunt elk on 100:1 draw odds.
The only published elk survey we have on the WK post-GOS implementation shows terrific bull:cow ratios of between 42:100 and 58:100, with protected <6 point bulls making up 21:100 to 40:100 of those ratios, further illustrating that we could kill every single 6 point and not drop sex ratios below the 20:100 management target. Even if we dropped to 10:100 we would still experience 90%+ pregnancy rates.
There's zero conservation concern with the current season.
The concern with the composition survey is the low calf:cow ratios. Mid-winter ratios range from 21:100 to 37:100, with the highest ratio being barely sufficient to hold the population steady.
With high pregnancy rates from a ridiculously high bull:cow ratio, but low calf:cow ratios, the problem certainly won't be addressed by altering a 6 point bull elk season. In fact, removal of single adult bulls from winter range may actually help calf survival on winter range by ensuring food supply for calves.
Calf survival is the only way to grow an elk population. Keeping adult bulls around when you have overflowing buckets of sperm already is counter-intuitive, and will not increase the elk population nor stabilize any declines over time.
We have bowhunters cheering on closure of rifle hunts. We have NIMBYs cheering on closure of bull hunts thinking they'll have the bush to themselves but don't realize they'll die before they get an LEH draw. Neither of these social agendas will address poor calf recruitment or do anything whatsoever for elk populations, but they don't seem too concerned about that.