© Paul Queneau, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
This "Living
With Wildlife: Missoula Elk Herds" brochure summarizes
information on the herds (1 megabyte Acrobat file).
Missoula’s elk hunters don’t have to drive far from home to find places to hunt. Other than the occasional bitter winter, hunting is about the only control on the size of Missoula’s elk herds. If elk numbers aren’t kept in line with the available habitat,
elk can overgraze their ranges. In addition, hunting helps keep
elk wary of people, a trait that’s important when elk and
people are living close to one another. With the exception of the North Hills herd, hunting has been able to control growth of Missoula’s elk herds. The North Hills herd, however, has been doubling every 6.8 years, based on springtime aerial surveys taken by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks since 1980 [click on graph to enlarge]. Changes in management of the Rattlesnake, the herd’s early migration out of the Rattlesnake, and development of subdivisions on the herd’s winter range have largely protected the herd from hunters.
Two approaches to address the lack of hunting have been a damage hunt on three private ranches between Grant and Butler Creeks [damage hunt] and an early season permit-only hunting season established in the Rattlesnake Wilderness and some surrounding lands beginning in the fall of 2006 [early season hunt]. . . Missoula Urban Elk Herds
The Evaro, North Hills, and Mount Jumbo elk herds winter primarily in the western portion of Hunting District 283. In recent years, the elk herds in this district have been over the management objective of 400 to 600 elk. Attempts to trim herds have been hampered by hunters’ difficulty in getting access to the North Hills Elk Herd. When the elk are on public land, they’re far from trailheads or are in areas where no shooting is allowed; when they’re on private land, they’re on ranches bordered by subdivisions where access for hunting is limited. The Miller Creek elk herd is in Hunting District 204. The O’Brien Creek and Lolo elk herds are in hunting District 203. Hunters have several opportunities to hunt the North Hills elk: an early hunt deep in the Rattlesnake, bowhunting in the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area’s South Zone, or a game damage hunt that has been conducted from mid December to mid February on three ranches between Grant and Butler Creeks. Early-Season Hunting in the Rattlesnake
For hunters who are willing to walk, bike, or ride deep into the Rattlesnake, the best opportunity is to apply for an early-season permit in Hunting District 283. During 2007, hunters weren’t always respectful of the Rattlesnake Wilderness. Unauthorized trails were cut out and game and food sometimes were not hung out of reach of bears as regulations require. Hunters need to leave no trace of their presence so the Rattlesnake remains just as wild after their hunt as when they arrive. In recent years, 75 permits have been issued for cow or calf elk (283-02) and 5 have been issued for bulls (283-20). Hunters who apply for a cow/calf permit as their first choice have a good chance of getting the permit. Drawing one of the five bull permits is much more competitive. Hunters who apply for a bull permit as their first choice may still have a chance of getting a cow permit if they select the cow permit as their second choice-assuming that fewer than 75 hunters make the cow elk permit their first choice. Hunters who receive a special permit for the early hunt are entitled to buy an A-9/B12 (antlerless elk) cow/calf elk license good only for the hunt area. That means hunters with an early-season permit can end up with two elk licenses: their standard elk license and one that’s good just for a cow or calf elk in the early Rattlesnake hunt area. These hunters could begin their season in mid September and continue it through late November. Hunters with one of the permits can use rifle or bow, but archery hunters would have to wear hunter orange. The early season hunt began in 2006. Hunters responding to a written survey reported killing nine elk that fall. During the fall of 2007, hunters reported killing 16 elk, a substantial improvement. Anyone considering applying for one of the early-season permits needs to understand why this hunt has proved so challenging. The hunt boundaries generally are at least three miles from the trailhead. Areas most used by the elk during September and October may be much farther. The valley bottoms in the Rattlesnake are gentle, but the mountainsides are frequently too steep to climb easily and sometimes too steep to get down--even without an elk. Temperatures can be warm during September, so getting an elk out before it spoils could be a challenge if hunters choose to hunt during warm spells rather than wait them out. That said, the Rattlesnake is hard to beat in September when the elk are bugling. That combination should satisfy any elk hunter who’s prepared for this hunt. Several articles have been written about the early hunt: Rolling with rifles: Bicyclists ride into the Rattlesnake to hunt (Missoulian, November 18, 2007) Flash in the Pan: Call it good, elk or not (Missoula Independent, October 18, 2007) Rattlesnake Hunt: Arduous Pursuit (Leopoldian, Spring 2007) Bowhunting in the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area’s South Zone Bowhunters have the opportunity to hunt the North Hills elk after they’ve left the Rattlesnake and begun moving to the private lands where they spend most of the fall and winter. A new unlimited A-9 license for bowhunters is available over the counter in Region 2. Bowhunters with the A-9 license will be able to tag a cow elk with that license while saving their general elk license for a bull. Elk spend some of their time on national forest lands in the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area’s South Zone, along the boundaries with private land. Because no shooting is allowed in the South Zone, bowhunters don’t have to worry about competition from rifle hunters, even during the general big-game hunting season. The South Zone extends from the main trailheads near Missoula for about three miles into the Rattlesnake. Game Damage Hunts on Ranches Between Grant and Butler Creeks In recent years the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks has authorized a game damage hunt for the Circle H, Hanson, and Flynn ranches between Grant and Butler Creeks. From mid December through mid February, six hunters a week receive permits to shoot a cow or calf elk. Half of the hunters are chosen by the landowners and half are drawn from hunters who have applied to be on a game damage roster for Hunting District 283. July 15 is the 2008 deadline for applying to be on a game damage roster. Elk aren’t always on these ranches. Sometimes the herd is on the other side of Grant Creek. Sometimes the elk spend the day on the Grant Creek Ranch (which does not participate in the damage hunt), waiting until late afternoon or early evening before slipping onto the ranches where hunting is allowed. This hunt has a number of special restrictions because subdivisions ring three sides of the hunt area, which while largely open, has some draws and timber that hunters can use for cover. The hunt’s primary goal is to keep elk moving off of the three ranches, preventing damage to the grass and fences. The hunt also keeps the elk wary of people, reducing the chance that the elk will make themselves at home in the subdivisions surrounding the hunt area. Hunters killed three cow elk during the 2004-2005
game damage hunt, eight cow elk during the
2005-2006 game damage hunt, and seven elk during
the 2007-2008 game damage hunt. No game damage
hunt was held during the winter of 2006-2007,
because biologists were trapping elk to fit them with radiocollars. |
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