Wolf depredation of elk

Wolf depredation of elk

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Wildlife biologist and hunter, Ted Kuch and I talk about the effects of reintroducing wolves on elk populations. “I used to joke that the biology of it was simple. We say recovering wolves is as easy as falling off a log. All you have to do is not kill them. And of course, that has proven to be the case. We just dumped wolves out and they went like wildfire. I'm glad today to see, particularly in Idaho, population growth has stabilized and in fact and populations are going down a little bit recently. I think due to a fairly aggressive wolf management and control actions combined with hunting seasons, which is for me as a sportsman, is good. That's where we should be with wolves managing just like any other species of wildlife.

I've had a number of conversations with elk hunters, some elk hunters say, my gosh, I didn't even see an elk when I went elk hunting and it's all due to the wolves. Another elk hunter will tell you,Yeah, the guy that says that doesn't know how to hunt elk. Or doesn't get off his ATV. All that said, yeah. Is it your experience as an elk hunter? Elk populations have been decimated by wolves?

Well, of course not. And I'll refer to Idaho here because that's where I have most of my experience as a hunter. Now, if you look today, I think there's 28 elk management units in Idaho. And still today, I think 24 of the 28 units are at or above objectives for elk populations. So there really isn't population level effect. There can be local effects for sure. You know, I joke about people not getting author ATV. Frankly, I think that's a big part of it. But there's also legitimately places, and I had this experience myself, where wolves affect elk hunting.

In a future episode, you learn about an even bigger factor to out depredation.

Previous ReportThe Outer Limits
Next ReportMosquitoes and Hunters