National Elk Refuge To Starve Elk

Todd Helms October 30, 2019
Elk, General 6 Comments 7,357 Views



Photo By: Mike Eastman

As I’m writing this it’s the day before Halloween and the temperature outside is hitting a high that is 23 degrees below the Fahrenheit freezing point. This is October, not January and winter’s early chokehold on Wyoming doesn’t set a welcome stage for our wildlife. With antelope and elk seeking recovery from their rut, deep snow and extreme temps are the last thing those worn down bucks and bulls need to contend with. Hopefully old man winter loosens his grip a tad but this is the West and extreme weather is just part of the deal.

What’s also been part of the deal, for elk especially, are the winter feeding programs such as the one operated by the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, WY. However, this program is in danger and along with it the health of the elk herds in the northern Rocky Mountains. A plan to “wean” elk off of the feeding program at the refuge and eventually discontinue it altogether is in place.

Pressure for this misguided and dangerous action plan is being placed on the federal government by environmental activist groups who are using CWD as a fear mongering tactic to eliminate the program. The groups claim that in order to avoid a possible population crash due to disease the program must be eliminated.

So let me get this straight… in order to maybe avoid the hypothetical demise of one of the world’s greatest elk herds we will guarantee their elimination by starving them to death? There has been zero evidence that CWD infected mule deer in the region have transmitted the disease “across species” and into elk. Yet, these environmentalists, the same ones who clamoured for wolf reintroduction, want us to believe that a danger exists and we must mitigate an imagined elk population crash by disease through a guaranteed population crash brought on by starvation through the ending of the very successful National Elk Refuge Feeding Program.

Wow! I don’t understand what these folks have against elk but make no mistake there is a war on elk in the West and if we as stewards of the resource are not vigilant, there will be no elk left on our landscape for our children’s children to enjoy, let alone hunt.

Today is the final day for public comment and we here at Eastmans’ just found out about this today. It’s not too late! Making calls and sending emails to the National Elk Refuge voicing your unconditional disapproval of the termination of the feeding program will no doubt still have an impact. Please contact the Acting Refuge Manager by phone (307)201-5436 or email nationalelkrefuge@fws.gov to put a stop to the eradication plan for this elk herd.

Gordon Eastman, the grandfather of Guy and Ike Eastman used to tell of a time before the Elk Refuge feeding program when by the end of winter a man could walk for 25 miles around Jackson and never run out of elk carcasses piled up due to starvation. “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Make sure you are signed up to receive the Eastmans’ E-News Newsletter so you may be kept up to date on this and other issues confronting our western wildlife and hunting heritage. If you’re already signed up, thank you! If not, you need to so you can be kept up to date on all the latest wildlife news from around the West.

What a shame. Typical modern day America BS action that has plenty of support from people that have likely never seen an elk, could not identify one in a picture, and never been to that area.

The program needs to remain in place until some other management approach can take its place. If the elk must be starved, the humane thing is of course harvest.
Something is waaaay out of balance here, though, for that many elk to depend on being fed. What has happened to their historic winter habitat?

FUBAR.It is not about the Elk.It is about the rabid anti hunters having found away to screw with hunters.Eliminate the prey,eliminate the hunter.There is no thought on what is best for the Elk.They are just a tool to justify a means.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
The program needs to remain in place until some other management approach can take its place. If the elk must be starved, the humane thing is of course harvest.
Something is waaaay out of balance here, though, for that many elk to depend on being fed. What has happened to their historic winter habitat?

One word: Development.

If there are people who want to feed them, let them. It's not the fault of the animals. It's those who have build housing, fencing and gas/oil all over the range and took their space away.

It all goes back to the carrying capacity of the land.

Not enough habitat to support the winter migration without artificial supplements.

Starvation is a tough way to die. I watched an Iraqi toddler die of starvation. Still have nightmares about it to this day.

BH63

Rather than get bogged down in a lot of disinformation, here's an article that quite factual about what is going on.

http://jacksonholemagazine.com...edings-fuzzy-future/

he walked for 25 miles around Jackson?
dude must be mostly mountain goat.

and where did all those dead Elk come from every year?
I mean eventually you'd have to run out of Elk carcasses to pile up.


most of the Elk in that area migrate just like the Antelope do.
many of them die not from starvation but from eating too much of the wrong moss, that poisons them, along the way.

quote:

Originally posted by Lamar:
he walked for 25 miles around Jackson?
dude must be mostly mountain goat.

and where did all those dead Elk come from every year?
I mean eventually you'd have to run out of Elk carcasses to pile up.


most of the Elk in that area migrate just like the Antelope do.
many of them die not from starvation but from eating too much of the wrong moss, that poisons them, along the way.

Jackson IS where the elk migrate to from all the high-country drainages that surround it.

Is this the part that confused you maybe:

"It was in 1912 that Congress first appropriated $45,000 to start feeding elk on 2,760 acres along Flat Creek north of the Town of Jackson. There were tales of settlers being able to walk 2 miles on the backs of dead elk, and while that is undoubtedly an embellishment, wapiti did indeed drop by the thousands. Die-offs during severe winters are part of the natural ebb and flow of Rocky Mountain elk populations (98 percent of which are unfed), but as the National Elk Refuge and its feeding program grew over the years, this became easier to avoid."

I don't know who to believe, but I don't trust the government or Fed. Fish and Wildlife, who put the wolves up here and lied and lied, I worked for Uncdle Sam and it the end justifies the means sometimes its good to go..

I wonder if what they are doing is even legal, there is a law about a citizen wasting meat and the penalty is big time..and some cases were borderline in that the hunter left only rib meat, a pretty common practice, so can uncle waste several thousand elk...

The best approach to culling has been and always will be is hunting being part of management, but they stopped that in Jackson, they used to have a shoot as the elk came into Jackson up by Yellowstone, but they sure as hell didn't mention this in the plan, which tells me its a sham by the liberal agenda, not surprising...

Like sheep many just go with the flo over the cliff!! This should at least deserve an investigation,

Take into consideration the gov. is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars PER DAY for feral horses UPKEEP IN PENS that cannot be shot or sent/sold to Canada, that is your tax dollar, a milliand dollar sham at work, and were supposed to trust these bastards, I think not, they are like a tree, they bend from wherever the wind blows..The turned way more wolves lose than they said, they did not do their math, a cow elk has one, sometimes two offspring, usually one survives, a wolf has about 3 litters of 6 or 8 just a tad short of 24 months, do that math!! somebody didn't..and its so obvious...NOw the wolves are killing Mt. Lions they catch in the sage brush!! Good work uncle SAm, another screw up..Soon the wolves will feed on those precious feral horses they call mustangs..

Why don't they hire ranchers who know how to manage animals as opposed to kids out of college with no on hands experience, Texas does and look at the game they have..Maybe some other states do, I don't know..

Where will it end, I have no idea..The two party system just ain't perfect..

Good post, Ray.

WHY do we have an elk refuge if it isn't really a refuge?

I do not think it is fair to the elk to leave them to starve. Feed 'em like they are used to or let people come in and take some meat home.

Long read:

https://mountainjournal.org/th...ur-national-elk-herd

the bigger problem is the refuge is pulling in Elk that don't belong there.

the feeding area near coalville has been devoid of Elk for 5-6 years.
they move north, many of the Elk from other areas have been drawn into the refuge also.
they know it's a safe haven and they head there early.
right now the Elk hunt is on and one of the better areas to hunt them is the travel corridors heading towards Jackson.
[same ones the wolves used to move down here]
many of the corridors towards more traditional areas are not being used because of the change.

I'm not gonna say all 11-K of them are residents of that area because I know better.
they are drawing in Elk from a lot further away than they think, and they know they are drawing them in from somewhere that is the real problem.

quote:

Originally posted by Lamar:
the bigger problem is the refuge is pulling in Elk that don't belong there.

Very true, and exactly why they want to WEAN them off feed -- not intentionally starve them -- over the next few years in an attempt to drive them back to the other feeding and wintering areas available, such as the Gros Ventre.

Here's a lot more good reading for those who want to learn more about it:

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/...hunt-begins-saturday

https://www.jhnewsandguide.com...57-64cadbeac48e.html

https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFi...s_JacksonElkHerd.pdf

https://www.wyofile.com/elk-po...d-of-hunting-season/

https://www.wyofile.com/many-e...lowstone-wolves-eat/

https://buckrail.com/2019-hunt...elk-in-jackson-hole/

One last one on WY's elk population:

https://oilcity.news/wyoming/2...ing-season-heats-up/

Thank you Outdoor Writer for the information. I love hunting elk. btw