Interesting to compare to north Colorado, where the only wolf is an occasional loner passing through. We too see elk collect on large private ranches. Larger ranches, fewer hunters means more elk on the ranch, but even small ranches get them. For example, last fall during rifle season 400 elk collected on a 320 acre ranch that I buy hay from. No hunting ever allowed on this ranch, even for the guy that manages the ranch (absentee owner). The elk stayed out in the hay meadow until he got permission from Parks and Wildlife to haze them off. As soon as hunting starts on public land the elk start moving to private. Even archery season seems to move them...but reportedly this year Colorado has 10,000 more bow hunters than we did a decade ago, and some days it seems like every single one of them likes to bugle a lot.
