Sad story but it's the wolves fault? Hunting pressure had nothing to do with to why the elk were there? You got all those hunters lined around a fence line. Do wolves stop at fences like the hunters? Years ago talking to a game warden with a ranch hand in colorado. The warden was parked high on a hill overlooking the same kind of situation. Elk on private property and hunters up and down the fence line. The warden said to the ranch hand,"don't let those elk get off the property. If they do we'll have a cluster f**k". And that's what they had in Mt a cluster f**k. A wolf didn't pull that trigger a careless did.
Please excuse momentary hijack. Ironic to me is that those who routinely have access and hunt those ranches claim that their public land hunts were their easiest hunts ever.
A little more to your point - talked to a manager of a large ranch who said they would be safe here throughout all hunting seasons if they stayed. He said they never do.
