I agree. It is more fun to read the misinformed diatribes some of these mouth breathers come up with. That one guy in particular does tend to raise my BP with his BS. I should know better than to respond to that crap after attending a superbowl party....
Elk are a problem here and there is no easy answer. I am convinced that elk are the biggest problem we have in SW MT with respect to the decline in mule deer populations. Say all you want about lion predation, but being outcompeted for winter range by elk sure seems to me to be the bigger issue. We have been hammering lions for over 10 years in my neck of the woods and the mulies are still on the wane. We also shoot a lot of cow elk but are losing ground there as well.
Dealing with the public during any kind of late or damage hunt on private land requires extra resources and just because you can see a bunch of elk does not mean your average weekend warrior is going to be able to kill one. Especially when they have been shot at all season, or in some cases/areas where you have hunted cows consistently over the years and killed most of the stupid ones.
I saw a herd of about 100 elk on the east rim of the lower Madison Valley above Greycliff the other day. Damn things are getting to be like ground squirrels. Too bad we can't shoot them the same way, but the stench would get a bit nasty I recon.
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