Jcubed: You are exactly right!
I Hunt Whitetailed Deer on a homesteaded ranch here in SW Montana which is owned by my close 70 year old gun trading buddy.
He was born on this ranch!
All his life Elk were NEVER seen on this ranch!
Last year he had 600 Elk on the place, for many days, eating his crops and haystacks!!!!
The Elk are on private ranches taking refuge from predation and constant pressure from Wolves in the nearby hills/forest service/public lands!
Ten years after the Wolves were transplanted from Canada to the Yellowstone/surrounding area (Montana, Idaho and Wyoming) the Elk started changing there habits!
SIGNIFICANTLY.
These changes have allowed for Elk to prosper as long as they keep their ranges AWAY from the Wolves as much as possible (living more and more on private ranches).
I have Hunted Montana every year since 1969 and prior to the Wolf introduction/transplantation, and now over-population, it was quite rare to see a herd of more than 50 or 60 Elk.
Now it is common to see them in herds of 600, 800, 1,000, 1,200, 1,800 and the largest herd I have recently counted was 2,100!!!
These large herds are always on private land and safer from the predation and pressure from Wolves.
In recent years I have seen herds of 1,000 plus Elk on MANY (10 or 12) different private ranches here in SW Montana and on one ranch that borders Idaho/Montana but is mostly IN Idaho.
Any input from "the public" will be ignored by the feds and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, save your breath.
Sportsmen/Hunters learned that lesson REPEATEDLY from 1994 through the present!
Wolves have become a politically correct entity and "the powers that be" will decide how and when they will be "handled".
The sportsmen/Hunters who worked so long and so hard (and so expensively!) to build up herds of Moose, Bighorn Sheep, Elk and other game will be ignored - as they have since the ignorant and misguided transplantation of the Canadian Wolves to Montana/Idaho/Wyoming!
Similar disdain will be shown to Hunters in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah pretty soon now.
Thanks for nothing rmWf!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy