Have been seeing a steady decline in all big game numbers in the last decade or two. Elk seem to have declined excessively. Many of us old timers attribute the decline to the states issuance of seemingly endless cow elk licenses. When you kill a cow you are killing more than her but also her offspring and their offspring. One kinda secret place I would hunt was the very north west corner of the state in the Sand Wash area. Completely uninhabited. Every trip I would see at least 3 herds of wild horse, antelope in such great numbers that you didn't even count them, large herds of elk wintering there and plenty of deer. Last 2 day trip there, 2 antelope, 1 deer and one small herd of horses was all that was seen. Don't know the answer but I don't shoot females anymore.
