Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Surprising results from 15 year study by the Idaho Fish and Game.

I don't think this is particularly biased by the antis. The IDFG has been trying to keep wolf numbers in check and we have very liberal wolf hunting seasons. We can kill 5/yr, tags are very cheap, and seasons are long, year round in many areas.
Here's the complete article: COUGARS KILLING ELK

Of ALL deaths or deaths by predators?

https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/l...277-1e263f7e-6a11-49cb-ada1-8bf39185284e


Study: More elk killed by cougars than by wolves in Idaho
The study by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game examined 15 years of data.
Author: Associated Press
Published: 11:34 AM MDT August 7, 2019
Updated: 1:24 PM MDT August 7, 2019
SPOKANE, Wash. — More elk are being killed by cougars than by wolves in Idaho, a study by the state Department of Fish and Game has found.

The study found that wolves accounted for 32% of adult female elk deaths and 28% of elk calf deaths, while cougars accounted for 35% of adult female elk deaths and 45% of elk calf deaths.

The study also found that food availability and the severity of winter was the most important factor for elk calf survival.

RELATED: Federal agency taking comments on killing predators, like wolves, in Idaho

"Things are usually more complicated than one thing, but it's sometimes really hard to show that," said Jon Horne, lead author of the paper and a senior wildlife research biologist at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game

He told The Spokesman-Review that the findings are also likely applicable for Washington, Montana and Canada.

The study published earlier this year in the Journal of Wildlife Management examined 15 years of data.

"The one variable that mattered the most for calf survival was how big it was," Horne said.

While researchers were able to consider the size of wolf packs on elk mortality, they couldn't do that for mountain lions, which can be difficult to count.

"We didn't have a variable like the wolf variable where we knew what the lion population size was in an area," Horne said.

In a different study published in 2018 that examined wolves, Horne found that the average pack size didn't change much in Idaho between 2005 and 2015 despite the beginning of wolf hunting seasons.

"On one side of the ledger you have a portion of the public that thinks that harvest is just going to send the wolves to extinction and that has not been the case," Horne said. "And then . there is a side that thinks wolves are taking over and they will grow without limits."

Reading comprehension is a gift, apparently...

Cougar hunting has turned into a catch and release culture where many hound hunters frown on taking females or immature toms. Not many effective ways to hunt cats to begin with, let alone in the (roadless) back country.

Makes sense to me. Wolves hunt in packs. Mtn Lions hunt solo. 5 wolves kill 1 elk. 5 cats kill 5 elk.

Great Point!

However, with 5 wolves eating it, it'll only last 1/5 as long so they have to go hunting again. We know that wolves will kill for fun, too, without eating the kill.

From what I understand, the lion population in Idaho is double that of wolves. Makes sense they would take down more prey.

They have a pretty good handle on wolf numbers, estimating a little over 1000 in Idaho. They really don't know how many cougars there are. No serious research has been done on them. The best guesses are between 2 and 3,000 but that's a guess at best. In short, wolves are easier to count. They can collar 1 in a pack to enable them to keep track of the whole pack. Just listening for howling will tell them something, too. Collaring 1 cougar tells them there is 1 cougar and not much else.

Wonder what total elk numbers are now compared to 1990?

This^^^

The State of Idaho produced an excellent video on the financial impact that Wolves have had on farmers and ranchers.


mike r

Link?

A cougar hunt is nice every now and then.

I couldn't find a chart of elk numbers but here are 2 graphs of Idaho elk harvest for the last 10 years. Between them, they'll reach from '06 to '18.

Canadian Wolves were introduced into Idaho about 15 years before 2009 IIRC

Interesting graphs.

So basically no impact on the elk harvest for the last 13+/- years.

Seems when I moved to E WA in '09 there were gloom and doom stories popping up that harvests were going to plummet.

Geno

Seems to be a pretty stable harvest - even increasing in recent years.

So where does that leave the "Wolves are decimating our elk" guys?

Be nice to see data going back 30-40 years.

Kind of surprises me that wolves have a higher percentage of take of cows than calves, which are easier to kill - but I guess they are going for quantity.

Up here, wolves and bears seem to prefer moose calves to adults- again, easier to kill, and there is the size differential.

It took them 15 years to figure that out?