This story supports “elkhunter’s” frequent contention and that of my son-in-law who works for the Division in Utah.
Story in the Salt Lake Tribune. By Brent Prettyman.
Utah's bull elk are the biggest
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Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
Comments
So why is this? I imagine selective breeding has led to their being many large bulls around to pass on their genes to create more big bulls. Does Utah regulate hunting to limit the take of bulls (unlike ID which does the opposite)? Does the high number of large bulls mean that the overall elk population is at the highest possible number?
They killed 2 new state records, and 2 potential world records. some very big bulls are being killed this year. i did read they killed a monster in AZ on unit 6A. Have not heard much since then.
Jim,
The bulls are big for a couple of reasons. Limited tags is one obvious one, they manage for an age class of around 7-9 years for a bull elk. Which does mean the biggest healthiest bulls are doing most of the breeding. We have had some decent moisture in the last couple of years and that helps alot. As for population, most units are at objective or just below objective. They are thinking about issuing more tags and getting that age class to around 6-8 years of age per bull. Which I would support, as of now its basically a once in a lifetime hunt. Not all bulls killed in UT are huge though, if you draw a tag with a rifle you should at least kill a very respectable bull. With a bow obviously a little harder.
Elkhunter
This is good news for you elkhunter, good luck!