2013 Elk Management Plan

I checked it out. Didn't fully read it but have some heartburn. To me it seems that they are wanting to push some more money that they don't have to predator management. Anybody with experience knows that trying to manage big/upland pops by predator management usually ends up with the same result-No Net Gain in Desired species. I feel that predator management is fine as is. What IDFG needs to do is cooperate with fed land management agencies and let some darn timber burn. Habitat and vulnerability I feel are the biggest limiting factors for game pops in Idaho. I don't know where they come up with Ag being one of the biggest limiting factors across the state. yes there are depredation issues but those can be solved pretty easily by meeting habitat requirements of game species away from private property. It would also help if private land owners allowed hunting...

Atv's should be limited statewide (yes I own one) Allow them for packing in a camp and legal game retrieval but no cruising trails or roads hoping to harvest an animal...In the plan you can see atv registraion rise exponentially. Put this graph over top of the graph of big game populations and you will see a related trend (increase in pressure vs. decline in game pops).

I do like how they are talking about adaptive management. This needs to be done to a greater extent than what is being done now. there is not one magic fix. Adaptive management is expensive and time consuming but outcomes tend to outweigh the costs.
Continue current predator management. Extend waiting periods on controlled hunt bull/buck/bear tags to 3-5 years. Adopt a few more controlled hunts to lessen a few general hunts or possibly do a 4-2-4. 4 years as controlled hunt 2 as a general hunt then back to a 4 year controlled hunt. Kind of like the roving muzzleloader hunt that is done is S. Idaho.

All in all idfg needs to manage their money better in order to achieve desirable goals. Waste of funding needs to stop within the department and go to the ground.