BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Data collected from a study of cow elk show the animals are unfazed by the prospect of crossing wide sections of the Missouri River while on the move during spring months.
More specific details on the movements of cow elk captured and fitted with collars won’t be known for another two years. But through tracking signals, along with a recent monitoring flight, showed a handful of elk collared in a northeastern hunting zone moved across a stretch in the river near the Missouri River Breaks, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists.
“They may move back in the hunting season,” Mark Sullivan, Region 6 wildlife manager, told the Billings Gazette in a story published Sunday (http://bit.ly/14aSjrh).
Earlier this year, biologists placed collars on 50 elk in two hunting districts hoping to learn more about where elk go at different times of the year and how they migrate across the rugged, remote landscape. The collars track location every two hours. So far, all 50 elk have survived.
Sullivan said the elk herds in the hunting districts 621 and 410 where the cows were collared are only about 300 above FWP’s population objectives. Herds to the east of those districts are only slightly above targets.
“We were a lot higher above objective five years ago, but we’ve been cutting back on antlerless licenses as we have gotten closer to objective,” he said.
Data also shows progress in the region for growth of bighorn sheep. Ram numbers are strong he said, and in at least one hunting district the agency increased the number of ewe tags.
Growth of those species are two bright spots in northeastern corner, which experienced a decline in antelope and upland game bird numbers due to the harsh winter of 2010-11, he said. Antelope populations won’t be surveyed until July, but Sullivan is hopeful that biologists will see some rebound.
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Information from: Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com
