Deer and elk population down

Hunting season is well under way this year, and it for those who have been out and about it should come as no surprise that deer and elk numbers appear to be down this year in the lower Clark Fork River Valley.

“I have spent a little bit of time, just driving around and talking with a few hunters and some who have had success, but many who have not,” Vicky Edwards Missoula Area Wildlife Biologist said.

Edwards has seen the elk harvest dip in recent years and she expects that trend to continue this fall.

“That bull and buck harvest is reflective of the overall population,” she said. “Whenever we see that it is a red flag for us, especially if it’s consistent over a couple of years. If we start seeing that trend, our elk population could possibly be declining.”

According to Edwards, trying to find accurate deer and elk population numbers can be just as trying as attempting to harvest one during the hunting season.

Without check-stations in the lower clark fork, the only data available to biologists about deer and elk populations is that taken from surveys and anecdotal information given by hunters and others who are actively in the field on a regular basis.

“It’s really difficult to get out and talk with the public and find out what they’re seeing on the ground,” she said. “There hasn’t been that many folks out compared to previous years. It’s been really quiet.”

While surveys are useful tools, they have their downsides as well.

Statewide telephone hunter harvest surveys are accurate, but they are limited to the number of hunters who choose to participate, and other surveys are often incomplete because of the frequency in which they are conducted. Hunting District 200, for example is only surveyed once every four years and this fall happens to fall in the third year of that cycle.

“I can’t say how important they are for folks to actually call our personnel back whenever they get those [hunter survey] calls just because we do use that data especially in areas where we aren’t able to consistently monitor deer and elk populations,” Edwards said.

Three and a half years ago when the area was last surveyed the numbers looked good. Edwards and her colleagues are concerned, however, that the new data in the spring will show decreases in deer and elk populations matching those found in Hunting District 202, which is annually surveyed.

Edwards believes theorizes the population decreases are a combination of several factors including heavy numbers of predators and subtle habitat changes.

“We’ve got quite a few wolf packs in the lower Clark Fork. We have also had very healthy populations of black bears for the last two years,” she said, adding that mountain lion populations appear to be from “medium to medium-high” compared to an average year.

Although habitat changes usually have more of a gradual effect as opposed to rapid population swings caused by predators, they too have affected elk numbers.

“I know the Forest Service is working really hard within their land management projects to take into account improving elk habitat,” she said. “They’re doing a really good job on that, there’s just a lot of work that needed to be done.”

To combat this trend, black bear season was increased for two additional weeks last spring in Hunting District 200, giving hunters an increased opportunity to harvest one of the predators.

However, until hard numbers are available this spring these deer and elk population numbers manifest themselves in more conservative approaches to managing wildlife, which unfortunately means decreased hunter opportunity.

In recent years additional hunting opportunities like harvesting antlerless deer, and the eight-day either sex period, which had previously started the season, have been revoked to protect deer populations.

Until more data is available in the spring it’s hard to predict when those privileges might be returned.

So far opportunities for youth and handicap hunting have not been affected.