Managing Utah's Big-Game Crop 



THE ELK HERD on the Nebo range 

 in central Utah exemplifies the prob- 

 lems. The herd, which has passed 

 through the cycle of early depletion, 

 restoration, and overpopulation, ranges 

 over a relatively small, narrow, rugged 

 area of approximately 250,000 acres 

 of national forest, State, and private 

 lands. Farms, towns, and major high- 

 ways surround the unit. The moun- 

 tains, more than 5,000 feet above the 

 valley floor, are bisected by the steep, 

 timbered canyons. An unknown num- 

 ber of native elk were present on the 

 ranges when the pioneers settled in the 

 valleys below; the last ones probably 

 disappeared about 1880. 



In 1913 and 1914, 48 head obtained 

 from the Yellowstone were released on 

 the Nebo range. They flourished in 

 their new environment under the 

 watchful eyes of an interested public 

 and sympathetic landowners. Every- 

 thing went well for the next few years. 

 Then the elk began visiting haystacks 

 and cultivated fields at the base of the 

 mountain. The Utah State Fish and 

 Game Department attempted to settle 

 for damages to haystacks and hired 

 herders to drive the invading elk back 

 into the hills. Neither action was sat- 

 isfactory. The damage still continued. 

 Game wardens killed 84 trespassing 

 bull elk. 



In 1924, when the 48 elk had in- 

 creased to an estimated 450, it became 

 apparent to the land administrators, 

 landowners, and game officials that 

 some new and drastic control measures 

 would be necessary. Landowners and 

 stockmen demanded reduction of the 

 herd. Sportsmen and the general pub- 

 lic opposed the demands at first but 

 finally agreed to shooting bulls. The 

 idea of killing the cows, however, was 

 abhorrent to them. 



In 1925, in the first elk hunt by 

 sportsmen, 100 bulls were killed. The 

 hue and cry for and against the elk 

 arose again. Many considered killing 

 the elk a mistake. Others contended 

 the mistake was in planting elk in the 

 first place, maintaining that damage 

 to private property and range could 



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not be avoided regardless of the num- 

 ber of animals. No hunt was held in 

 1926. 



To resolve the dilemma, the Utah 

 Legislature in the year 1927 established 

 a supervisory committee, the State 

 Game Refuge Committee and Board 

 of Elk Control, whose members in- 

 cluded representatives of sportsmen, 

 wool growers, cattle and horse breed- 

 ers, the Forest Service, the State Park 

 Commission, and the commissioners 

 of the county in which a particular 

 game refuge was situated. The State 

 Fish and Game Commissioner was 

 chairman. 



The duties of the board were to 

 supervise the establishing, adjusting, 

 opening, and closing of elk refuges; 

 designating seasons and localities in 

 which elk hunting could be done, and 

 determining the sex and the number of 

 animals that could be killed. Regula- 

 tion of the kill was accomplished by 

 the sale of nontransferable permits to 

 hunt elk to sportsmen selected by pub- 

 lic drawing. 



At its first meeting in 1927 the board 

 authorized the sale of 150 permits for 

 bulls on the Nebo area; 100 bulls were 

 killed. Afterwards, an argument devel- 

 oped as to the size of the elk popula- 

 tion. The estimates ranged from 500 to 

 1,500, and it was evident that more 

 information was necessary. In Febru- 

 ary 1928, State wardens, forest rangers, 

 and others, taking advantage of heavy 

 snow that had crowded the elk onto 

 the foothills, made an actual count of 

 637 animals. 



In the fall of 1928 there was another 

 hunt for 150 bulls. Landowners and the 

 stockmen maintained that the taking 

 of surplus bulls only was not correcting 

 the situation because there continued 

 to be more cows with calves and the 

 total herd was increasing. Sportsmen, 

 however, remained adamant in their 

 opposition to shooting cows. 



Finally, in a meeting of land admin- 

 istrators, stockmen and farmers, and 

 sportsmen, it was agreed that the elk 

 population should be maintained be- 

 tween 500 and 600 head. That agree- 



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