MONTANA STATE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



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THE SUN RIVER ELK HERD 



By BRUCE NEAL 

 DEPUTY STATE GAME WARDEN 



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The state game department has done remarkable work in controlling the 

 migration of elk in the mnch-talked-about Sun River country, particularly in 

 the last biennium when camps were established to drive the herds into proper 

 range and to protect the farm lands in the valley. 



As an initial move the department closed to hunting all the drainage of the 

 North Fork of Sun river lying in Teton county. These regulations allowed a 

 great number of elk to cross over into that area and to winter there. The area 

 was an old winter range for elk and it was not until 1925 that the elk drifted 

 from it. 



The building of the big storage dam in the canyon resulted in the hunters 

 forming a "firing line" on the North Fork along the Teton side and forced 

 the elk to change their migration to other ranges. In December, 1933, but 

 further south, a man was employed to herd the elk back from the ranches. 

 As there was no feed left on the forest ranges, the elk started to come out in 

 late December, many locating in the foothills. 



Cow Elk Dies Trapped in Barbed Wire 



A short distance away the baby calf was found waiting. Hidden strands of wire in 



the undergrowth surrounding the forest on Ford Creek proved fatal to this 



cow elk. The dead elk was found one mile below Carl Fender's dude ranch. 



