Montana's Elk Management Needs An Overhaul

Elk management in Montana is broken. FWP’s estimated elk numbers exceed sustainable population objectives in three-quarters of hunting districts, and have for years. It’s not uncommon for hunting districts to have five times the number of elk that they should.

Over the last decade FWP has done far too little to bring elk populations down to sustainable levels. And in some districts they’ve intentionally limited hunting opportunity, for instance by limiting permits, despite chronically over-objective populations. In fact, these limited permit districts tend to be the ones that exceed population...