For the first time, hunters armed with limited-range weapons – like bows, shotguns and muzzle-loading rifles – will be allowed to hunt antlerless elk on the south end of the National Elk Refuge, within a half of a mile of east Jackson.

Wildlife officials hope the new hunt, which starts Saturday, will target elk from Grand Teton National Park, a herd segment that faces little, if any, hunting pressure. Hunters to the south would, ideally, keep elk from hanging out and obliterating natural forage in that area, which is the pattern today.

Elk on the south end of the refuge are a popular attraction for residents and visitors alike, who park at various locations along Highway 191 in November to watch the animals through spotting scopes or binoculars. The animals, including a gang of trophy bulls, know the area as a safe haven and relax in plain view of the road.

Most elk brave a gauntlet of hunters before reaching the safety of the refuge’s traditional southern “no shoot” area each fall, said Tom Reed, deputy refuge manager. But Grand Teton elk have figured out how to surreptitiously avoid gun sights, travelling a scant few miles through hunt areas only in darkness until they reach the old safe zone at the south end.

There they stay, until the feedlines open in the winter or hunting closes on the northern refuge at the end of November, allowing them to graze there. The 25,000-acre reserve operates a supplemental feeding program, which encourages elk to use natural forage on the refuge and adjacent hillsides until snow becomes too deep or crusty, at which time alfalfa pellets are spread out.

“We’re hoping to make those animals more vulnerable to harvest,” Reed said of the Grand Teton herd.

Whether elk will be killed, or quickly get the message and move on, remains to be seen. Antlered elk, which won’t be targeted, might react differently from antlerless animals.

“The primary purpose is to create disturbance, to preclude those animals from camping out down there,” Reed said. “We don’t expect a huge harvest.”

The hunt is part of a new management plan that also targets bison. The goal is to reduce the number of animals while increasing natural forage through efforts such as irrigation. Keeping the remaining animals on natural forage might help postpone the onset of supplemental feeding, thus reducing crowded conditions that encourage the transmission of brucellosis and other diseases.


New hunt boundaries

Reed said the new program also will allow a “quality” hunting opportunity, with low-hunter density, for those who like to use limited-range weapons. The south-end hunt is limited to five hunters during the first week, then 10 hunters each week until Nov. 30.

The hunt area runs northeast from Miller Cabin, across the ridge of Miller Butte, to the Junction of Curtis Canyon Road and Flat Creek Road (see map on this page). The boundary then goes north one mile to a refuge parking lot, where it turns west to within roughly a half mile of the fence along Highway 191. There the boundary turns south to within a half mile of east Jackson. The idea is to prohibit hunting generally within a half mile of roads or developed areas.

Refuge officials took efforts to make sure that people living in the surrounding homes and businesses, which include St. John’s Medical Center and St. John’s Living Center, will be safe, Reed said. Slugs from shotguns, for instance, likely have a range of about 125 yards. The buffer is 880 yards.

Hunters will be told to shoot away from buildings and roads, Reed said.

“We wanted the boundary to be robust enough to ensure safety,” he said. “We talked to ballistics folks who assured us that a half mile is ample for a muzzle-loading rifle.”

Reed said most of the harvest would likely take place near Millers Butte, which is near a section of Refuge Road that is popular with members of the general public.

“We had lots of discussion there,” he said, explaining that signage will warn people away from the hunt area. “We don’t want hunters interacting with joggers or people who are observing wildlife.”

Julie Bolster, who owns a home adjacent to the refuge’s south boundary, said she’s not thrilled about having an elk hunt in her backyard but said she trusts Elk Refuge officials when they say the hunt is safe and necessary.

“I think it’s a little too close to humanity, to the neighborhood,” she said. “I wouldn’t stand in the way, but personally, I wouldn’t want to have it down this far. I don’t know if that’s going to be an issue or not with kids and dogs and everything running around in the backyard.”

Bolster also said she’s a little concerned that elk will start to avoid the area near her home, and she thinks others, such as residents of the Living Center, would miss the animals too.

“I know they [people at the Living Center] love sitting there and seeing the animals so close,” she said. “That is one of the special things about my backyard in the fall and in the winter.”


Coexistence is key

Bolster said she understands the “big picture importance” of the hunt, however. She said it’s part of living in an area like Jackson where people must try to coexist with wildlife.

Reed said coexistence is the ultimate goal. Without the bison hunt and the south end hunt, there could come a time when wildlife officials have to haze animals off the refuge.

“I hate to sound like Chicken Little, but we need to be proactive,” said Reed. “It is in the best interest of the bison and the elk to lower their numbers and get them more balanced with ecological conditions.”

Other species, especially animals and plants that live in riparian areas, will also benefit.

“We need to wean ourselves away from artificially high numbers,” he said. “It’s a change in philosophy that society needs to embrace.”

Johnie Filbeck, co-owner of the You Tag ’em, We’ll Drag ’em game removal company and employee of T Lazy T Outfitters, said that hunters he has spoken with are excited about the opportunity to go for elk that have eluded them for years.

“They think its a good deal,” he said.

According to Filbeck, the elk from Grand Teton stage on the west side of the Snake River, north and west of the Jackson Hole Airport. At night they move to the north side of the airport over to Blacktail Butte, and then move “right over into the ‘no shoot’ area of the refuge before the next morning.”

“They never get harvested at all,” said Filbeck.

Reed said actually killing an animal will like “very difficult.” Terrain in the area is wide open.

“It will definitely be fair chase,” he said. “I think the animals definitely have the advantage.”

Except for the first week, 10 week-long permits for the south-end hunt will be drawn at 4:30 p.m. on Friday nights at the Teton County Fairgrounds. Participants should arrive at 4 p.m. and should bring a valid, unused general or limited quota State of Wyoming elk hunting license, a hunter safety or instructor card for people born after Jan. 1 1966, a Wyoming Conservation Stamp and a Wyoming elk feedground special management permit.

Only antlerless elk can be killed. Black powder cartridges are prohibited and officials could close the season early.

For more information, call 733-9212.