The Idaho Fish and Game Department shot four more elk yesterday in a hunt to track down and destroy between 40 and 160 animals that escaped from a hunting ranch north of Tetonia in August.

The animals shot yesterday bring the total number up to 14 elk killed since the state-sponsored hunt began last Saturday. The state will test the animals for genetic purity and diseases like chronic wasting disease, tuberculosis, and brucellosis, then donate the meat to charity.

Rex Rammell, who owns the animals, said he plans to take legal action against the state of Idaho over the dead elk, which he said are genetically pure and disease free.

“It’s just a simple taking case, abuse of power, and a few other good things,” said Rammell in an interview yesterday. “I think what they've done is wrong. They took my private property. We’re going to pursue every legal avenue that we can.”

Idaho officials have previously expressed concerns that the animals might be hybrids with another species, like red deer, that could breed with wild elk and contaminate the native herd. But, in an interview Wednesday, Rammell said the animals came from two native herds, one herd from Yellowstone and another herd certified as Rocky Mountain elk.

“It's illegal to do that [cross breed elk with other species],” said Rammell. “They've either tested pure or they’re from a registered herd.”

Further, Rammell, a veterinarian, said the elk have been tested for diseases like chronic wasting disease, brucellosis, and tuberculosis on a regular basis. “The genetics are good and the elk are healthy,” he said.   

According to Steve Schmidt, regional supervisor for Idaho Fish and Game, eight Idaho hunters remain in the woods hunting the animals in two teams.

Schmidt couldn't say whether the teams would remain in the field until all the animals were killed. “We’re analyzing our options on almost an hourly basis and adjusting plans accordingly,” he said.

So far, hunters have killed nine cows with tags, one bull with tags, three calves with without tags, and one yearling bull without tags.

When asked if private hunters had killed any escaped elk, Schmidt responded, “We understand that that has happened. We don’t have very much information on that.”

According to Rammell, the elk escaped in early August after a bear dug a hole underneath the fence that surrounds the hunting ranch. The bear damaged the fence and allowed about 70 elk to escape through a hole. Since then, Rammell has chased and lured about half the escaped animals back into the enclosure.

“We had it all under control, but it takes time,” he said.

“I think that [Idaho] Governor Risch has gotten the ear of the anti-game farmers; they’re using this as a reason to ban game farming in Idaho,” continued Rammell, who said that he has had run-ins with Idaho officials in the past. “I think, in some ways, the state has a vendetta against me and they are more than happy to come in and kill my elk.”