01/13/2024
Wolves are not decimating elk populations!
Took quite some time gathering all of this data. It's a shame Idaho doesn't have this readily available. In any case, we finally got ahold of the necessary data to create this graph. We like visuals.. what can we say..
As you can see, the Elk population (Grey area) has fluctuated over the years (as all wildlife populations do) by +/- 10% with an average of 114,000 elk in the state of Idaho. What's more interesting, is that the estimated elk population in the late 90's (when wolves were just gaining a foothold), is the same during the more recent time of 2016 - 2020.
How can that be? If what hunters in Idaho are saying is true, then how could the estimated elk population possibly be the same now than when wolves were first reintroduced? We thought wolves were decimating the elk population? The wolf population (dashed line) in the late 90's was less than 100, but between 2017 - 2022 their population was above 1,300. This can't be right... wolves are a huge issue when it comes to elk herds (insert sarcasm).
Well, just to be sure this isn't a mistake, let's look at the elk harvest (dotted line) in Idaho over the same time period. In the late 90's the elk harvest was just above 20k per year. It looks as if the elk harvest has been over 20k for the past 9 years beginning in 2014.
This is crazy.. there's no way that hunters would make up all these lies about wolves decimating the elk herds in Idaho if they were harvesting over 20k elk per year.
Let's check the most recent report from the Idaho Game and Fish Department just to be certain.
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https://idfg.idaho.gov/article/hunter-harvest-stats-show-slight-increase-elk-2022-drop-mule-deer-and-white-tailed-deer
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My god... is this a direct quote from the Idaho Game and Fish?
"Overall, the numbers for Idaho elk are once again looking steady and impressive. Last year marked the ninth year in a row where elk harvest numbers eclipsed the 20,000 mark, tying the historic nine-year period of 20,000-plus elk harvested that began in 1988 and ran into the mid-1990’s".
Well there you have it folks.. apparently what the hunters are saying is a bunch of nonsense.
Until next time ✌️
