Differential Hunter Harvest of Elk in Two Montana Herds
Picton HD. 1961. Differential Hunter Harvest of Elk in Two Montana Herds. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 25(4):415-421
An analysis of information from 254 tag returns from known-age elk suggested a disproportionate harvest of males from both herds. The most heavily harvested group in the Judith River herd appeared to be the yearling males. Tag loss or natural mortality of newborn calves apparently contributes to the discrepancy between the predicted and actual kill for the Sun River herd. Males made up 50.4% of 472 Sun River calves tagged. There was considerable apparent variation in the sex ratios of calves tagged during the 24-yr. study period. The maximum longevities were two 18 1/2 yr. old cows and a 13 1/2 yr. old bull from the Sun River herd.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Picton, Harold
- Units
- GLAC
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Elk, Harvest, Hunting, Population, Tagging