In an example of what some hunters claim is happening all over Wyoming, a Buffalo man says that he and others have been denied elk hunting opportunities south of town because landowners there are deliberately driving the herd away from public property and back on to their ranch.
Elk hunter Blake Todd told Cowboy State Daily that he’s not sure whether that’s illegal, but thinks it’s “bogus.”
Unauthorized Elk Herding?
A ranching and outfitting operation is allegedly using vehicles to deliberately cut elk off as they approach a parcel of Wyoming state land, where Todd and others like to hunt.
Todd said that he and others were watching and waiting earlier this week as some elk were headed to the state land, “and we were going to get a chance.”
But then a ranch and/or outfitter employee in a pickup deliberately “drove between us and the elk,” pushing the animals back on to the private land, he said.
Another upset hunter reported the incident to the local Wyoming Game and Fish warden, he said.
Report Taken
Game and Fish spokeswoman Amanda Fry verified that a report had been taken from hunters in the area. Details were unavailable because the matter is under investigation.
One possible violation that might come into play is the harassment of wildlife.
“A warden did receive a report from hunters. It is under investigation. Reports of harassment of wildlife, as defined by 23-3-306 (a), are evaluated by wardens on a case-by-case basis,” Fry stated in an email to Cowboy State Daily.”
Messages left for the owners of the ranch in question were not answered by publication time.
Lots Of Elk, No Opportunity
A large herd of elk has been hanging out in the area where hunters claim the animals are being deliberately kept on private property.
There are perhaps 1,000 elk that have been hanging out on both sides of Highway 196 near the turn-off the Crazy Woman Canyon Road, Todd said.
“I’ve never seen that many elk,” he said.
He has cow elk tags for two hunt areas there. If left alone, some of the elk would likely come onto the state land, giving hunters a crack at them, he said.
But there’s concern that one of the ranches in the area is hoarding elk on its property, meaning the only people who get a chance to shoot any are outfitter clients who pay a fee to hunt on private property, he said.
Stories are commonly shared by hunters who claim to have seen landowners using wranglers on horseback, vehicles, or even aircraft, to spook elk herds back away from crossing boundaries on to public land.
Lawmakers Move To Let Landowners Sell Tags
Meanwhile, there’s a renewed effort to allow Wyoming landowners to sell their landowner hunting tags on the open market.
The Legislature’s Joint Agriculture, State and Public Lands and Water Resources Committee on Wednesday forwarded a draft bill that would allow property owners to transfer their landowner tags to people other than immediate family members.
That means that they could potentially put the tags up for sale, for tens of thousands of dollars apiece, said Rep. Karlee Provenza, who sits on the committee and voted against the measure.
That might contribute to the alleged problem of some landowners trying to keep game herds from leaving their property and going on the public land, she told Cowboy State Daily.
Being able to sell landowner tags also "could be a greater incentive to keep wildlife where you would make money off of them,” she said.
Landowners have the right to decide whether to open their property to hunters and can also charge hunters a trespass fee to come onto their land.
However, allowing them to sell landowner tags would come too close to monetizing the wildlife itself, Provenza said.
That would go directly against Wyoming’s principle that wildlife is a public trust and can’t be directly used for private profit, she said.
