An annual elk hunt in Grand Teton National Park has been conducted almost every year since 1950, when Congress authorized a controlled reduction of elk in the park when necessary to manage the herd. The provision was included in legislation expanding the park.
This year’s hunt is set to open Saturday and run until Dec. 6.
Local wildlife photographer Jeffery Soulliere told Cowboy State Daily he was out getting pictures of bison during the opening day of the 2014 hunt. And though he thought he was well clear of the hunt area, “a bullet flew right by me,” producing a distinctive cracking sound in the frigid air.
He said he’s been opposed to the hunt ever since and doesn’t see the sense in having hunters shooting at elk in clear view of tourists.
“It’s insanity,” he said. “You have tourists coming in for Thanksgiving, with kids, and they get to watch this.”
Local hunter and gym owner Chuck Lakovitch takes a different view. As a high school freshman in the 1980s, he shot his first bull elk during a Grand Teton hunt.
It’s a vital part of managing the herd, he said, and it gives hunters opportunities that might not otherwise have.
“If a tourist has an issue with that, well then, go back home. It’s what we do in Wyoming. Montana does it too, and it’s an integral part of wildlife conservation,” he said.
The Park Service and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department call the hunt the elk-reduction program. The agencies say it’s an important part of keeping the herd's numbers in check. They say the hunt is carefully managed under numerous safety protocols.
Another photographer, Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven, told Cowboy State Daily he’s not fond of the hunt but understands it might be necessary to keep elk from starving.
2012 Bear Charge, 2014 Violations
The hunt hasn’t been without trouble.
In 2012, an adult male grizzly was shot and killed when it charged three Wyomingites participating in the hunt. No charges were filed against the hunters.
On Nov. 22, 2012, Thanksgiving morning, three hunters entered a heavily wooded area near the east bank of Snake River between Schwabacher Landing and Teton Point Overlook.
The 534-pound bear had stashed an elk carcass and charged the hunters from about 42 yards, according to reports.
One hunter deployed bear spray as the bear charged. The other two shot it with their rifles when it closed to about 10 feet.
And there was strong backlash after the 2014 hunt, when tourists claimed to have seen hunters shooting into a mass of bunched-up elk. At least one hunter was cited for violations.
News reports at the time said two hunters had shot bull elk, which were not legal to harvest in the program. One of those hunters was also cited for shooting at a running herd.
The National Park Service reported that the program requires hunters to use non-lead ammunition and prohibits archery equipment, handguns and rifles that do not use centerfire ammunition.
The agencies authorized 40 permits for this year’s hunt. No bull elk may be shot.
It’s a centerfire-rifle-only hunt, so no archery equipment or handguns are allowed. And lead-free ammunition is required.
It’s a rifle-only hunt, so no archery equipment or handguns are allowed. And lead-free ammunition is required.
Hunters must also carry a “non-expired can of at least 7.9 ounces” of bear spray, and it must be immediately accessible, according to the Park Service.
Hunters must wear bright fluorescent orange or pink, and tourists are “strongly encouraged” to wear bright colors in the vicinity of the hunt, according to the Park Service.
Lucky Tag Draw
Lakovitch said bull tags haven’t been available for the hunt for many years.
So, he said he feels extremely lucky to have gotten a bull tag as a teenager during a lottery-style draw at the Teton County Fairgrounds.
He ended up getting “a slammer of a bull elk.”
Even though shooting bulls is no longer allowed, the Grand Teton hunt remains important to many locals and hunters who come from afar for fresh elk meat, Lakovitch said.
“A lot of them rely on that (hunt) to fill their freezers,” he said.
There’s no doubt that tourists “are our bread and butter” in Teton County, but they should understand that hunting is part of Wyoming’s culture, Lakovitch said.
It’s also important for people to understand that if hunters don’t shoot some of the elk, government agents would likely have to kill some to keep numbers in check even with the elk feedground at the neighboring National Elk Refuge.
And as he sees it, the better option is for hunters to shoot elk for meat.
Soulliere said he’s a strong supporter of hunting, but he doesn’t think the Grand Teton hunt is appropriate.
“It’s one thing to go hiking with your son and teach him ethics in the country, but this isn’t that,” he said.
Vangoidtsenhoven said he understands that “having no hunting could lead to starvation" among the elk herd.
“That being said, it’s more a cull than a hunt. It’s not exactly an example of fair-chase hunting when hunters gun down elk while they migrate, which reminds me more of target practice than shooting,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
