A Biologist's Reflections On Spring Antler Hunting

Tom Carlsen, Montana FWP Biologist In Townsend

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We were flying the east slope of the Elkhorn Mountains in the Kimber Gulch area to count elk for a winter survey a few years ago when suddenly I noticed another plane. It was coming in well below us to scout the elk, while we generally try to stay higher to avoid disturbing the wildlife.   We pulled up and circled until the other plane left.  

Private aircraft flying low over wintering elk is becoming more common in many areas where people search for older bulls soon to drop their antlers.   Today, it is not unusual to see hikers and horseback riders in mid-February scouting bulls that won’t drop their antlers until March. 

There is nothing wrong with antler hunting, but biologists become concerned when late season intrusions begin to cause undue stress at a critical time for wintering elk.  

It is especially troubling when antler hunters fly low over large herds of cow elk and calves.

Flying low over a herd of cow elk can cause them to run, or may displace them from their winter range to areas less able to support their nutritional needs. Running repeatedly from encroaching aircraft or people on foot or horseback can also push a cow elk’s winter weight and body condition to dangerously low levels.  

Research shows calves have less than a 50-percent survival rate when born of cows that lost more than three percent of their body weight over winter. It takes very little additional stress to put a cow elk and its calf in this situation.

People who do early season antler-hunting tell me their interests vary from the commercial, to acquiring antlers to display, to simply enjoying a winter outdoor adventure. Most are not aware of the consequences to wildlife.

FWP’s Wildlife Management Areas are closed to all public use until May 15 every year to help wintering wildlife to survive. But increasingly even these closed ranges are impacted.

For example, FWP Warden Randy Wuertz, working in the mid-1990’s on the Dome Mountain Wildlife Management Area near Yellowstone National Park, issued an average of 12 citations a year to people illegally hunting antlers on the WMA.  

To estimate the severity of this problem, one winter Wuertz marked 77 antlers and placed them around the area.   By May 15 when the WMA opened, about 60 percent of the antlers had already been picked up illegally.

Wildlife Management Areas are a tremendous asset, as are other public lands where deer and elk winter. But the value of these lands is compromised if we don’t make wildlife’s winter survival needs a priority during the winter months.

Human activities can have serious consequences, so please give wildlife the space and respect they deserve and need at this time.