2017 Western States General Elk Harvest

To really get down to analyzing harvest data, we really have to examine individual hunt units (aka districts or zones) and include the total amount of public land and it would help if states keep track of hunter effort. Montana has recently stopped reporting hunter effort, so that data will be missing in the future.

Most of us will hunt Limited Entry (AKA Controlled Hunts) when we get the chance, but few of us will ever buy private land hunts. Luckily, most of us can still DIY elk hunt every year on public land with General Elk Tags.

I ranked the state harvest data in the tables below by the total number of hunter days per elk harvest (Days Per Harvest). Since and Oregon and Washington do not  (or no longer) report of total hunting days, they are ranked last, then by hunter success. Montana will also…

Table 1. 2017 General Elk Harvest in Six Western States

State OTC Tags Bull Elk Cow Elk Total Elk Total Hunters Total Hunter Days Hunter Success Days per Harvest
Wyoming R   7,278  2,964  10,242    37,236  229,328    27.5%    22.4
Idaho R&NR  10,388  3,568  13,956    76,897  490,803    18.1%    35.2
Utah R&NR   5,371     716   6,087    39,100  219,654    15.6%    36.1
Colorado R&NR  10,401 6,158 16,559   138,841  765,379    11.9%    46.2
Oregon R&NR   5,673    527  6,200    59,436     ???    10.4%     ???
Washington R&NR   3,543  1,356   4,899    58,212     ???      8.4%     ???

As always, Colorado had the most total elk harvested during the General (Colorado calls it OTC tags). But Colorado did not beat Idaho by much for most Bull Elk harvested during the 2017 General Season.

Hunter success and the number of Hunter-days (effort) required to harvest an elk (General Season) is always lowest in Wyoming.

And because there are so many hunters in Colorado, Idaho and Utah beat Colorado for both Hunter Success and less effort needed to harvest an elk.

Based upon the way harvest data is reported in Montana, the General Harvest data can not be obtained, so Montana data is not shown.

The next table shows just the General Rifle (or Any Legal Weapon – ALW) seasons. Again, ranked by Hunter Effort (Days per harvest).

Since Wyoming does not separate Rifle or Archery Harvest from the total General Elk Harvest, Wyoming elk harvest data is not included.

Table 2. 2017 General Elk Rifle Harvest from Five Western States

State OTC Tags Bull Elk Cow Elk Total Elk Total Hunters Total Hunter Days Hunter Success Days per Harvest
Idaho R&NR  7,218  2,062   9,280   52,117   270,699    17.8%     29.2
Utah R&NR  4,140       0   4,140   24,600   127,920    16.8%     30.9
Colorado R&NR  7,894  4,863  12,757   98,385  481,260    13.0%     37.7
Oregon R&NR  2,652   137   2,789   31,957       ???     8.7%      ???
Washington R&NR  2,044   201   2,245   34,045       ???     6.6%      ???

This basically shows the same thing the previous table showed. Colorado had the biggest elk harvest, but also has the most hunters.

Idaho and Utah offer higher hunter success with less effort required per person to harvest an elk.

The next table continues with just the General Archery Elk harvest data.

Table 1. 2017 General Elk Archery Harvest from Five Western States

State OTC Tags Bull Elk Cow Elk Total Elk Total Hunters Total Hunter Days Hunter Success Days per Harvest
Idaho R&NR  3,061    721  3,782   25,579  195,053   14.8%    51.6
Utah R&NR    681    716  1,397   11,024   74,963   13.0%    53.7
Colorado R&NR  2,507  1,295  3,802   40,456  284,119    9.4%    74.7
Oregon R&NR  3,021    390  3,411   27,479      ???   12.4%     ???
Washington R&NR    780    977  1,757   15,640      ???   11.2%     ???

Again, Colorado has the most archery hunters and the most elk harvested. But Idaho and Oregon actually had more bull elk harvested by archers in 2017.

Idaho and Utah again had higher hunter success and fewer hunter-days to harvest an elk.

The next few tables show that more hunters harvest fewer elk in most of these states compared to Limited Entry (or Controlled) hunts.

Proportions of Elk Harvested during Limited Entry and General Seasons by State

State Limited General
Utah 67.9% 32.1%
Oregon 64.5% 35.5%
Wyoming 60.4% 39.6%
Colorado 57.9% 42.1%
Idaho 34.6% 65.4%
Washington 27.9% 72.1%

Most elk are harvested during Limited  Entry hunts in Utah, Oregon, Wyoming and Colorado. Most elk are harvested during the General Season hunts in Idaho and Washington.

Proportions of Elk Hunters during Limited Entry and General Elk Seasons by State

State Limited General
Washington 8.4% 91.6%
Idaho 19.0% 81.0%
Wyoming 36.0% 64.0%
Colorado 37.9% 62.1%
Oregon 43.0% 57.0%
Utah 43.2% 56.8%

Proportions of Total Hunter Recreation Days during Limited Entry and General Elk Seasons by State

State Limited General
Idaho 17.1% 82.9%
Colorado 35.1% 64.9%
Utah 42.0% 58.0%
Wyoming 51.5% 48.5%

 

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