JACKSON, Wyo. — Wyoming's largest elk herd is estimated to have increased in numbers slightly, according to an annual winter survey.
Wyoming Game and Fish Department wildlife biologist Aly Courtemanch, who heads up the survey, detected notably few changes in the herd, which roams the Jackson Hole area, including the National Elk Refuge. She wrapped up her surveys Feb. 10.
The raw count, 10,678, was only 35 more animals than a year ago. To account for animals missed during an aerial survey the estimated herd size was bumped up to 11,200 — just a shade above of 11,000-elk objective.
"We're right where we want to be for overall numbers," Courtemanch told the Jackson Hole News & Guide. "The persistent challenge that we're concerned about, and other agencies are, is this skewed winter distribution where we have a lot of elk on the refuge and fewer elk than we'd like in other areas."
There were 1,681 elk in the Gros Ventre River drainage, but the numbers of elk wintering elsewhere in Jackson Hole were minimal.
Gender and age ratios within the Jackson Elk Herd stayed mostly stagnant, according to the survey.
Measured against the number of cows, calf numbers dipped just slightly. This winter's ratio, 19 calves per 100 cows, is not cause to think the herd is shrinking or doomed, Courtemanch said.
"We like to look at it on the whole," she said. "If we start seeing a number of years (with calves) in the single digits or in the teens, we would start to get concerned."
The ratio of mature bulls came in at 24 per 100 cows, but Courtemanch conceded she probably missed a fair number that were obscured by trees and terrain on natural winter range. A year ago the bull ratio was at 31, but the higher number stems partly from a considerable late-season cow elk harvest.
Spike bulls, the last component of the herd, this winter numbered seven for every 100 cows, a typical ratio.
