A numeric objective (as seen in the big game regulation booklet) refers to the total number of bulls or cows the department is trying to manage for. We do not have elk numeric objectives in several elk zones in the state because we do not have population estimates for the zones. These zones are typically difficult to fly aerial surveys or the elk populations are dispersed widely that flying would not be effective.
Due to the dense forests in the Panhandle, aerial surveys cannot produce reasonable estimates of elk numbers for Units in the Panhandle Zone. The Panhandle does manage elk using other information such as cow : calf ratios, calf and cow survival, and hunter harvest data (and we are working on using remote cameras to get population estimates…stay tuned).
In other zones where we don’t have population estimates and populations numeric objectives, we manage elk populations using other objectives for harvest for example the percent 6 points in the harvest, number of bulls and cows in the harvest, success rates of hunters and hunter days as a metric of how the population is doing. We will be working on developing numeric objectives in the zones that don’t currently have them established as soon as we can estimate those populations, until then we will continue to manage with all the best available data we have available.
The 2014 Elk Plan produced population growth objectives for groups of units in the Panhandle. For example, Units 4 and 4A have a goal to stabilize the population with a growth objective of up to 20% more elk. So the Panhandle has management goals for elk, but they differ from much of the rest of Idaho’s elk zones.
In the Panhandle zone, we had either-sex hunting in parts of the zone for years and then closed all the cow hunting when aerial survey and calf ratio data showed declines. Survival data from radio-collars plus calf recruitment data showed that elk populations were doing better in front country areas with mixed land ownership like Unit 5 and Unit 6 compared to backcountry areas such as northern Unit 4, Unit 7 and Unit 9. Those front country areas have high enough cow and calf survival to allow some hunter harvest of cows without causing the population to decline. The short general season cow hunt within a mile of private is in place because elk populations in those areas can sustain cow harvest.