Three new hunts called Landowner Permission Hunts in Game Management Units 10A and 14 of the Clearwater Region have been eliciting many questions from landowners and sportsmen alike. Landowner Permission Hunts are a type of depredation hunt designed to address multiple depredations over a large area.
Conflict between elk and agricultural operations have been on the rise within the private land portions of 10A and 14, resulting in increasing damage claims and negatively impacting agricultural producers’ bottom-line. Landowner Permission Hunts give landowners the flexibility needed to address depredations on their property by making it easier for hunters who acquire landowner permission to harvest depredating animals and minimize damage, thereby improving landowner tolerance of elk and sportsman.
Permission slips are given to eligible landowners to designate to hunters, which the hunter can then use to purchase an elk tag at a Fish and Game Regional Office. Landowners with depredation issues must own 160 acres or more land to qualify. Landowners often contact Fish and Game requesting hunters to help address a depredation, so even if a hunter does not know a landowner with depredations issues, sometimes the department can connect a hunter with a willing landowner.
Interested landowners and hunters can contact Tom Schrempp, the Clearwater Region Landowner Sportsman Coordinator, at 208-750-4220 for additional information.