Master hunters assist orchardists in controlling elk

This is the first of a two-part series about controlling problem game animals on agricultural lands.

Animals and birds can cause damage to agricultural interests, such as alfalfa fields and orchards. The usual reasoning includes the belief the critters were on this land before the farmers, therefore they deserve some of the food.

This isn't always true, of course. The Sandhill cranes stop by the farm fields of the Columbia Basin during their spring migration. The old migration pattern had the birds stopping along the Columbia River to the north and not so much in this area before the irrigation project brought water to the Basin.

There may have been deer in the Basin for centuries, but not in the numbers of today. The same goes for cougar, for where there is an abundance of deer there may be cougar.

Our neighbor, Wenatchee, is orchard country and has been for over 100 years. Orchardists have put up with the resident deer, as they cause minimal damage. The tall fences surrounding the orchards keep deer from eating the lush trees most of the time.

Elk are another matter. These are much larger animals with bulls weighing 700 pounds or more and cows weighing around 500 pounds.

Normally the elk know their place, but every so often a herd or herds become marauding elk, prowling, raiding, looting and pillaging orchards. These outlaw animals need to be controlled.

This sets the stage for the beginning of the activation of Hunt 2704. Only master hunters were allowed to apply for the permit hunt covering Region Two. The season is Aug. 1, 2012 through March 31, 2013 and 50 permits were available.

Additional information about the hunt included: "This is a damage hunt administered by a WDFW designated Hunt Coordinator. Successful applicants will be contacted on an as-needed basis to help with specific sites of elk damage on a designated landowner's property. Not all successful applicants will be contacted in any given year, depending on elk damage activity for that year. If applying for this hunt you should be able to participate within 24 hours of being contacted."

The call arrived on a Wednesday.

"This is Chris Anderson. We are having problems with elk in the Stemilt Basin, south of Wenatchee. I would like to designate you the hunt coordinator and activate Hunt 2704. Contact Officer Graham Grant for the landowner names and telephone numbers, plus he will fill you in on the details of the hunt. This is a chance for the master hunters to make a positive impression on these landowners."

I called Graham and spent an hour getting the details. Basically the bull elk were using their antlers to tear an opening in fences, thus allowing the cows and calves to enter the orchards. Rather sneaky, these elk.

Arrangements were made to meet two of the landowners the next day, get a feeling for the land and discuss how they wanted the hunt to proceed. I followed landowner number one, we will call him Steve, to the second landowner's orchard, we will call him George.

"I just wanted you to see the damage the elk are causing," George said. "This tree is dead, it is two years old. It cost me plenty to buy it and plant it. Now I need to buy another, plant it and wait four years for the first production. So I have lost six years, counting the first two years, plus the cost of the tree. These elk need to be punished, so they won't return."

Several dead trees could be seen while standing in one spot at the edge of the orchard. Others displayed signs of damage, leaves eaten, etc., which will not kill them, but will set the production back at least one year.

The reason for a herd or herds of elk to cause damage this year wasn't clear. Was it the fires? I am told no.

Steve drove me to his grandpa's orchard, we will call him Bill.

"This is the top or southern tip of the problem area," Steve said. "We need to get people down in the canyons and draws and drive the elk up and out, over that ridge where they should be."

The canyon walls were steep and it was suggested hunters not shoot an elk in the bottom as there was no road or four-wheel access.

He wanted to show me a saddle, where the elk, when pushed, might try to cross.

We walked along a narrow trail with the slope of the hill falling away on both sides.

This was as sharp a crest as I have ever negotiated. Saying a person could slip and roll to the bottom, a distance of perhaps 1,000 feet, was not unreasonable.

Next week: The hunt in progress.