Hunters may get shot at easy elk steaks

By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

LIVINGSTON - People who made early phone calls Monday might get a chance to bag an easy elk in the Crazy Mountains north of here

Between 100 and 200 elk have been damaging fences and hayfields on four ranches northeast of Clyde Park, said Tom Lemke, wildlife biologist for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

To accommodate those landowner concerns, FWP is offering hunters a chance to bag those animals on a first come, first served basis. Only antlerless animals can be shot.

However, it might already be too late to get your name on the list.

The harvest was announced in legal advertisements in the Livingston Enterprise Thursday and Friday, with instructions to call FWP headquarters in Bozeman Monday morning.

The phone started ringing right away.

"Quite a few people read those legal ads," Lemke said, adding that by 10 a.m., more than 100 hunters had already signed up.

For somebody interested mostly in packing a freezer without getting their feet cold, the harvest offers the bonus of being able to drive right up to a downed elk, Lemke said.

This year, up to 10 people per week will be notified by phone, in the order in which their name appears on the list.

They will be given maps and a letter describing conditions of the hunt.

They'll need to show up well before dawn when the elk are still in the hayfields, Lemke said.

Shooting could run from late August to Oct. 10, depending on what the elk do.

However, the harvest might turn out to be small, especially if the elk don't return after the first bullets fly.

"If the elk don't come back, we probably won't even be calling people," Lemke said.

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