Cow Elk Brave Even Major River Crossings, Study Reveals

Cow elk are less timid than expected when it comes to crossing wide sections of even the mighty Missouri River during springtime travel, a Montana's Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) biologists reported in the Billings Gazette.

By fitting groups of the animal in the northeastern region of the state with GPS collars, the scientists found one-third of the 25 elk tagged in one hunting district moved south across the Missouri River and into another one.

"They may move back in the hunting season," Mark Sullivan, a wildlife manager, said.

He further explained that the elk herds in the hunting districts where the cows were collared are 300 animals above the FWP's population goals, while herds in the east are only slightly above or at theirs.

"We were a lot higher above the objective five years ago," Sullivan told the local news outlet, "but we've been cutting back on antlerless licenses as we have gotten closer to objective."

While more information will not be available for another two years when the collars are programmed to drop off the animals for pickup, the study currently offers a great deal of insight into the study's main objective: finding out where the elk roam during different times of the year.

To fulfill this aim, the collars emit a trackable radio signal every two hours while a recent monitoring flight confirmed its most recent report.

Meanwhile, the scientists report, bighorn sheep in the same region are thriving as well, with their population peaking about six years ago.

"Ram numbers are still really strong, and hunters are shooting some huge ones," Sullivan said.

In one area, the FWP was able to increase the number of ewe tags from five to 10 for 2013 to prevent disease outbreaks, which often result from high densities.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the deer, antelope and upland game bird populations that call northeastern Montana home - all of whom saw their numbers plummet in the severe winter of 2010-2011.

Sullivan explained that antelope populations are expected to rebound given the mild nature of the latest winter; however, the summer came with a vengeance for white-tailed deer currently facing an outbreak of the deadly epizootic hemorrhagic disease.