Hunters who want to help reduce elk at Theodore Roosevelt National Park can come from anywhere in the country, but those involved think most will come from North Dakota or nearby.

The park released its final plan last month for shooting more than 1,300 elk in the park over the next five years, starting this November if the plan can be implemented that quickly.

Park superintendent Valerie Naylor said the how-to plan will be written in cooperation with the State Game and Fish Department once an official record of decision is inked by the park’s regional director, possibly in May.

A preferred alternative released last month sets out a plan of direct reduction by firearms to reduce the current population of more than 900 down to about 100, including the annual increase from pregnancies.

A team leader from the park service and four volunteer sportsmen and women using non-lead ammunition will shoot cow elk singly, or in unlimited numbers, depending on how they’re found by satellite tracking, with most of the meat donated to food pantries and tribes.

Each volunteer will be issued a tag and allowed to keep one elk among however many he or she shoots in week-long sorties that will run through the following January.

Volunteers will have to pass a target-shooting test and provide assurance that they are fit enough to spend a week pursuing the animals in the rugged park terrain.

It’s anticipated that “wranglers” on horse or mule back will remove the dead animals for refrigeration, processing and distribution to free up the shooting team to pursue more animals.

The elk reduction plan has been in the works since 2002, after a moratorium on relocating big game to prevent spread of chronic wasting disease. The final plan will be posted on the federal register on Friday, which begins a 30-day period leading to the record of decision.

Naylor said the process won’t be the same as hunting and shouldn’t be described that way.

Nor will it be limited to North Dakotans.

“People from all over could participate if they wanted to,” Naylor said.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., worked to ensure that no reduction plan would be funded unless it included volunteer hunters because of costs of using federal sharpshooters and helicopter teams to do the killing, as originally proposed.

“The park service cannot exclude others from participating in this program, but the truth is, the vast majority of the applicants and the vast majority of the volunteers will be from North Dakota,” Dorgan said.

Gov. John Hoeven also advocated for sportsmen participation.

His spokesman, Don Canton, said it is a national park and limiting the opportunity to North Dakotans was not an option.

“This is probably what’s going to work,” Canton said.

Game and Fish wildlife chief Randy Kreil said he expects most volunteers will come from within the state or nearby, primarily because only cow elk will be killed, not trophy bulls. He also said it’s unlikely someone from say, Pennsylvania, would fly in for a marksmanship proficiency test and return later for a volunteer week.

Kreil said bull elk are already getting hammered outside of the park and shooting cow elks is guaranteed to reduce the population and is the same way the department would handle the situation.

The park plans to use the volunteers to kill up to 275 elk each year.

That number will include however many are shot outside park boundaries during hunting season, which is typically about 70 elk a year.

If, after two years, volunteers aren’t able to shoot enough elk, other methods such as euthanasia after a roundup or relocating some animals will be used; that’s if the herd tests free of chronic wasting disease.

Kreil said he likes that the park plans to continue using volunteers to control the park’s elk population in the future.

"Park superintendent Valerie Naylor said the how-to plan will be written in cooperation with the State Game and Fish Department once an official record of decision is inked by the park’s regional director, possibly in May."

"Naylor said the process won’t be the same as hunting and shouldn’t be described that way."

BringingTheRain Said:
I think the park service wants this hunt to fail so miserably that will just hire sharp shooters.

Well i guess it's time to start experimenting with Barnes bullets out of the .308, .338, and if no caliber restrictions maybe the 50 since it's not really a hunt just a killing mission.  I figure i could probably take out 3 with one shot if they line up right then.  I'm not looking forward to this clusterf*** but I also wouldn't mind being there to be part of it.  The accuracy test might be interesting, would like to be there to watch it.  I know I have a tough time shooting when the pressure is on so i'm guessing there will be alot of others also.  Oh well i guess it's still better than paying people to shoot them or the other options.