Northern Sapphire Elk Project

Project Overview

Wildlife managers often implement harvest regimes to achieve a desirable age-sex distribution that supports population performance and provides desirable hunting opportunities. Thus, understanding the vulnerability of male animals to harvest across varying ages and the ways in which animals may mitigate risk of harvest is a critical step that helps managers meet management objectives and public interests. In collaboration with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, we sought to understand how age and spatial behavior influence the survival of male elk during the hunting season. We used 4 years of data on movement, age, and survival for 61 adult male elk to test two explicit hypotheses: (1) age influences elk behavior amid hunting pressure and (2) age and behavior interact to influence elk survival during the hunting season. Aligning with our predictions and findings from other studies, male elk altered their behavior, including movement rate and habitat selection, during the hunting season to mitigate risk of harvest. Specifically, male elk selected more rugged and remote terrain. Behavior to mitigate risk varied among individuals and was partly influenced by age and time of season. For example, at the beginning of the hunting season, survival increased by 40% for every 1-year increase in age. However, by the end of the hunting season, survival was similar among all age classes. Our findings reveal that behavioral and demographic mechanisms interact to influence the use of secure areas amid hunting pressure. Click here to read the published manuscript in the Journal of Wildlife Management.

Project Funders

The research was made possible in part by the Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, MPG Ranch, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and administered by Montana's Outdoor Legacy Foundation.