Photo by Ken Archer

What is the hottest topic in the world of elk hunting? Winter kill? Reproduction? Antler growth? Wolf de-predation? Hunter harvest?

None of the above. The number one issue is license allocation. Last summer, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that hunting is commerce rather than recreation. That ruling resulted from a lawsuit, Montoya v. Shroufe, in which Lawrence Montoya, a guide for United States Outfitters (USO), filed suit against Arizona Game and Fish Director Duane Shroufe. Commonly known as the USO lawsuit, the lawsuit contended that excessive restrictions on the allocation of nonresident elk licenses hindered USO's ability to conduct interstate commerce.

Implications from this ruling have sent shockwaves through every state wildlife agency in the West. USO has filed a similar lawsuit in Nevada, which threatens to delay 2005 hunting seasons there, and other states are finding themselves in the crosshairs as well.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department's response, at least for 2005, was to eliminate online applications, require the purchase of a nonrefundable $113.50 hunting license for all nonresident applicants, and require all applicants to submit license fees up front. As another way to temper demand, Arizona is contemplating drastically increased license fees for 2006. That possibility has prompted USO's attorneys to threaten further legal action. The original lawsuit did not address nonresident discrimination through higher license fees.

The controversy has even reached Congress. Senator Henry Reid, D-NV, has introduced S. 339, a bill that affirms a state's rights to manage fish and wildlife without regard to interstate commerce regulations. Rep. Mark Udall, D-CO, has introduced an identical bill, HR 731, in the House. As of this writing, those two bills, which would counter the USO ruling, were still being run through the political meat grinder.

Still more license allocation controversy was spreading from Utah to Idaho. At press time, Utah's Wildlife Board was contemplating allocating hundreds of special hunt tags to an organization called Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife (SFW is making similar proposals in Idaho and other states). Those tags for deer, elk, moose, sheep, and other trophy species would be auctioned or raffled at regional banquets with most of the proceeds going back to state wildlife agencies.

In principle that's good, because it helps fund financially strapped wildlife agencies. However, those tags would be plucked from the states' general lotteries, further reducing average hunters' chances of drawing tags. So this concept generates a complicated Catch-22.

In regard to the elk themselves, the 2005 forecast ranges from good to excellent throughout all elk states. Those hunters who can get past the political wrangling and acquire tags should enjoy some excellent elk hunting this fall.

Editor's Note: We've put together an easy-to-read state and provincial summary table in PDF document format. (Click here to read.) Be sure to continue on to the next page to read detailed state and provincial reports including contact information and website links.