# Yellowstone Train Wreck



## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

*More than 100 domestic elk escape near Yellowstone*:

JESSE HARLAN ALDERMAN
The Associated Press
Edition Date: 09-07-2006
Email This ArticlePrinter Friendly Page

More than 100 domestic elk have escaped from a private game reserve on the border of Yellowstone National Park in eastern Idaho, raising fears the animals will blemish the genetic purity of wild herds, spread disease and flummox hunters.

The elk apparently broke through a fence weeks ago on the Chief Joseph hunting reserve on the fringe of the Targhee National Forest, 10 miles from the southwestern border of Yellowstone.

"This is the train wreck we've seen coming for a long time," Steve Huffaker, director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said Wednesday in announcing the escape.

"This is far and away the most (domestic) elk that have ever escaped," said John Chatburn, deputy administrator for the Department of Agriculture.

In 2002, Rex Rammell, Chief Joseph's owner and a longtime veterinarian, successfully lobbied the Idaho Legislature *to forgive most of the more* *than $750,000 he owed to the state for failing to apply blaze-orange ear tags to identify the animals as domestic. *Regulators also said he improperly maintained protective fencing on an elk ranch 35 miles east of Rexburg.

Rammell has a court case pending over an infraction at his elk ranch.

*He has clashed with the state Department of Agriculture over his refusal to allow state regulators to inspect his elk for chronic wasting disease.*
The incurable disease kills elk by boring tiny holes in their brains.

Wildlife officials fear the domestic elk could spread the disease, which has never been found in Idaho, or other sicknesses like brucellosis, liver flukes and tuberculosis.

Other concerns trail behind the escape. Archery season for elk began Aug. 30, and Huffaker said hunters will be unable to distinguish between wild elk, which are legal to shoot, and the domestic elk, which are private property.

Rammell charges up to $6,000 to kill a domestic bull elk on his property, according to his Chief Joseph Idaho Web site.

Steve Schmidt, a Fish and Game regional supervisor in Idaho Falls, said it wouldn't be illegal for a hunter to kill one of Rammell's escaped elk, the hunter could not tag it.

"Once that animal escapes, it does not become a wild elk," he said. "It's just not appropriate to use an elk tag on a domestic animal."

Idaho code releases individual hunters and the state from financial or legal liability if a domestic animal that has been loose for more than seven days is mistakenly killed.

Still, whether Rammell decides *to sue confused hunters for compensation *is anyone's guess, Huffaker said. Rammell did not return calls from The Associated Press on Wednesday.

"It's a mess, that's all I know," Huffaker said. "I've never been a big fan of domestic elk. *I figure elk are in the wild and that's the way God made them."*
___________________________________________________________
Stomp down amazing that he could sue hunters, yet he is not finacially liable for causing the mess. But it's that way here too. We pick up the bill for 'em when there is a problem. Canned hunts=Just making end$ meet.
And what in blue blazes were the legislators thinking? :roll:


----------



## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Follow-up:

Idaho takes aim at elk

By JOHN MILLER
Associated Press writer
with staff reports
BOISE, Idaho -- Gov. Jim Risch signed an order Thursday declaring open season on about 160 domesticated trophy elk that escaped in recent weeks from an eastern Idaho game preserve near the Wyoming border.

Risch authorized the "immediate destruction" of the animals by state Fish and Game and Department of Agriculture agents. He hopes to enlist private hunters, too.

The animals' flight from the Chief Joseph hunting reserve near Rexburg had raised fears they might spread illness and hurt the genetic purity of wild herds -- including those in nearby Yellowstone National Park, just 10 miles away, as well as Grand Teton National Park and other areas of western Wyoming.

The Idaho governor is also asking that state's Fish and Game Commission members, who meet today, to allow hunters and private land owners to shoot the escaped animals -- before they start breeding with wild elk as they wander the region.

"I don't think we've ever had an escape like this before. This is serious business," Risch told The Associated Press. "We have reports they have been seen a considerable distance from the place that they've escaped. The state of Wyoming has already determined it will use lethal means if its agents find any of those elk across the border."

After Idaho Fish and Game Director Steve Huffaker on Wednesday called the elk breakout "the train wreck we've seen coming for a long time," Risch acted quickly by contacting officials in Yellowstone, as well as Wyoming and Montana.

"There is a crisis facing our elk herds in eastern Idaho," the governor said. "Because of the escape of domestic elk that was not reported as required by law, we now have these farm-raised elk mingling with our wild elk herds."

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, which met in Casper Thursday, did not discuss the issue in open session. But Game and Fish Director Terry Cleveland reiterated his concern that the escaped elk could be a threat to animals in Wyoming.

The elk are owned by Rex Rammell, Chief Joseph's owner and a veterinarian, and have been bred to have large antlers prized by hunters who each pay up to $5,995 in September to kill a bull elk.

Rammell didn't return phone calls from the AP.

He did not report the loss to state officials, Risch said. Instead, several nearby landowners reported the escape and have been relaying to the state game agency their sightings of suspected domestic elk in the surrounding alfalfa fields and forest slopes.

The elk are tagged, Rammell has told Fish and Game officials, but the tags may not be visible from at least 150 yards away, as state law requires. He ran up more than $750,000 in fines with Idaho for failing to apply blaze-orange ear tags, although most of the fines were later forgiven by the Idaho Legislature.

"I think the state of Idaho will be able to get fairly sizable groups of the elk and harvest them at once," Risch said. "We're enlisting private hunters, because they're the ones that will be chasing bulls that range far and wide ..."

Rammell has clashed with state Department of Agriculture officials in the past because he refused to allow state regulators to inspect his herd for chronic wasting disease, which kills elk by eating away their brains.

Al Nash, spokesman for Yellowstone National Park, said Thursday park staff was in contact with wildlife officials in both Idaho and Wyoming to find out more information on the elk.

"When we look at the situation, our concerns have to do with what impacts this may have on wildlife in Yellowstone, and until we get additional and solid information, we really don't know what potential impacts these escaped domestic elk may have on the ecosystem or whether they will even find their way to Yellowstone," Nash said.

Nash said most wildlife biologists would be concerned whether the elk could have an impact on wild elk, "but I don't believe we know enough yet to answer that question."

In Grand Teton National Park, spokeswoman Joan Anzelmo said staff there, too, was working to get more information on the elk -- particularly where they are, and disease and genetic information.


----------



## rowdie (Jan 19, 2005)

Every state shoud pass a law requiring each animal to wear a reflective blaze orange collar with a gps tracking device. :******:


----------



## Irish Mick (May 15, 2006)

Nothing to worry about here in North Dakota...we only have about a hundred or so of these type of elk farms uke:

Kill 'em all


----------



## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

121 game ranches in ND at last count. Another follow up on Idaho. State personel are trying to get a count of the escaped animals by helicopter, but the owner is hazing the animals back into the timber with ATVs to get them out of sight. Fewer than a dozen harvested so far.


----------



## Irish Mick (May 15, 2006)

> State personel are trying to get a count of the escaped animals by helicopter, but the owner is hazing the animals back into the timber with ATVs to get them out of sight.


Shocking...a canned hunt place with an owner who is ethically challenged

hard to believe.


----------



## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

DAMN!! I was in Boise ID last Thursday and Friday, I'd have stayed the weekend and gladly burned the last 4 days of vacation I have to donate my eradication services to ID G&F.

:sniper:


----------



## Habitat Hugger (Jan 19, 2005)

This is a great example of why we should push the legislature to ban game farms here in ND. I know the game farm owners will howl at me when they read this, but it's just a matter of time before we get a fiasco like this here. 
Clay, you could try out some of your new loads out there. Then we'd really have no excuses for missing that big old Montana Bull in October!


----------



## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

Bob, I already told you if I miss it will be my own fault. Under some circumstances I "peek" over my scope as the rifle is going off. I shot a 2" group with my 300 last week, and a 3/4" group with my .270, neither of those are particularly noteworthy, except they were at 200 yds. I even have witnesses. It will not be the equipment's fault, if I miss it will be mine. I am 2-for-2 when presented with opportunities on Bulls though. Elk are so darned big that I can't see how you could miss one in open country. In timber however there's always the chance that the unseen twig causes a miss.


----------



## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

Is it lost on all that nothing happened, other than some elk got out of a fenced area and went into the wild?

Nowhere in this article does it say there's ANY evidence this herd carries CWD, or is in any way a health hazard to the wild herd in the area. If anything, they're probably healthier that the wild stuff. I kinda doubt that the Idaho G&F tested them for CWD, either!

With due respect, this is like any time Bob gets on a rant about game farms. As Billy said, much ado about nothing.

That's my final word on this subject...


----------



## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

> "Because of the escape of domestic elk that was not reported *as required by law*, we now have these farm-raised elk mingling with our wild elk herds."


*NDTerminator wrote*



> Is it lost on all that nothing happened, other than some elk got out of a fenced area and went into the wild?





> With due respect, this is like any time Bob gets on a rant about game farms. As Billy said, *much ado about nothing*.


I find it somewhat amazing that someone in your field would condone and brush off a violation of the law.

You are correct I do not like high fence killing operations. I will not get into a whizzin match with you, you know where I stand and I know where you stand.

Bob


----------



## Habitat Hugger (Jan 19, 2005)

Just have to kid you along, Horsager! Wish I were going, but not this year! Good luck and bring back lots of pictures!
I, like Bob, won't go into the dozens of good reasons to abolish game farms. They have all been aired here before, and nobody ever wins an argument. I just hope the Yellowstone escape doesn't result in a tragedy out there.


----------



## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

NDTerminator, you're correct no one knows if those escaped elk have CWD. It is stated in the orginal article that the man who owned the preserve and it's herd of elk was unwilling to allow ID G&F to check his herd for CWD. As for me wanting to help with eradication, I look at that as a practical bullet/caliber testing opportunity. I don't care if I got an ounce of meat, I really don't even need pictures. All I'd really request is an opportunity to recover a bullet or two, amybe examine the wound channel. Inside or outside the fence these animals have no trophey value to me, they are little more than live bullet testing media.

:sniper:


----------



## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Update, Sept 13 :

The plot thickens....

*Elk rancher warns Idaho agents to stop shooting escaped herd*

03:08 PM MDT on Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Associated Press

BOISE -- The owner of a herd of domesticated elk that escaped near
Yellowstone National Park says Idaho Governor Jim Risch had no
justification for ordering state game officers to shoot his animals on
sight.

Rex Rammell is the owner of the Chief Joseph private hunting reserve
near Rexburg.

He says he's trying to recapture the elk before state agents shoot them
all and ruin his business.

Rammell says his farm-raised animals are disease-free and are pure-bred
Rocky Mountain elk descended from Yellowstone stock.

He says if his elk do intermingle with wild herds, they'll help, not
hurt, the genetics of the Yellowstone herds.

But Idaho Fish and Game officers say they can't take that risk with the
state's premier big game resource.

IDFG Director Steve Huffaker says his officers will continue to kill as
many of the escaped elk as they can find.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
*
State Shoots 8 Escaped Elk Near Yellowstone*
From Times Wire Reports
September 12, 2006

IDAHO

State game officers shot and killed eight elk that they said had
escaped from a private hunting reserve and posed a threat to the genetic
purity of wild herds roaming near Yellowstone National Park on the
Idaho-Wyoming border.

The five cow and three young elk were the first game-farm elk killed
under an emergency order issued Thursday by Idaho Gov. Jim Risch,
authorizing state agents to destroy the estimated 75 to 160 farm-raised
elk.

Tissue and blood samples from the eight were being analyzed to
determine if the animals carried any communicable diseases or were
genetic hybrids. Idaho Fish and Game Department Director Steve Huffaker
said he had heard reports that some of the elk may have been crossbred
with red deer in an effort to grow larger antlers.


----------



## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

IN CRISIS MODE AFTER RECENT ESCAPED ELK CONTROVERSY
Idaho Hunters Going for Ban on Canned Hunts, Limits on Game Farms
By Bill Schneider, 9-19-06
In the contentious aftermath of the escape of up to 160 domestic elk from a 200-acre game farm near Rexburg, Idaho, on the west edge of Yellowstone National Park, hunters in the Gem State have decided this is the time to go for a ban on these "shooter bull operations."

In a NewWest interview, Mark Bell, *President of the Idaho Sportsman's **Caucus*, said his coalition would be "relentless" in pursuing an end to what he calls "high-fence shooting" of elk. "It's not hunting, so I won't call it hunting."

"We believe the facts indicate that the escaped animals were not properly tagged, were not monitored, and, once escaped, were not reported as required," Bell explained. "The implications of such escapes include not only passing diseases to wild populations, but polluting the genetic makeup of elk herds in Idaho, as well as in Montana and Wyoming, and in this instance, the famous Yellowstone herd. Such effects could be disastrous for those herds."

Bell said his *coalition of 26 sportsman's groups*, including national groups like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Safari Club International is already drafting a bill for the upcoming Idaho legislature. "If we can't get the legislature to pass it," Bell said, "we will go for a ballot initiative."

The coalition's website lists the member organizations and claims to represent 18,384 Idaho sportsmen and women.

That is the same scenario played out in Montana. After several failed attempts to get a meaningful bill through the Montana legislature, hunters put the issue on the ballot and passed it with the leadership of the Montana Wildlife Federation. The Montana initiative placed an outright ban on shooting of captive wildlife and put tough restrictions on game farms that is expected to result in a gradual phase out of such operations. The 2000 law, which is still being debated in the courts, disallows the expansion of game farms or the transfer of the license from the current owners.

Bell said his group is studying the Montana approach, but he does not know if that's the route Idaho will take. Idaho hunters could also go for an outright ban as Wyoming did in 1975.

Oregon and Washington also have bans on game farming in place.

"With public sentiment the way it is now with the recent escape of the those elk," he explained, "we don't see any need to allow or accelerate high fence shooting. This situation points out the pitfalls with allowing it."

"I wish we would have been more proactive," he admitted. "Now, we're in a crisis mode. All of a sudden the barn is on fire and we don't know if the fire truck is coming."

Bell is confident they can do it now, though. He pointed out that his group managed to kill a bill in the last legislature that would have allowed the importation of exotic cervids into Idaho. This would have meant not just caribou, reindeer and red deer coming to Idaho, but all cervids like the pudu, brocket, guemal and muntjac. (Haven't even heard of them? Well, you can thank the Idaho Sportman's Caucus for that.)

"Idahoâ€™s wildlife and hunting heritage are too great a resource to all of Idaho to allow them to be placed at such grave risk by the actions of just a few merely for personal gain," Bell concluded. {else:if} In the contentious aftermath of the escape of up to 160 domestic elk from a 200-acre game farm near Rexburg, Idaho, on the west edge of Yellowstone National Park, hunters in the Gem State have decided this is the time to go for a ban on these "shooter bull operations."

It looks like Idaho has gotten the message and will join surrounding states in efforts to preserve natural elk herds and ethical hunting practices, which was the subject of last week's Wild Bill column on NewWest.net.

In a NewWest interview, Mark Bell, President of the Idaho Sportsman's Caucus, said his coalition would be "relentless" in pursuing an end to what he calls "high-fence shooting" of elk. "It's not hunting, so I won't call it hunting." [End of article]

Comment By Jimurl, 9-19-06 
Bill, I need a little clarification here: I think that how the ban on game farms went in Montana, it actually prohibited the shooting of penned game farm animals "for remuneration" ( I guess that means "money"). I think a few of the game farm operators tried to use this as a loophole. Like this:

Client arrives at game farm. Client cuts Big check to purchase animal. ( Animal is still technically alive here) Game farm operator takes client out to shoot "his" animal. Nope, client didn't pay to shoot the critter, he bought it live and then killed it.

I don't know how all that played out in court. I believe the MWF has fought that, and other aspects of this law that have been attached by shooting pen operators as well.

But, a word of caution to the Idaho Sportsmens Caucus- make sure the language in your bill is airtight, so that Rex Rammell nor anyone else can wriggle out and around from it. It looks like he's good at that.


----------



## DJRooster (Nov 4, 2002)

My brother who used to be the best hunter that I know, won a high fence hunt for a cow elk and he said it was a lot of "fun" to which I replied, "You poor thing, you have been living in Minnesota too long!"


----------



## 4590 (Jun 27, 2004)

Can anyone recognize media hype when they see it! "Train Wreck" ???

Lets see if I can get this straight. There are literally hundreds of wild deer and elk wandering Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, SD, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois and Oklahoma that are known to be carrying CWD, but we are calling it a train wreck cause some elk escaped from a domestic herd with no evidence of infection.

CO DOW is known to have spread the disease by releasing animals from test facilities with CWD infection. Where's the outcry!

G/F Departments have transported wild elk from Alberta and ND to several other states and released them into the wild, even though there was no testing to establish CWD statis of the source herd. Where's the outcry!

Literally hundreds of elk and deer remain in fenced enclosures on state and federal parks, with very little monitoring and regular escapes. No one seems to even notice.

The only CWD positive elk in ND was a wild elk carcass brought into the state by a hunter. Hardly even heard about it!

The obvious evidence, if you look at what domestic elk producers are raising, is that their genetics are likely superior to the average wild herd. ( This year a 4 year old bull grossed over 600 pts.) Can any one say genetic polution with a straight face, hunters should be elated.

Despite these FACTS Dick Monson and those like minded wildlife groups will get all the mileage they can out of another mans loss. uke: uke:


----------



## Habitat Hugger (Jan 19, 2005)

A four year old bull elk scoring "600 points" should make anyone VERY suspicious that this is an example of only one of the reasons why captive elk should not be allowed - the crossing of genetically wild elk with red deer to increase their "Boone and Crocket" score! A terrible practise and a terrible idea!
Yes. but the Colorado DOW learned the hard way when CWD was "release" as you said it, and this occurred way back when no one knew much, if anything, about CWD in anything other than sheep. That sort of thing would never happen nowadays, except in commercial captive elk/deer farms!


----------



## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

Kim/4590



> like minded wildlife groups will get all the mileage they can out of another mans loss


Question, Did this guy break the law or not? Seems to me this loss that you mention is a violation of the law.

I would also like to know who appointed you God? Who gave you the right to decide that your genetically enhanced Elk would be superior to the wild strains. Where are your long term statistics on the effects of genetic engineering in your Elk and the proof that it is beneficial to wild herds.

A 4 year old that scored at 600 in your world means nothing in any record book, SC only counts for canned hunts. All it means is that you can raise the trophy faster and you make more money because you can sell more canned hunts.

Bob


----------



## 4590 (Jun 27, 2004)

I believe the 600+ 4 year old is pure north american elk. My only point is that the idea that we raise inferior genetics is absurd. What it really proves is that with in the elk genotype there is tremendous potential to produce huge trophies. This is what occured naturally years ago before hunters were allowed to harvest the largest trophy bulls and let lessor bulls do the breeding. Not all wild herds are managed this way but I have heard that in some areas, such as Colorado, it is nearly impossible to find a 6 X 6 bull. It used to be survival of the fitest when it was happening in the wild. Now it is "genetic enhancement" when you select the best bulls in the domestic herd and breed to the best cows. One other advantage farm raised elk have is they are treated for parasites and likely get better nutrition than alot of wild elk and thus reach their full potential.

I have not heard all the details as to the cause of the escape. I do know it is a safe bet that the reporting will be slanted. One report I heard was that a bear had dug under the fence. If that is the case, a spooked elk herd would probably knock down a fence. Nothing illegal about that. If the producer was not abiding by the rules for his state, then he should suffer the consequences. BUT when ever something like this happens the media typically jumps to conclusions and assumes the producer was doing something wrong. The main point still remains that legal or not the escaped herd likely poses no real threat to the wild herd, and certainly no more threat than hundreds of wild disease carrying animal presently in surrounding states.


----------



## 4590 (Jun 27, 2004)

Rammell's elk threaten nobody 
September 20, 2006, 5:49 am 
Posted by isjpolitics in General 
Rating: 0/5 Votes : 0 
From Michael's Desk:
www.michaelrstrickland.com
****************************

Rammell's elk threaten nobody 
--------------------------------------
by Lenore Barrett (R-Challis)
from the Post Register

If you have followed the Great Domestic Elk Escape in the Post Register, you should wonder why Fish and Game generated so "much ado about nothing," or why Gov. Jim Risch panicked and "invited" hunters to slaughter the animals. Probably, our genetically flawed Canadian gray wolves will beat 'em to it!

Now, according to the Post Register (Sunday), the Idaho Department of Agriculture has quarantined the preserve. What's the rationale for that? The escapees are not on the preserve and the fence has been repaired.

I am told that ISDA recently inspected and passed Dr. Rex Rammell's fence as "escapement free." Nevertheless, some "thing," or some "one," tore a hole in the fence, proving bad things happen to good people. The regulators should have chilled out and allowed Rammell to bait his elk back in, and he would have at least 90 percent recovery by now.

No one seems to disagree that local cattle are more likely to contract disease from wild elk than domestic. "We know the wild elk in that area have brucellosis," ISDA veterinarian Greg Ledbetter said. What's Greg doing about that? At least Rammell's domestics have a resident doctor on call.

The Post Register's "jeer" to Bonneville County Sheriff Byron Stommel for expressing his opinion that Rammell's property rights are being violated obviously pinched a Post Register nerve. In my book, that puts Stommel right up there with the pope, who darn well better not apologize to Islam. The First Amendment is not to be used selectively, or with strings attached.

An editorial (Sept. 14) slyly suggests that the private property rights initiative (Prop. 2), if passed in November, might aid Rammell and cost government (the taxpayer) a bundle. The intent of Prop. 2, however, is to make government accountable to every citizen's private property rights. If the government steals your property, it must face the same consequences as any other thief.

There has been no factual substantiation by either agency that domestic elk on holiday pose a threat of any kind. It's simply propaganda hay with which to fashion a straw man and justify political persecution.

"In fact," says Post Register columnist Jim Gerber, "this is not about a threat to our elk herd. This is about making a politically correct statement that we do not like game farms."

Jim's right, but game farms would not be supplying game if the demand were not there, and the law of supply and demand is the linchpin of the free-enterprise system.

The only one hurt in this malevolent melodrama is the Rammell family. Fish and Game, ISDA and the governor should suck it up and get over it!

Barrett, of Challis, is a member of the Idaho House of Representatives.

Mail this Printer friendly


----------



## Blacktail (May 11, 2005)

4590
You must be a high fence hunter.


----------



## jhegg (May 29, 2004)

I think he is a high fence animal "seller".


----------



## bioman (Mar 1, 2002)

And none of these "breeders" inject any sort of hormones into these animals to get that kind of growth :eyeroll: uke: .


----------



## 4590 (Jun 27, 2004)

I have been involved in the elk industry for a number of years. I am not aware of any such use of hormones and honestly don't know if there is a hormone that would enhance antler growth. That being said the issue being discussed is the "danger" of genetic polution to wild elk. Even if some hormone was used, I don't think it would alter the genetic make up of a bull which could cause "genetic polution" if escaped and bred in the wild.

I have always found it interesting when people run out of arguements they tend to take aim at the messenger.


----------



## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

45, sorry, got to finish the beans first.


----------



## bioman (Mar 1, 2002)

A couple of good reads about the new world record bull and the illegitimacy of CANNED HUNTS :thumb:...

Images of the best and worst
By Charlie Meyers
Denver Post Outdoors Editor
Article Last Updated:10/14/2006 09:21:37 PM MDT
The thing about being an outdoor writer is I inevitably get connected to the best and worst of human endeavor as it relates to wildlife.

Most often, the stories are uplifting, the sort of feel-good experiences that fuel the passion we feel for all those activities involving woods and waters. I'm fortunate to share the excitement of happy people brimming with their most wondrous episodes.

So it was with the call last week from Arvada resident Bill Hitz, whose words fairly glowed through the phone lines.

A professional photographer, Hitz was on a leaf-viewing drive up the Poudre River Canyon west of Fort Collins on Oct. 7 when he spied a flock of wild turkeys.

"They moved away down toward the river and naturally I grabbed my camera and followed in hopes I could get a picture," Hitz said.

He offered no rational explanation for what happened next, saying only that it's something he'll remember the rest of his life.

"All of a sudden, I had these 10 big turkeys all around me. I was taking pictures of these beautiful creatures," said Hitz, himself an avid hunter.

Then things got really weird.

"I turned around and started walking back to my car and they started following me. I walked faster and they did, too," he said. Back at the highway, a passerby stopped to share in the bewilderment.

"He said I must be like the Pied Piper or something. It was amazing. Every other time I've seen turkeys in the wild, they've run away from me," Hitz said.

Hitz offered several photos as proof, including snapshots of birds heading straight for the camera.

"I can't imagine what attracted them. I was wearing a bright yellow shirt. Maybe that was it," he said.

And maybe turkey hunters should consider swapping their elaborate camouflage for a brighter color. Canary, perhaps.

The flip side of the outdoor communication business arrived in the form of a photo that's been bouncing through cyberspace in recent days.

It showed a couple of unidentified hunters posed behind the prostrate form of the most remarkable bull elk anyone laid eyes on, an atypical monster with 12 points on one side and nine on the other. A snippet of information suggested it was taken with a bow in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in Idaho.

At this point, two basic instincts began a spirited fencing match. One thrust with awe and wonder at the prospects of an almost unbelievable record achievement. The other jabbed back with the reality that if something seems too good to be true, it generally is.

An inquiry with Idaho Fish and Game officials revealed the latter to be the case. The elk was true enough, with a monstrous rack estimated at a Boone and Crockett Club score of more than 560 points. By comparison, the record B&C bull is slightly more than 465 points from an animal found floating in a lake in British Columbia. The rifle record scored 450 6/8.

But the circumstances were false, raising that old, ugly specter of "canned" hunting and all the other demons that ethical sportsmen rail against.

Turns out the animal was a so-called "shooter" bull raised like some prized hog inside a 1,000-acre enclosure in Quebec, specifically to be sold for execution to the highest bidder. To its great good credit, Boone and Crockett doesn't recognize fenced trophies.

This matter of hunting pen-raised animals comes increasingly into play with the expansion of North American elk ranches and the ready availability of managed African game inside fenced preserves. By best estimate, the nation of South Africa alone has more than 9,000 such shooter operations.

Considering the scarcity of many African animals in the wild and the proliferation of game farms, it's likely the next mount you see inside someone's house was shot across the cab of a Range Rover.

Whether it's a hunt for planted pen-raised pheasants or a plantation kudu, the issue of fair chase increasingly comes into play. This raises questions about the real reasons we go hunting and the way the acquisition of a trophy, or any animal for that matter, increasingly has become more a function of money than of skill and effort.

Come to think about it, I'd much rather write about Bill Hitz's turkeys.

Charlie Meyers can be reached at 303-954-1609 or [email protected].

Dentry: Claim of record elk rack reeks of lies, big bucks
Special to the News ©

Ed Dentry
email | bio
October 17, 2006
You can fool hunters' hopes and expectations some of the time, but not their sense of reality for long. So it is that the "world's biggest elk" turns out to be something like the world's biggest prairie dog.

A carnival act. A freak with a secret. Or an outright lie. Just in time for Halloween. 
In cheap literature, readers employ something called "the willing suspension of disbelief" to overlook implausible plots and characters in the interest of entertainment. 
Antler worshippers found themselves in a similar swoon of denial over a giant 12-by-9 bull elk whose photo has been circulating on the Internet. But their enchantment was short-lived.

A caption accompanying the photo claims the bull was killed in Idaho's Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness during bowhunting season. The beast's antlers were said to have an outside spread of 79 inches and a green score of 575.

That would be more than 130 points bigger than Boone and Crockett's fair-chase world record and Pope & Young's archery world record. It would be 110 points bigger than the biggest antlers ever found, on a dead bull elk at Upper Arrow Lake, British Columbia. 
"This is the biggest bull ever taken with any weapon," the anonymous caption claims. 
It was the old shell game, played not so skillfully by someone trying to cover up tawdry reality and gain acceptance in official hunting records. The bull was raised as livestock and slaughtered by a paying consumer, not a hunter. And it did not originate in Idaho. 
Credit Rich Landers, outdoors editor for The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash., for ferreting out the truth behind the lies and the lies behind the truth. After some sleuthing, Landers found a California man paid to shoot the animal at a 1,000-acre, fenced, commercial "shooter-bull" operation in Quebec.

Landers twigged onto the ruse and followed its foul scent after Idaho biologists and a Boone and Crockett trophy expert told him the Selway could produce no such animal. The biggest rack ever packed out of that Idaho wilderness scored 150 points less. 
The manager of the operation in Quebec told Landers shooters negotiate prices into the high five-digits to harvest trophy bulls there. He confirmed the bull's measurements and said it was 10 years old.

And it wasn't an elk of the Rocky Mountain subspecies. It was a Manitoba-strain elk, raised with European red deer.

As for "big," that would be relative to one's antler-induced hypnotic trance. The manager said the bull weighed 595 pounds. That would be something like a 110-pound man. 
The incident, and its likenesses across North America, is a slur on hunting. Commercial shooting is capable of delivering generous truckloads of antihunting fodder into the hands of extremist groups, as sure as if the shooters and livestock providers were anti-hunters themselves.

Fortunately, most hunters blench at the notion of attaching the term "hunting" to the shooting of captive, artificially raised animals for profit, although the general public might not know that.

At least the farce never will be recorded in official trophy records. The Boone and Crockett Club and Pope & Young Club have fair-chase rules that disqualify trophies taken from anything but wild, free-ranging animals.

In the words of founder Saxton Pope, which Pope & Young flies as an ethical banner: "The true hunter counts his achievement in proportion to the effort involved and the fairness of the sport."

Similarly, Boone and Crockett spells out its rules: "Fair Chase, as defined by the Boone and Crockett Club, is the ethical, sportsmanlike and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild, native North American big game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper advantage over such animals."

What we have here, instead, is a farm-grown, state fair blue ribbon- winning pumpkin. And someone buying that pumpkin to display on his mantle to prove what a great farmer he could be, if he knew anything about farming.

It's a Halloween story, swarming with bad smells and flies. And demons posing as hunters. 
[email protected]


----------



## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

And a follow up from Dakota Counrty magazine (Oct.) guest editorial by Shawn Perich on page 64. He details the Troy Gentry bear hunt, (Cubby got shot). He goes on to say:


> Killing penned animals for pleasure or profit is an activity that belongs in the same brutal realm as cock-fighting or pit-bull fights. We should neither allow it nor make excuses for those who participate in it, regardless if the animals they are killing are bears, hogs, or trophy whitetails.


 He states that those who supply these opperations are no different from those who sell the canned hunt itself.

Heidi Prescott, a well known anti-hunter, uses disgusting films of canned hunts to present her message. She said,


> I know that none of you hunters consider this hunting and that you are appalled by this behavior. Yet until you --hunters--are willing to address this issue and end canned hunting, I'll continue to use it against you.


 She went on to say while she cannot sway public opinion against fair-chase hunting, we, the hunters, make her job easy by our silence on canned hunts.

Minnesota's legislature dropped the ball last session by allowing this garbage to continue. Let's hope the North Dakota legislature rises to the ocassion.


----------



## 4590 (Jun 27, 2004)

Dick,
Must have got the beans done, hope you had a good year.

Still can't accept the difference between livestock and wildlife I see. Interesting that you have to quote those who would end your hunting rights to attack livestock production. "Killing penned animals for profit?" Sounds like a cattle rancher too me. I would almost bet Heidi would be appalled at a staughter house as well. Any bets she is a member of an animal rights group?

Truth is the majority of Minnesotans, and I'm betting the same for ND folks, understand the difference between wildlife and livestock production.

Hope some folks wake up and realize that most of the folks who want to end hunting, also think we should not have any meat on the table.


----------



## jhegg (May 29, 2004)

4590,

The truth is the majority of Minnesotans and ND folks do understand the difference between wildlife and livestock production. We just wish you did!

Jim


----------



## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

It's going to heat up. Heisted from another thread:

Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:30 am Post subject: Saturday morning Nov 11 Outdoors Live radio

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday morning at 11AM CT

This week we begin with author Jennifer Bove with insight and tips on taking kids with you hunting. She's got some great ideas of how to make sure kids enjoy their time afield, and stay safe too.

Next we take you into the field with Special Agent Mike Ness with the BCI, mobile meth labs are just one on the many dangers hunters may stumble upon in the field. Find out what to do, and what not to do to.

*And finally the Legislative session will be addressing canned hunts and game farms, Senator Tim Mathern has a bill to protect the future of hunting in our great state. *

550 KFYR Bismarck 
790 KFGO Fargo 
910 KCJB Minot 
1440 KKXL Grand Forks 
1460 KLTC Dickinson 
1130 KFAN Minneapplis (5AM)
_________________
....listen to Outdoors Live...and read this blog

http://www.areavoices.com/dougleier/


----------



## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

*Officials again arrest Idaho elk rancher*

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) -- An elk rancher whose animals escaped earlier this year has paid a $5,000 bond and been released from jail after being arrested for failing to appear on a misdemeanor charge.

Rex Rammell, 45, was arrested Monday and released later that day.

"They didn't make any attempt to contact me," Rammell told the Post Register. "I was at home. I did not know I was supposed to be there."

Court officials say that they notified Rammell by mail, but that Rammell did not respond.
Rammell was scheduled to appear in Fremont County Court on Nov. 22 on a misdemeanor charge filed in September that accused him of resisting or obstructing officers. That stemmed from a September incident where he confronted two state sharpshooters who killed two of his escaped elk.

Rammell has pleaded innocent.

After Rammell didn't appear for the Nov. 22 court date, a warrant was issued for his arrest on Nov. 24. A new date for a jury trial has been set for Dec. 19 at the Fremont County Courthouse.

"I will be at every court date I'm aware of and will be there early," Rammell said.

In August, as many as 160 elk fled Rammell's Chief Joseph hunting preserve near Rexburg. That prompted Gov. Jim Risch to order an emergency hunt, saying the elk could spread inferior genes or disease to wild herds near Yellowstone National Park.

Rammell said he's not being treated fairly.

"It's very excessive," he said. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm tired of these games."

Fremont County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Paul Butikofer declined to comment about the case but released a statement: "I want the case to be tried in the courtroom, not in the media. I don't have a comment at this time. I will have comments after the case is over."

Rammell said he has sold his elk operation. His former animals have gone to another elk breeder and his 168-acre preserve is now owned by a California real-estate investor, he said. He had charged $6,000 to kill a large-antlered bull.

*Elk test confirms questionable genes*

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) -- A domesticated cow elk from an eastern Idaho hunting preserve will be destroyed, neutered or shipped out of state after a second test came back indicating possible red deer hybrid genes, an official said.

"They came back confirmed for suspect of red deer influence," John Chatburn of the Idaho Department of Agriculture told The Associated Press on Thursday. "That to us has identified her as having red deer genetic influence."

In 1997, a Colorado laboratory certified the animal as being free of red deer genes. The more recent tests by a Canadian lab found otherwise.

"It came back positive again, but there's some suspicion again," Rex Rammell told the Post Register newspaper of Idaho Falls.
In August, as many as 160 elk fled Rammell's Chief Joseph hunting preserve near the Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park border. That prompted Gov. Jim Risch to order an emergency hunt, saying the elk could spread inferior genes or disease to wild herds near Yellowstone.

Hunters killed 36 of the elk. More elk that had not escaped were quarantined, including the cow elk that has suspect genes.

According to law, Chatburn said, elk with red deer genes must be destroyed, neutered or shipped out of state. He said Rammell would be notified in writing about the test results for the elk, which Chatburn said was about 15 years old.

Chatburn said the choice of what to do with the elk will be up to Rammell, and that the department is talking with officials at the Idaho attorney general's office to determine how much time Rammell has to make a decision. Chatburn said Rammell would likely have 48 hours after being notified, which he expected to happen by today.

Besides testing for red deer genes, the elk have also been tested for brucellosis and tuberculosis. The tests results were negative.

The dead elk have been tested for chronic wasting disease, with about 24 results pending. None have tested positive so far.

Rammell said the cow elk that showed indications of red deer genes has had offspring, so that other animals should have shown similar test results if red deer genes were present.

But Chatburn said Rammell didn't keep records of which offspring were born to which cows, and so it's not known whether offspring from the suspect elk remained in Rammell's herd, were hunted and killed, or shipped off to other ranches.


----------

