FHL elk hunt on Outdoor Channel. Team Elk

[ltdann]

I drew 2 years in a row, but I'm not in the FHL food chain. Military tag, my friend, military Once as the 2nd alternate, and one straight up luck! And I'll tell you what...since I didn't draw this year, I'll probably draw next. 'Course those are cow tags. All bets are off for a bull tag.

 

[BackCountryHNTR]

Thanks Mel. Answers my questions. Now how can I get one of those tags? lol

it "as a special elk hunting opportunity provided by Ft. Hunter Liggett Base Command in conjunction with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and their fundraising efforts for wildlife habitat"

If you have the money...

 

[myfriendis410]

I reiterate what I said. And, they didn't enter at all; military or otherwise. AND, if it had no effect on the military draw, why not offer more tag opportunities? Huh? When I heard them say the population was just about double the "reported" number they should be pushing for more tags to the active duty people. You heard me too: I'm NOT military. I want more tags FOR the military. They deserve the opportunity.

The way I understood it (referring to "someone in the command structure"); the two consecutive year tags weren't for cows. So, it really stinks. Add to that the little factoid that you have to pay your permit fee up front just to APPLY is horseapples. It put me out of applying on the military side 'cause I'm poor.

 

[ltdann]

I suspect the base CO has some "discreationary" tags or some depredation tags. He probably used one of those for the RMEF show.

and yeah, paying the permit fee upfront sucks. Didn't get an answer from the MWR director on my ICE report. I did get a notice that it had be rec'd and fwded to him.

 

[Navy SWO]

I sounds like a fundraising tage similar to ones RMEF, CA Deer Association, FNAWS or other conservation groups are given for highly desireable species like elk, bighorn, etc to be used for fundraising. The groups usually auction them off or conduct a raffle to raise dollars to plow back into conservation efforts. In my mind thats a good thing overall. I think the DFG Elk Program manager could probably provide better info.

I really doubt the base commander has tags he has the discretion to issue based on personal preferences. Joint Ethics Regulations and Standards of Conduct requirements are very stringent and basically prohibit a commander from doing anything for their own personal gain. If you have specific, valid information suggesting someone in the FHL chain of command is doing something unethical with regards to the hunting program you could always file a complaint with the Inspector General (IG) of the next echelon up the chaing from FHL. In this case it would would be the Army Installation Management Command IMCON. This URL applies: www.imcom.army.mil/hq/organization/inspector_general/
They would investigate the allegation either validate it for further action or find out it is unwarranted.

 

[ltdann]

I'm not saying that at all. What I'm saying is that there are probably tags issued to cover unexpected contingencies, like maybe an "incidental take" tags or dep tags.

Most bases have SOME dep tags to cover weird events. More likely though, FHL probably worked with Lia at DFG's big game section or Joe Hobbs at the elk desk to set this up as a special event.

That must have been some hunt, the only elk hunter, during the rut, concurrent with A-zone deer... and the heat!

I always say, never begrudge a shipmate a good deal.

 

[DFGELK]

Let me see if I can clear this up a bit. Each year we get the tag quotas from FHL for both deer and elk. There are military tags and there are general draw tags. FHL distributes the military tags in whatever way they want, their protocol, qualifications etc. They have requested two military bull tags as part of their hunt program. FHL then has chosen to donate those tags to RMEF to raise money for habitat work. There has been numerous habitat projects funded by RMEF on FHL in the past. Star thistle control (spraying) is the main one that comes to mind. Invasive species are a big concern and pretty much ruin many acres of available habitat. The base is operated by the military and habitat work is not their top concern so the guys working on the ground scramble to find money to get stuff done. This was an opportunity for them to get funding to do habitat work that otherwise would not get done. The base has been very good to work with and has increased the overall number of tags and the number of days available to elk hunt.

The tags were auctioned off at the RMEF show in Reno the last two years. Every base runs their hunt program a little differently and I feel the opportunites at FHL are pretty darn good. There are over 30 general draw tule elk tags and that is a big chunk of the overall tule elk tags in this state. These tags are not part of the state fund raising tags. Most of the state fund raising tags are auctioned off by non-profits and all of the money is returned to the state. This year DFG put the Owens Valley elk tag and an open zone deer tag into a special drawing that anyone could buy $5 chances at (as many as they wanted). This raised a lot of money that will be put into the new dedicated big game account. It actually raised more than 5 times what those tags would normally be auctioned for. Auction tags are always controversial to some people, California has a very limited number of auction tags or Fund Raising tags. We have 3 elk tags (Grizzly Island, Owens Valley, and the multi-zone tag - good in 5 hunt zones - Marble Mountains, Northeast, Northwest, La Panza, and Siskiyou). Ten deer tags - 5 open zone and 5 golden opportunity. Two antelope tags, and a couple sheep tags. I am going to try to put one of the antelope tags into the $5 random draw next year but we shall see how that goes over. Please contact me if you have any other questions and I will do my best to answer them 916 445-9992

Joe

 

[ltdann]

Thanks Joe. Figured it was something like that. Didn't know that RMEF did habitat work on FHL, and thats nice to know. Its an absolute privilege to draw an Tule elk tag in CA.

 

[lmjpsl]

Does anyone know how much the winner of this tag actually paid for this special hunt at FHL? I heard it was in the five digits but don't know for sure.

 

[Navy SWO]

I'm not saying that at all. What I'm saying is that there are probably tags issued to cover unexpected contingencies, like maybe an "incidental take" tags or dep tags.

Most bases have SOME dep tags to cover weird events. More likely though, FHL probably worked with Lia at DFG's big game section or Joe Hobbs at the elk desk to set this up as a special event.

That must have been some hunt, the only elk hunter, during the rut, concurrent with A-zone deer... and the heat!

I always say, never begrudge a shipmate a good deal.

ltdann,

I didn't think you were saying the base cdr was using tags for his own purposes, but looking at my post I can see how it looks like that. You have my apologies. The IG comments were in response to another poster's perception that somehow the drawing for military tags was rigged to favor folks in the base chain of command. I hope that is just a perception and not actually the case.

I for one am glad the base is working with RMEF to use a couple of tags to raise funds for habitat development. Star thistle is nasty stuff and if they can get rid of it, that is certainly money well spent.

 

[weekender21]

RMEF Rocks!