Re-Introduction of Bears and Wolves impact Outfitter's Living

Swift Creek Outfitters and Teton Horseback Adventures owner BJ Hill speaks about the effects
by Jim Beyer

 

BJ Hill has been an outfitter for 18 years. He saw many changes in the business over those two decades. The greatest change came after the introduction of predators into the Teton Mountains.

BJ lives in Pavillion and operates his outfitting business out of a base camp near Moran Junction and one mile from the Grand Teton Park line. He runs family trail rides, fishing and backcountry pack trips in the summer time. This accounts for 40 percent of his revenue. BJ’s bread and butter come from the approximately 60 elk hunting trips booked from mid-September through November.

Swift Creek Outfitters is well established and does not advertise extensively. Most clients hear of him through word-of-mouth or through his web page, http://www.horsebackadv.com.

BJ employs his wife, Vicki, daughter Chelsea, three sons, Ryan, Heath, Cole and several hands. He runs 80 horses and 20 pack mules. Although business is good right now, he says “We see this great, established family business as having the potential for failing,” due to a drop in guided elk hunts. “It has us really nervous and upset.”
He said the recovery of endangered, predator species into the area is causing elk numbers to decline. As a result, Game & Fish issued only 400 elk licenses for Area 79 from a high of 1,500. Moose population has dropped by 75 percent due to grizzly bears and wolves. BJ said. “They are almost non-existent these days. It is getting to be a complete mess.” The decline started 10 years ago when the wolf was re-introduced to the area.

The grizzly bear is protected under the Federal Endangered Species act of 1973. It cannot be shot unless the hunter is under immediate threat of bear attack. The wolf was re-introduced into Wyoming under a different set of circumstances. It too is protected from hunting.

BJ says, “This country is overrun with grizzly bears. It is almost sad to see these bears try to compete with themselves for a resource that is not there to support them. I feel sorry for the damn things.”
BJ is not worried about predators disturbing his family trail rides or his base camps. He takes precautions, such as properly storing food and putting an electric fence around the base camp.

“The bear is at its worst when you kill an elk. He is going to come in and take the carcass and nothing is going to take it from him. He’s aggressive because he has to fend off other bears and predators. When a man walks in on the bear’s find, that’s when it will hurt you. If you don’t live around bears, they will abuse you. I have been around grizzlies a long time. But keep in mind that I never pick up an elk without my dogs. Dogs are the savior. I keep about five dogs in camp.”

BJ thinks that grizzly bears should be de-listed. Game and Fish should offer grizzly tags on a limited basis. “We shouldn’t hammer on all these bears but there should be some hunting. It will do them some good, put them in check and balance with the people. We need to harvest some grizzlies.”

BJ has strong opinions on this subject. “The environmentalists are totally out of their tree when they start saying there are not enough bears or they need to move the grizzly into the Wind River Mountains.”
Wolves are another subject of BJ’s strong opinions. “The wolf has changed my way of life. They are hurting our business to the point where we cannot operate around it. They have driven the elk out of our area. We have seen a big reduction in population. The wolf could destroy the ungulate resource in this part of the country.”

“I am totally against wolves. I think they were re-introduced wrongly. If the Federal Government had lived up to their promise to keep them down to ten packs, then I could live with them. I am not anti-wildlife but I am anti something that has become an eco-terrorist in my back yard.”

The wolf has no natural enemies and they can kill at the drop of a hat, BJ said. They don’t miss very often. They breed like rabbits and now there are 35 packs in Wyoming. The wolf has driven the cattle and sheep ranchers out of the region. Wolves cause the elk and deer to bunch up and puts stress on the herd, he said.

The feed grounds in National Elk Refuge in Teton are key to keeping a healthy herd in Teton Park. “If the feed grounds stay in place, the wolf will have a hard time depleting our elk down to the point where we are in trouble. The environmental groups are trying to stop the feeding and with the wolf on top of it, this elk herd would be so low that I don’t even think that they could sell licenses.”

 “Without the feeding program, the elk are gone. When you add the grizzly bear and the wolf on these elk during calving season, you will be down to two calves per hundred cows. We are already down to 10 to 12 to 15,” BJ said. The norm was 30 to 50 calves per hundred cows a decade ago. The elk numbers were stable for many years under the 100-year-old supplemental feeding program.

The grizzly bear does his damage during the spring calving season, BJ said. “The damn wolf kills in the spring, he kills them in the summer, he kills them in the fall and he really kills them in the winter. It is not uncommon to have 20 cows in a herd and the wolves come in and kill every calf on them. Before the wolf, our calf-to-cow ratio was pretty decent. The grizzly was knocking the hell out of them, but we could live with it.”

“With the two together, elk hunters will not have the opportunity that we had in the past. We cannot drop these numbers and give the resident or non-resident elk hunters a fair shake in this country. Keep in mind that non-resident elk tags cost almost $900.” BJ said. Non-residents will stop coming to Wyoming if they do not have a fair chance to harvest an elk.

BJ is willing to live with the 10 wolf packs that the Federal Government originally promised to Wyoming. BJ advocates a special wolf hunt to control their population and increase wolves’ fear of humans. Since wolves are so elusive, he is not so sure that hunters can get a shot at them. The federal game wardens may have to do the job.

BJ said many colorful words about the federal wildlife and park officials but he had some kind words too. “I would like to say that the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in Jackson is very, very good to work with, very professional. The Grand Teton Park people are pretty fair and decent to work with. Doug Brimeyer, the biologist of the elk herd is one fine individual and so are the game wardens. They are the best in my opinion.”

BJ emphasized, “I don’t have any use for the Wyoming Outdoor Council, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance and some of the managers of the National Elk Refuge—and you can quote me on that.”

“I am under heavy pressure to kill trophy bulls with these hunters and then those damn wolves pull in and ruin it for me. I can see the quantity of elk numbers have dropped. The trophy size is going to pot on us. The moose are basically gone. There is this constant pressure of this [environmental] movement that has come on top of us. I am really upset about it. My boys love the elk-guiding world. They want to take this business over. I used to sit down to negotiate with these wacko groups but I will not talk to them. As far as I’m concerned, they can kiss my butt and adios.”

Photo Credit: Swift Creek Outfitters

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