THOMPSON FALLS — In Sanders County, wildlife managers and researchers are taking a high-tech approach to better understanding local elk populations and their predators. Since 2023, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) has been tracking the animals from the ground, in the air and on screens.
“When you get a radio caller on an elk, you can learn a lot,” said Dillon Tabish, FWP’s regional communication and education program manager. “We’re already a couple of years into it, and we've just already got an amazing amount of data. We have almost a million GPS points from over 170 elk that we fitted with GPS radio collars.”
When FWP studies wildlife on a large scale, they typically use helicopters to count the animals below. In much of Northwest Montana, however, that method is challenged by dense canopy cover.
That is where this study came in. Tabish said it is the most comprehensive look at impacts to the area’s elk population from predators to hunting pressure to changes in the landscape.
“Anytime we can learn more about these wildlife populations, that leads to better management. Monitoring leads to better management,” Tabish said. “We really want to be proactive and base our management decisions on science and on-the-ground reality.”
For this study, the Sanders County Adaptive Elk and Carnivore Management Project, FWP took a different approach. Thanks to a partnership from the University of Montana and a grant from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, they are using more technology to track the animal populations.
“We're using some cutting edge technology too that could really help us in the long term as we try to better understand all of our different wildlife populations, since, again, we can't do the old fashioned fly around and count elk from the sky,” Tabish said.
Researchers are using radio collars and mapping software to keep track of elk and carnivores.
“Really what those radio collars have done is told us and shown us where these elk are. Where are they moving?And then whenever an elk dies, one of those radio collared elk, we go and we investigate it to find out ‘OK, why did this elk die?” Tabish said.
After years of tracking the animals virtually, by foot and by air, they are nearing the end of the study’s data collection phase.
“It's going to take some time to review 900,000 GPS points,” Tabish said. “But the analysis of this data, I think, is going to just be really cool and eye-opening.”
According to Tabish, some of the study’s preliminary results show that elk survival rates in the area are really high from year to year, but calf survival is much lower.
“That's helpful to know that maybe that explains why historically some of our elk populations have declined,” he said.
The final results will help inform management locally and beyond. The Sanders County community, including hunters and landowners who allowed researchers to use their land, are also looking forward to the conclusions, Tabish said.
“This isn't just like imaginary data. We have points on maps that show us exactly throughout the year where elk are moving. Where's their winter range? What habitat are they using? What habitat are they avoiding?” he said. “Man, that is a wealth of information.”
