Moorcroft Leader - The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming

Elk populations in Wyoming’s major herds are nearly 30% over objective Wyoming Game and Fish Department personnel revealed as their governing commission approved hunting seasons and nearly 2000 additional licenses Wednesday.

Some 101,800 elk populate the state’s 28 closely monitored herds, according to the estimates presented in the agency’s proposed annual hunting-season-setting regulations. That’s 28.6% above the objective for those groups.

In addition to the 28 herds for which the agency makes individual population estimates — through trend-count or population-model methods —...