Constraints to Hunting Bull and Cow Elk in Nebraska

In Nebraska, residents are eligible to harvest a bull elk once in their life but can potentially harvest a cow elk every five years. While the harvest success rate of bull elk has been relatively high for the past decade... [ view full abstract ]

In Nebraska, residents are eligible to harvest a bull elk once in their life but can potentially harvest a cow elk every five years. While the harvest success rate of bull elk has been relatively high for the past decade (70-90%), cow harvest success is substantially lower (33-58%). We sought to explore differences in the hunting and harvesting constraints of bull and cow elk hunters in Nebraska to reveal factors that are causing disparate harvest rates.  Mail surveys were sent to hunters who had held a general bull or a general cow hunting permit in Nebraska between 2011 and 2016. Responses to these surveys indicated differences in constraints to hunt and harvest elk in Nebraska.  Bull elk hunters contacted more landowners for hunting permission and were more likely to pay for hunting permissions than cow elk hunters. Cow elk hunters reported being more limited by time, and felt more strongly that there were fewer elk on the lands they hunted.  Further, the greatest proportion of cow hunters (74%) were given permission to hunt on private land after the bull elk season had finished (December). It appears that the differences in elk harvest rates are likely a product of a decreased willingness to pay to hunt cow elk on private land and the lower propensity for landowners to allow cow hunters access to their property during bull hunting season.