EMMETT, Idaho — Idaho Fish and Game implemented what officials are calling "an experimental approach" to address a nonmigratory elk herd that has caused "significant agricultural damage" on private land in the Big Willow Creek area.
34 elk were moved in a translocation project, aimed at addressing a herd that had reportedly caused more than $1 million in crop damage among five landowners last year.
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Flying from a helicopter, IDFG staff used a dart gun to sedate 37 elk northwest of Emmett, who were then transported by a helicopter to a processing site. Staff at the site fitted the animals with GPS collars, conducted health checks, loaded them into trailers, and then drove them 8 hours to the release site in the Panhandle.
IDFG captured 22 elk on May 4 and 15 elk on May 5 in Unit 32. All of the captured elk were cows.
Three of the elk reportedly died during transport due to capture-related causes. IDFG officials say the deaths are "a known risk due to the stress of handling and reaction to sedation, which Fish and Game staff worked to minimize."
34 of the captured elk were released to Unit 7 in the Panhandle Elk Zone, an area that the current management plan calls for increasing the elk population. Numbers are reportedly low due to habitat changes, predation, and low calf-to-cow ratios.
The elk will be monitored to see if they remain in Unit 7 and integrate with existing herds.
However, IDFG acknowledges that these elk will not meaningfully increase this population. "The hope is that these elk will survive, reproduce, and contribute to the herd in the long term," IDFG said.
Regional Supervisor Josh Royse is calling the operation "an experimental approach to addressing depredation." According to Royse, IDFG has tried "every other tool in the toolkit" to address the Big Willow resident herd that has grown to about 350 animals over the past five years. He says the agency will need to evaluate the cost and success of the project to decide if translocation is effective.
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In previous efforts, hunters harvested 150 elk on the private properties in 2025, but officials say that hunting alone didn't reduce the herd.
IDFG said the next phase of the project would be to kill approximately 60 more elk from the herd by the USDA Wildlife Services this summer. Officials say the meat will be processed and distributed to Idaho food banks.
