Wyoming has record elk harvest in 2012

Elk hunters in Wyoming killed a record number of elk last year. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department reports that favorable hunting conditions, long seasons and a growing elk population all contributed to hunters killing the highest number of elk ever in 2012. According to the game department's recently completed harvest survey, just over 57,000 hunters killed 26,385 elk last year. That amounts to a 46% success rate. Last year's total exceeds the previous high of 25,692 elk killed by hunters in 2010. Wyoming hunters have averaged over 22,000 elk annually with a hunter success rate of greater than 40% over the past 10 years.