October 16th - 31st, 2024 Range Rider Update
The 2024 Range Riding season has wrapped up and CVA is grateful for another good season. First and foremost, a big thanks to the producers, range riders, and community for everything they contributed. Range riders Patrick Solomon, Joe Zecher, and Taylor Jackson brought experience and enthusiasm to the program this year – an extra thanks to all of them for their hard work!
Calves have been out of the Valley for several weeks now along with a large proportion of the cattle the Team monitors. The last few weeks were focused on end-of-season wrap-up, although Range Riders continued to help here and there monitoring herds and rounding up rogue cattle. Season wrap-up generally includes data entry, taking down cameras, cleaning, maintenance, and winterizing vehicles.
A couple times a year, CVA is asked to table at different events to share about CVA’s programs. Towards the end of October, we had a table at a Patagonia event in Dillon. Our partners from the Big Hole Watershed Committee and Western Landowners Alliance were also at the event to share the important work of landowner led, local groups. Old Salt was also there providing Montana grown and processed meat. Joe and Erika ran the table and enjoyed the opportunity to share about our programs in the Centennial Valley with a larger community.
General rifle deer and elk opened October 26th. As usual this has brought in a lot traffic. On behalf of our community, we please ask for hunters to be considerate during their visit to the valley; do not trespass, practice good hunting ethics, clean up after yourself (i.e. garbage and toilet paper), drive on open roads only, and drive respectfully. Also, continue to be bear aware out there. Grizzly bears, especially sows with cubs and subadults, may be denned up at this point but large boars are still likely out and about. This is particularly true if there remains plenty of food (i.e. carcasses) to keep them full.
Finally, hunters, please consider submitting deer, elk, and moose lymph node samples in for CWD testing. CWD is a 100% fatal disease that affects these species. Although it has not been known to infect humans, the CDC recommends not consuming meat that is CWD positive. There has not been a confirmed case in the Centennial Valley yet, but numerous positive animals have been detected just north in the Ruby Valley. More information about CWD and current management can be found on FWP’s website: https://fwp.mt.gov/conservation/chronic-wasting-disease
Thank you, community members, for sending photos and observations this season. We appreciate your help! The more eyes and ears we have contributing to our reports, the more we all learn. We took down most of our game cameras since the last report and Range Riders did minimal riding, so our observations for this final biweekly report are minimal.
There was one hunter reported grizzly bear observation. The report was of one very large set of tracks in the south-central part of the Valley.
There were no wolf observations since the last report.
Ungulate activity seems to have shifted in response to hunting pressure and cold, snowy weather. Elk herds have been spotted at lower elevations and on the refuge no-hunting areas. Mule deer and pronghorn have started to migrate out of the valley. Moose and white tail deer mostly remain in their typical low elevation, willow bottom areas throughout the valley.
The Team and the cameras cannot capture the entire Valley each day, so community reports are extremely valuable to understand how wildlife use the Valley. If you have any wildlife reports to share (big or small!) that may have been missed this season, please contact Erika Nunlist, Wildlife Program Coordinator, at wildlife@centennialvalleyassociation.org. We look forward to hearing from you!
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