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Show Uintah Basin's RGCRGATION The Uintah Basin Standard IB ...continued from last page that requires no drawings for tags, no crowded forest roads or campgrounds, no other hunters on your hillside and has a guaranteed big rack at the end of the rainbow. WTiat elk hunter wouldn't jump at the chance? Game ranching operations other states have been taking advantage of the allure these in circumstances generate for years. It is a high dollar ranching proposition that produces a much higher rate of return than stuffing grass and hay down the throat of a Hereford. Traditional hunters scoff at the idea of such a "canned hunt, claiming there is no fair chase, and the time honored traditions just aren't present in the total experience. While some elk ranchers may run such operations, most of those involved are committed to pnovicfing a quality hunting experience, one that wiff bring clients bade year after year. One rancher in Colorado has around SO buffs on 1,200 acres. He has to check them with a fixed-win- g aircraft to make sure they are stiff there. He cant do it any other way. Imagine the thriff of hunting on a ranch with that many buffs bughng. It is the stuff hunting dreams are made off. Animal rights folks, who tend to be opposed to any hunting, object to these hunts on the basis that the animal doesn't have Summer 1999 GUI D a for chance. That's kind of interesting, since they object to hunts where they deem the prey to have a for chance as objectionable just because they are hunts. Wildlife Resources was concerned that private operators would introduce disease into wild herds, another interesting theory since the domestic elk would be vaccinated and have veterinary care available, while in the wild, a supply of sick animals is essential so the predators, who only eat sick, weak animals, won't starve to death in the midst of abundant herds of healthy animals. was through and singing, the legisladancing tion was passed. What ramifications are in store for the wild elk herds of the state? Probably none of lasting significance. Owners of large tracts of land realized long ago that restricting access and charging hunters to hunttheir "wild elk, which often have no fear of vehicles and little fear of man, due to the limited exposure they eqierience and may not be as wild as they would like hunters to think, was quite lucrative. If a landowner doesn't have enough land to maintain a "captive" herd of wfld efle and instead foots the expense of raising animals and containing them in an area for a paying hunter to pursue, is there really much difference? The tracts of private land that become Why Hunters After everyone involved in ranching operations wexid be dosed to the public so there wifl little, if any. lost hunting opportunities. The positive offshoot of the ranching operations could be a reduction in the pressure on public land herds for trophy buffs and limited permits. Hunters have been coming from the East to hunt in the West at least since Lewis and Oark. The poor sexi trapped in suburbia who dreams of a quality hunt no longer has to try to draw out and miss his out on his dream year after year. He can book a hunt with a ranch that has an established herd of buffs, absolutely knowing he wiff get to hear the piercing bugles of dk echoing through hills of golden quakies and enjoy a hunting experience of a lifetime. The price tag of a ranch hunt, around $4,500 for a "cuff" hunt to $ 1 5,000 for a really big bull is worth it to many hunters. These hunters can put a bunch of money into our economy. ranching puts another card in the deck of those who are struggling to keep their cattle ranching operations afloat Selection breedng programs wi improve the quality cf the animals, just as man has done with cows, horses, and chickens. One txl with incredible genetics is producing semen that sells for $4,500 a straw. Elk breeders have shows and auctions around Effc f Western Land Realty, Inc. "Duchesne County's Oldest Real Estate Company" Centrally Located At: 70 West Main, Duchesne (435) (435) 822-53- 738-23- 04 V 00 Home -- Mobile -- 1 www.westernlandrealty.com Jon Wilke rson -- Agent (435)738-555- 7 Fax (435) 738-55-61 low now, $55 a pound, but have been as higfi as $1 10. An average bull a couple yean old wi produce around 12 pounds of horn. The monsters can reach 50 pounds. One operation in Idaho is currently buying cuff animals to produce jerky for $4.57 a pound, hanging weight Hold those figures up beskfe beef prices and it is easy to see why some ranchers are feeling optimistic for the first time in years. Maybe it is only just that effc have made the headines as often as they have. Their impact on residents of the state is and their beauty Effc are often portrayed in Toll Free Gerald Wilkenon- - Broker selling for $1 50,000? It happens. In the velvet antler prices are unmatched. We have properties available from the Fruitland area to Whiterocks Canyon Starting as low as $4900 for 5 acres with easy owner financing. 738-555- the country, working at improving the quality of the animals. WaJd you believe a buff elk significant We have been the recreational property specialists for the Uintah Basin for many years. (435) Hunt.. . and lower fields wiff iff with feeding animals in the winter. The beauty and pace of these magnificent animals wiff be forever preserved and the world wi be better for it faff, Don Willterson -- Agent (801)968-394- 4 Salt Lake City petioyphs found in the Basn, mute witness to their presence for hundreds of yearslnterestipgiy enough, deer are seldom seen in petregyphs. GoUkj it be that the Basn has always been predominantly elk country and the deer are interlopers?) Whatever the case, if effc are managed responsibly, the mountains can always ring with the bugles of buff dk in the |