Are wolves eating all the elk?
“Answer: There is no shortage of elk where wolves live in the Rocky Mountains. According to state game agencies, in 2010 in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, there are 371,000 elk, 21,000 more than the previous year. In Wyoming, the elk population is actually 50% above management objectives set by the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish. In Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, there are at most 1,700 wolves, which are far outnumbered by bears and mountain lions. Certainly, with 371,000 elk and many more deer, there is plenty of prey.
However, in some areas, the success of big game hunters has declined a bit, but not due to a general lack of elk. With wolves back, elk habits have changed, reverting to behavior honed by time as the two species co-evolved in a predator/prey balance. Now elk are once again more alert and spend much of their time on the move. They find security in thick timber and maintain vantage points by spending more time on ridgelines rather than lingering down in open meadows and streambeds. From the ridges, they can see threats approaching and have many directions to flee.
All these factors lead to heightened challenges for hunters. Some concerned hunters point to specific herds, claiming that the elk are being decimated but, overall, population trends clearly dismiss that claim.
While only a few elk herds are in decline, local and regional fluctuations of herd populations are normal, according to the historical record. Population trends are influenced by many factors. Forest fires, for example, actually benefit elk by creating prime habitat. When trees burn, verdant meadows, rich in nutritious grasses, replace the dead trees, and elk numbers increase. But eventually, the trees grow back, thick shade decreases underlying grasses, and the elk population drops again.
Wolves keep the elk gene pool strong. When wolves hunt, their technique is based not only on strategy, but also on opportunity. They wear their prey down in a chase, singling out the weak, which are usually the sick, injured, old, or young. The survivors are most often the healthiest, fastest and strongest elk, which live on to reproduce and perpetuate the best genes of their species. This predator-prey relationship is good for both the health of the elk, and the health of the land.”
**Special thanks to “Living With Wolves, http://www.livingwithwolves.org/AW_question2.html, for providing the information in this article!
The Wolf Preservation Blog 
Of course wolves are not to blame it is just these idiots looking for scapegoats.
The wolves have been behaving as wolves long before we came along and there was plenty deer living and breeding.
regards Oliver Craig.
Yes Oliver, I completely agree. When hunters came along with their sport hunting, then the scapegoating began. Wolves have lived along side deer/elk for a long time and herds have never gone extinct. This is the natural order of things, yet hunters come along, and inject themselves into the equation. When wolves were reintroduced in certain areas, certain hunters/ranchers were in an uproar and make any excuse in the world to justify killing them. Worried about their livestock? There are plenty of effective, non-lethal ways to use but many refuse to do them.