For many B.C. ranchers, the sudden arrival of elk on their property is causing extensive damage and financial hardship.

The reappearance of elk in B.C.’s agricultural zones results from decades of ecological recovery, land use change and shifting wildlife behaviour.

Population declines and shifting baselines

Historically, elk were widely distributed across British Columbia. Two subspecies of elk — Roosevelt elk on the coast and Vancouver Island, and Rocky Mountain elk in the province’s interior — coexisted with large carnivores and migrated seasonally between winter range and high-elevation summer forage.

By the turn of the 20th century, elk populations were severely diminished across much of western North America due to unregulated market hunting and habitat loss. During this period of wildlife decline, livestock operations and rural communities expanded. With elk removed from most of the landscape, generations of farmers came to see their absence as normative.

In the past few decades, reintroduction efforts, hunting restrictions and predator declines have allowed elk populations to rebound across the province. Translocations of Roosevelt elk from Vancouver Island to the Sunshine Coast occurred in the late 1980s and 1990s to re-establish mainland populations. The population grew rapidly and later became a source for additional reintroductions.

But elk are not returning to the same landscapes they once inhabited. Human settlement, agriculture and infrastructure have fragmented habitat and blocked many of the traditional routes between seasonal ranges. The abundance of high-quality, predictable food sources, such as irrigated crops, hay bales and gardens, give elk little reason to move. At the same time, predators tend to avoid human infrastructure, creating what ecologists call “predator shields” in urbanized environments.

This lack of predators provides a further sense of security for ungulates. As a result, elk herds are becoming increasingly sedentary, staying year-round in agricultural areas where they often become hyperabundant and over-consume vegetation.

Bold and habituated elk

Habituation is a form of learning in which an animal’s response to a stimulus decreases after repeated exposure without consequence. Elk often become habituated in areas where human activity is frequent but non-threatening, such as around farms or residential zones.

Habituation by elk frequently results in conflict. As elk lose their natural fear of humans, their willingness to forage near homes and infrastructure increases. Once habituated, resident elk establish patterns of land use that are difficult to disrupt.

In addition to habituation, boldness — a personality trait characterized by exploratory and risk-tolerant behaviour — also contributes to conflict. Research has shown that individual elk vary in their temperament, with some animals naturally more cautious and others bolder. Bolder elk are more likely to venture into human-dominated areas.

Over time, this leads to “personality sorting” across an urbanized gradient. Shy individuals tend to remain in wilder, less developed areas, while bold individuals concentrate in agricultural or urban zones. Because bolder elk are more exploratory and less fearful, they are more likely to be involved in conflicts with humans.

Risk and predictability

The behaviour of elk, and other prey species, is heavily shaped by their risk perception. Predators influence prey populations through direct killing, but their presence alone can alter prey movement, vigilance and foraging patterns. The non-lethal effects that predators have on their prey is referred to by ecologists as the “ecology of fear.”

Some of the most famous examples of the ecology of fear come from Yellowstone National Park. In the absence of wolves, elk populations grew large and placed intense browsing pressure on plant communities. However, after wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995, both elk numbers and behaviour began to change. Researchers observed that elk started avoiding open meadows and riparian zones where wolves were more likely to hunt. These behavioural shifts allowed vegetation to recover, which in turn benefited other species. In this way, the presence of predators reshaped elk movement and foraging behaviour, setting off a cascade of ecological change across the broader ecosystem.

Human activity can create risk effects similar to those of predators. But elk may respond differently depending on the predictability and assessment of risk. If hunting only occurs at specific times (e.g., daylight hours during the short fall season) or specific areas (e.g., on Crown land while private lands remain safe), elk can learn to avoid these risky times and places. In response, elk may become more nocturnal or concentrate their use on private lands where hunting pressure is lower.

For example, a study in east-central Alberta found that elk near a fenced refuge became increasingly nocturnal during hunting season, especially adult females with calves. During the day, elk remained inside the hunting-free refuge, but after sunset, they moved into adjacent agricultural lands, returning to the refuge before sunrise. By restricting their movements to nighttime hours and using the refuge as a daytime shelter, elk minimized their exposure to hunting by avoiding both the places and times of highest danger.

Addressing elk conflict

To better understand how this challenge is being addressed, we conducted a jurisdictional scan between January and April 2025. We reviewed elk-agriculture conflict strategies used in Alberta, the Yukon, Colorado, Idaho and Montana. The goal was to identify practical tools that might be relevant for landowners and managers in B.C.

Below is a summary of what we found:

Hunting

Across all the regions we reviewed, hunting was the most common strategy for managing elk populations. Regular public hunting seasons are often supported by additional hunts, such as early or late shoulder seasons or special management hunts, to target antlerless elk in places where populations are higher than the population objective. These specialized hunts have proven effective at reducing large elk herds, such as on military land in Alberta or protected reserves in Colorado.

However, for many regions, the biggest challenge isn’t just elk abundance, it’s elk distribution. Even in areas where populations aren’t considered overabundant, elk often concentrate on private land or in agricultural zones where hunting is limited, leading to higher rates of conflict. Some jurisdictions have had success using targeted hunting to move elk away from farms and ranches.

• READ MORE: B.C. rancher unwilling feed supplier to elk

For example, Montana found that game damage hunts, designed specifically to push elk out of problem areas, caused more elk movement than the regular hunting season. In brucellosis zones, special rifle hunts also helped reduce elk presence in high-risk conflict areas. That said, these hunts only moved elk temporarily, and elk often returned once hunting stopped. Research also suggests rifle hunting is more effective than archery when changing elk distribution.

To make hunting more effective in conflict areas, some jurisdictions have developed programs that offer incentives to landowners for allowing hunter access on their property. Most jurisdictions also provide kill permits or special landowner licenses as a last-resort option for landowners dealing with excessive damage, especially when other strategies have failed.

Culling

In situations where public hunting isn’t allowed or isn’t sufficient, some jurisdictions have turned to culling or sharpshooting as a more targeted approach. For example, in Banff National Park in Alberta and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, culling is used on an as-needed basis, usually when elk numbers exceed population targets or when animals become aggressive or pose safety risks to the public.

One advantage of sharpshooting is it can be done outside of regular hunting hours, including at night. This makes it especially useful in areas where elk feed on crop fields at night to avoid daytime hunters. For instance, in Idaho, intensive nighttime removals helped reduce elk presence on specific fields, but the displaced elk often moved to nearby agricultural fields where sharpshooting didn’t occur. The researchers determined that sharpshooting’s effect was limited unless removals were applied across a broader area.

While more research is needed to understand how long elk stay away from crop fields after culling, the experience across jurisdictions suggests that professional removals can be effective in small, high-conflict zones, especially when dealing with habituated, resident elk. However, it’s worth noting that culling remains controversial and often draws more public scrutiny.

Hazing and aversive conditioning

In all five jurisdictions we reviewed, hazing and aversive conditioning were explored as non-lethal ways to keep elk out of conflict zones. Hazing refers to using immediate deterrents — such as people on foot, ATVs, dogs, noise-makers or rubber bullets — to scare elk away from a particular location.

Aversive conditioning, on the other hand, aims to create longer-term behaviour change by teaching wildlife to associate certain areas or actions with negative consequences.

Across jurisdictions, hazing efforts were most successful at temporarily displacing elk, but in many cases, the animals returned within hours or days. For example, Colorado’s co-ordinated hazing program used human pursuits and noise deterrents to move elk out of a preserve. While elk initially responded well, the effort didn’t seem to create lasting behavioural changes. Still, the group continued to use limited amounts of hazing to address immediate crop damage and encourage spring migration.

• OPPOSITION: Spring elk hunt in Saskatchewan raises concerns

On the Ya Ha Tinda Ranch in Alberta, hazing on horseback reduced summer grazing pressure from elk in specific grasslands, but didn’t restore historical migration routes. In Montana, hazing is used in brucellosis risk zones to limit co-mingling between elk and cattle. Studies there showed that frequent and consistent hazing could keep elk away from brucellosis risk zones longer, but it didn’t reduce the overall number of elk using the area.

In practice, hazing and aversive conditioning are time-consuming. Additionally, factors such as rugged terrain and irrigated crops can make hazing harder to carry out. While hazing may not be a stand-alone solution, it can play a role in managing elk in high-conflict locations by reinforcing risk-effects associated with humans.

Fencing

Across jurisdictions, the most common fencing application was stackyard fencing, which has proven highly effective at preventing elk from accessing stored feed. These types of fences are often supported by cost-sharing or material provision programs, helping producers reduce damage without bearing the full expense. Fencing has also been used in targeted ways to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions, prevent disease transmission and aid in habitat restoration projects.

• LEGISLATION: Alberta inks path for farm-hunted deer and elk

Fencing is considered an effective method for excluding elk from target areas. However, large-scale exclusion fencing projects were not generally supported by the reviewed jurisdictions.

Common concerns with large-scale fencing include high costs, maintenance challenges and the possibility of disrupting wildlife movement corridors. Fencing can also push the problem onto neighbouring properties, displacing elk rather than addressing the root issue.

Habitat enhancement

Some jurisdictions have explored habitat enhancement on Crown or private land to draw elk away from farms.

Examples of habitat enhancement projects include seeding, invasive grass treatment, water developments and conservation easements. Unfortunately, implementation of these projects is often a slow process. Also, making these enhancements attractive enough to draw elk from crops remains a challenge. Still, habitat enhancement efforts are generally widely supported across different stakeholder groups and can help meet other conservation goals.

Compensation programs

Most jurisdictions offer monetary compensation for crop losses due to elk. These programs help reduce the financial burden on producers but rarely cover the full cost, especially when you consider damage to fences and other infrastructure.

In many jurisdictions, compensation is often conditional on landowners allowing hunting access or implementing recommended prevention measures. In 2023, a “payment for presence” pilot program was launched in Montana to test a new approach to compensate landowners for the presence of elk on their property. The program uses artificial intelligence-powered cameras to detect elk presence. Ranchers receive payments when a certain number of elk are recorded daily.

This program is small-scale, but it helps acknowledge the costs borne by ranchers who host these animals.

Repellents

Our jurisdictional scan found little to no evidence of repellents being a successful tool for managing elk-agriculture conflict.

Field trials in Colorado and Idaho tested both odour- and taste-based repellents but found they were ineffective at deterring elk from crop fields. There was some indication that frequent reapplication might improve effectiveness, but applying repellents often enough to make a difference is usually impractical and expensive.

Fertility control

None of the jurisdictions we reviewed recommended the use of fertility control as a solution for elk conflict. In theory, fertility control can slow population growth, but in practice, it’s very expensive and difficult to implement.

Fertility control also doesn’t change elk behaviour. It won’t stop elk from gathering in conflict areas, and there’s no evidence it encourages migration to reduce the proportion of resident elk.

Untangling the elk problem

So, what does this mean for producers?

• First, there is no silver bullet. The complexity of elk-agriculture conflict means no single strategy will work everywhere.

• Local context matters. What works in one valley in B.C. may not work in the next. Rather than asking which tool is best, better questions might be how we can combine strategies effectively, and how ranchers, communities and government agencies can work together to deliver them.

• Fencing spatially limited, high-value sites can be a good solution for reducing some damage on the landscape. In addition, programs that reduce financial burdens on producers, such as compensation or payment-for-presence programs, help provide additional support to landowners.

• Reinforcing risk and unpredictability is key to preventing elk from settling permanently in conflict zones. Once elk become established and habituated, they are much harder to move.

• One promising approach for the immediate future may involve co-ordinated, year-round hunting efforts, which could be achieved through partnerships between wildlife agencies and treaty rights holders. This approach offers the potential to both reduce overabundant populations and reinforce risk effects (that humans are scary) on resident elk herds. Ranchers’ own hazing activities can then help reinforce this fear response across the landscape.

• Drones for hazing is another avenue to explore. Drones can be deployed rapidly and are highly manoeuvrable, making them well-suited for deterring wildlife in agricultural areas. Drones have been successful in deterring other species such as bears, wolves, elephants and rhinos. If proven effective for elk, drone-based hazing could offer a scalable, low-impact tool for landowners. However, any such use would need to comply with current federal and provincial regulations, which currently prohibit using drones to harass wildlife in B.C.

Ultimately, successful elk management will require adaptation, co-ordination and investment. That means investing in tools and relationships between producers, treaty rights holders, wildlife managers and researchers. Timely action is needed to implement management strategies that reduce the burden on landowners and support coexistence with elk. c

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